Custom AI chatbot integration for WhatsApp
We build custom AI chatbots that serve your own customers on the WhatsApp Business Platform, connected to the systems that hold their orders, bookings and accounts. This page covers what Meta requires, allows and charges.
Updated
For your own customers
Meta's terms allow AI that serves a business's customers, and bar general-purpose AI assistants.
Priced per delivered message
We model Meta's fees by category and country before you commit.
Engineers from $45 an hour
Published rates, and a written quote after discovery for a defined project.
Can a business use a custom AI chatbot on WhatsApp?
Yes, if the chatbot serves your own customers. Since January 15, 2026, Meta's terms bar AI providers from the WhatsApp Business Platform when AI is the main thing they offer, such as a general-purpose assistant. Meta told TechCrunch that businesses using AI to serve customers, such as a travel company's support bot, are not affected.
Section 4.7 of Meta's terms for the WhatsApp Business Platform bars "AI Providers" when AI is "the primary (rather than incidental or ancillary) functionality" on offer, as Meta decides. TechCrunch reported the start date and Meta's confirmation that customer service bots are still allowed (TechCrunch).
The same section sets a data rule: WhatsApp Business Platform data may not be used to create, develop, train or improve AI systems, except to fine-tune a model for your exclusive use (Meta). Meta's Business Messaging Policy also requires opt-in, and when you automate replies, "prompt, clear, and direct escalation paths", such as a transfer to a human agent in the chat.
What does the WhatsApp Cloud API require?
A Meta developer account, a business portfolio, a phone number you own, a display name and a webhook. Business verification isn't required to start, but new or unverified portfolios start with low limits: two phone numbers, 250 templates per account, and messages outside the customer service window to 250 people a day.
| Requirement | What Meta's documentation says |
|---|---|
| Accounts | A Facebook or managed Meta account, developer registration and a business portfolio (Meta) |
| Phone number | Owned by you, with a country and area code (no short codes), able to receive a call or SMS, and registered through the register endpoint (Meta) |
| Display name | Required at registration, and checked against Meta's guidelines when the number reaches a higher messaging limit (Meta) |
| Webhook and token | An endpoint for Meta's webhook notifications, and a long-lived token, because the temporary one expires quickly |
From Meta's developer documentation, checked 5 November 2026.
Verification, done by an admin in Business Manager (Meta), raises the limits: up to 20 numbers (Meta) and 6,000 templates per account once a number has an approved display name (Meta).
Messaging limits cap how many people you can message outside customer service windows in a rolling 24 hours. New portfolios start at 250; verification is one path to 2,000, after which Meta raises the limit automatically as you use it with high-quality messages (Meta).
Our rates
Published prices in US dollars. Monthly plans are 160 hours, about 15% below the hourly rate.
Mid-level developer
3 to 5 years
$25 / hour
$3,400 a month (160 h)
Senior developer
6 or more years
$35 / hour
$4,750 a month (160 h)
AI / LLM engineer
Agents, RAG, IBM watsonx
$45 / