In India, customers message businesses on WhatsApp before they call or open a website. A chatbot on that number can answer the common questions at any hour. This guide explains the options, how Meta charges, and what to look for in a provider.
A note on ReplyBash: its WhatsApp channel is built and waiting for Meta's app review, so it is coming soon, not available today. The website chat works now. This guide is general advice so you can choose well, whichever tool you use.
Three ways to use WhatsApp for a business
The choice depends on how many chats you get and whether you want automation.
- WhatsApp Business app: free, runs on a phone, with a business profile, quick replies, labels and away messages. It's right for a shop with a few chats a day. It has no real chatbot or team inbox.
- WhatsApp Business Platform through a provider: Meta's API, sold by providers who add an inbox, broadcasts and bot builders. You pay the provider plus Meta's message charges.
- WhatsApp Business Platform directly through Meta's Cloud API: no provider fee, but you need a developer, and you build the inbox and logic yourself.
Automation, such as an AI agent answering from your website, needs the Business Platform. The Business app can't run one.
What you need to get started
- A Facebook Business portfolio in Meta Business Suite for your company.
- Business verification with your company's registration documents. Unverified accounts have low messaging limits. Meta's review can take days.
- A phone number that can receive an SMS or a call for the code. Check Meta's current rules on using a number that is already on a WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app account: it usually has to be moved to the API.
- A display name that matches your business, which Meta approves.
A good provider or tool walks you through this with Meta's Embedded Signup, a pop-up where you log in with Facebook and pick the number.
What it costs
Costs have two parts: what Meta charges, and what the software or provider charges.
Meta charges per message, and only for template messages, since July 1, 2025. Templates are pre-approved messages you can send outside a conversation, in categories such as marketing, utility and authentication, each with its own rate by country. Meta publishes India's rates in rupees in its rate card on its pricing page. Check the current card, because it changes.
- When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens. Replies inside it that aren't templates are free, which covers most chatbot answers.
- Utility templates sent inside that window are free.
- Messages after the window closes must be templates, and you pay per message.
- Messages within 72 hours after a customer starts a chat from a Click to WhatsApp ad or button are free.
Providers add their own fees: a monthly plan, a per-seat price for the inbox, or a mark-up on each message. Ask for the all-in monthly cost for your expected volume, not just the plan price.
A bot answering customer-started chats mostly sends non-template messages inside the 24-hour window, which Meta doesn't charge for. Your costs come from the tool, and from broadcasts and reminders sent as templates.
What to look for in a provider or tool
- Answers from your content. A bot that only follows menus (press 1 for prices) frustrates people. Look for one that reads your website and files, and says when it doesn't know.
- Handoff to a person. Your team should see the chat and take over, then hand it back.
- Lead capture. Names and numbers should land in a table, email or CRM, not just in the chat.
- Price clarity. Seats, message mark-ups and contact limits are where bills grow.
- Template tools. Submitting and tracking template approvals saves time if you send reminders.
- Your data. Check that you can export chats and that you own the number.
- Language. Customers in India write in English, Hindi and many other languages, often mixed. Test a few real messages.
Mistakes to avoid
- Moving your only number before you've tested. How a number on the Business Platform works alongside the phone app depends on Meta's current rules, so check them and test with a spare number first.
- Sending marketing messages to people who never asked. Meta can limit or block a number that gets reported, and it affects your support chats too.
- Answering with menus when a person asked a question. People type full sentences on WhatsApp, in the language they think in.
- Letting the bot argue. When a customer is upset or the bot has failed twice, hand the chat to a person.
- Ignoring the 24-hour window. If your team replies the next day, the window may be closed and only a template can go out, which costs money.
Where ReplyBash stands
ReplyBash's WhatsApp channel connects with Meta's Embedded Signup, shows WhatsApp chats in the same inbox as website chats, and answers from the same site content. It is built and waiting for Meta's app review, so you can't connect a number yet. We'll say so on this page when it is live.
What you can do today: start free, train the agent on your website, put the chat on your site, and use the same answers on WhatsApp later. The training guide explains the first step. See pricing for plans.
A plan for the next month
- Write down the 20 questions customers ask on WhatsApp now. They are your first Q&A and what the bot must answer.
- Start Meta business verification now, since it takes the longest.
- Pick a number for the API that isn't your personal one.
- Shortlist two providers or tools, and price your expected volume with each.
- Test with real questions, including Hindi and mixed-language ones, before you tell customers.