A Messenger chatbot for your business: WhatsApp, costs and rules
A Messenger and WhatsApp chatbot for business: free automatic replies, when an AI bot makes sense, WhatsApp pricing from 1 October 2026 and Meta’s rules.
Customers increasingly don’t call, they write: on Messenger, in Instagram messages or on WhatsApp. They ask about a price, an available date or directions, often in the evening and on weekends. A business that replies within minutes has an edge over one that replies on Monday.
I show three levels of automatic replies, from free settings in Meta Business Suite to an AI bot, as well as the changes to WhatsApp pricing from 1 October 2026, Meta’s rules and the AI Act requirements. Status as of 26 October 2026. This is not legal advice.
Three levels of automatic replies
Check which level is enough for you:
| Level | What it does | Fees on Meta’s side |
|---|---|---|
| Automations in Meta Business Suite and the WhatsApp Business app | greeting, away message, replies to frequent questions and keywords | none |
| A scripted bot | guides the customer with buttons: service, date, contact | Messenger and Instagram: none; WhatsApp: per message |
| An AI bot | answers in its own words based on your offer, collects data and hands the conversation to a human | as above, plus the cost of the AI model |
Meta also has its own AI agent for businesses, Meta Business Agent, in Messenger and WhatsApp. According to the Meta help center, the feature may not yet be available to every business, and in Messenger it has a free limit, after which you can buy a Meta One plan or wait for the limit to renew. Switching the agent on pauses other automations, such as the away message.
Step 1: switch on the free automations
In the Meta Business Suite inbox, you can set up automations for free for a Facebook page, an Instagram business account and a connected WhatsApp Business account. According to Meta’s help, these include:
- an automatic reply to the customer’s first message,
- an away message outside working hours,
- frequently asked questions with ready-made answers,
- replies about opening hours, location and contact details,
- custom keywords: up to 5 words or phrases in one automation, desktop version only.
A note on keywords: they are case-sensitive and must match exactly, so “Pricing” and “pricing” are two different words to Meta. The keyword reply goes out after 15 minutes, unless you reply personally earlier.
In the WhatsApp Business app, you can set up a greeting message, an away message and quick replies, that is, ready-made texts under a shortcut, for example /pricing. An example away message:
Hello, thank you for your message! We reply on business days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The price list and available dates are on our website: [link]. For urgent matters, please call: 600 000 000.
When an AI bot makes sense
An AI bot pays off when:
- you get many similar questions every day: price, date, directions, turnaround time,
- many messages arrive after hours and on weekends,
- to give a quote you need a few details from the customer, for example dimensions, a car model or an address,
- customers ask about order status, which the bot can check in your system.
It makes no sense when there are only a few messages a day or every conversation is an individual quote. Then personal quick replies and a good away message are enough. I describe an honest calculation of when a bot pays for itself in the guide Does an AI chatbot pay off?.
Meta’s rules: Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp
Messenger and Instagram
- The 24-hour window. A bot can reply only for 24 hours after the customer’s last message. After that, a human can reply within 7 days using the Human Agent tag, if the app has Meta’s approval for it.
- Fast response. The Messenger Platform policy requires a fully automated bot to respond to every message within 30 seconds.
- Instagram supports bots only on a professional account (business or creator). In the message settings, you have to allow connected tools to access messages.
- Comments. A bot can reply privately to a comment under a post with one message within 7 days.
The WhatsApp Business messaging policy (updated on 23 September 2026) allows automatic replies within the 24-hour window, but requires a clear path to a human: handing the conversation to an agent, a phone number, an email or a form. You may message first only people who have given you their number and agreed to receive messages from your company.
The “AI ban on WhatsApp”: who it applies to
On 15 January 2026, Meta began enforcing a ban on using the WhatsApp API by businesses for which a general-purpose AI assistant, such as ChatGPT, is the main product. A business bot that answers questions about pricing, dates or order status is allowed, because AI in it is only a customer service tool.
In the EU, on 9 June 2026 the European Commission ordered Meta to restore free access for such assistants (since March, Meta had let them in for a fee) for the duration of the antitrust proceedings. Meta appealed the decision to the EU General Court. For a small business’s bot, nothing changes here.
How much a WhatsApp bot costs from 1 October 2026
According to Meta’s documentation, the Messenger Platform is free of charge. WhatsApp charges a fee for every delivered message, and new rules have applied since 1 October 2026:
- When a customer writes, a 24-hour window opens. In it the bot replies with ordinary messages, which Meta calls service messages.
- Each business number gets 1,000 free service messages per month. The allowance doesn’t roll over to the next month, and from the 1,001st message Meta charges a fee.
- Utility templates, for example an appointment confirmation, sent within the 24-hour window are paid again.
- Outside the window you can send only an approved template, and that is paid (exception: the window after an ad, described below).
Rates for Polish numbers according to the WhatsApp price list (as of 26 October 2026; Meta doesn’t bill in zloty, and the zloty figures are a conversion at the National Bank of Poland (NBP) rate of 23 October 2026):
| Message type | Rate | About |
|---|---|---|
| Service (after the 1,000 free ones are used) | €0.0101 | PLN 0.04 |
| Utility (e.g. an appointment reminder) | €0.0101 | PLN 0.04 |
| Authentication (one-time code) | €0.0101 | PLN 0.04 |
| Marketing (promotion) | €0.0303 | PLN 0.13 |
Example: 300 conversations a month, with the bot sending 5 messages in each. That is 1,500 messages, of which 500 are paid, or about €5 (about PLN 22) a month to Meta. On top of that come the cost of the AI model and of looking after the bot.
Three practical notes:
- Add a payment method. Without one, once the free allowance is used up, Meta stops delivering service messages, so the bot goes silent in the middle of the month.
- One full reply instead of three short ones. You pay for every message, so the bot shouldn’t split its answers.
- Click to WhatsApp ads. When a customer writes from such an ad in the phone app and you reply within 24 hours, messages are free for up to 7 days. The exception is replies from Meta’s AI agent.
Note: the WhatsApp price list page and many guides still give the old rules: free replies within the 24-hour window and only 72 hours of free messages after an ad. Calculate costs using Meta’s developer documentation.
The AI Act and GDPR: what the bot must say
Since 2 August 2026, Article 50 of the AI Act has required that a person talking to an AI system knows it, unless this is obvious (Meta’s rules also require disclosing it where the law demands it). The simplest way is to say it in the first message:
Hello! I’m the AI assistant of Pomost. I can answer questions about pricing and available dates. If you’d prefer to talk to a person, just write “agent” and I’ll pass the matter on to the team.
The bot also collects personal data: name, phone, sometimes an address. In your privacy policy, describe that you serve customers on Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp and which tools you use for it. In the chat, ask only for the data needed for a reply or a quote.
I write more about AI Act obligations in the guide AI chatbot and the AI Act. I adapt the chat, the website and the privacy policy as part of the AI Act package service, from PLN 490 net.
How to implement a bot step by step
- Collect the questions. Go through the messages from the last 3 months and list the 20 most common questions.
- Prepare the answers. A “from–to” price list, service area, hours, turnaround time, payment terms. This will be the bot’s knowledge: beyond it, the bot gives no prices or dates.
- Set the limits. A complaint, a non-standard quote, an upset customer or a request for a human: the bot hands the conversation over and says when someone will reply.
- Choose a channel. Start where customers write most often.
- Test and read the conversations. Ask the bot 20–30 real customer questions, including tricky ones (“can it be cheaper?”), and during the first month review the conversations every week and fix the answers.
I set up such a bot as part of the Social media bots service: from PLN 990 net per channel and PLN 99 per month. If the same assistant is also to answer on the website, see AI chatbot for your website, from PLN 2,490 net.
Summary
Start with the free automations in Meta Business Suite and the WhatsApp Business app. Add an AI bot when there are many repetitive questions. On WhatsApp, calculate costs using the price list from 1 October 2026: 1,000 service messages a month free, then about PLN 0.04 per message.
If you want me to prepare a bot for your business, write to me. I reply within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Meta doesn’t charge for messages sent through the Messenger Platform, including by a bot. You pay for setting up the bot, the AI model and any maintenance. Simple automatic replies can be set up for free in Meta Business Suite.
Yes, if the bot serves your company’s customers: it answers about your offer, dates or orders. Meta’s restrictions apply to companies that offer a general-purpose AI assistant on WhatsApp as their main product. Set up the bot to stick to your business’s topics.
Meta lets you connect the number used in the WhatsApp Business app to the API and keep using the app on your phone. Some features are then switched off or limited, for example disappearing messages and broadcast lists, and group chats do not sync with the API. Whether your number qualifies will become clear during the connection.
On Messenger and Instagram, a bot writes only within 24 hours of the customer’s message, and Messenger’s paid marketing messages are not available to recipients in the EU. On WhatsApp you can send a promotion with an approved template and only to people who have agreed to it. For Polish numbers that is about €0.03 per message.
That is why the bot answers only on the basis of your price list and offer, marks quotes as approximate, and hands complaints and unusual matters straight to a human. For the first few weeks, read the conversations and fix the answers.
Related services
Have a similar project?
Describe what you need and I’ll send a quote within 24 hours. New clients get 20% off their first project.
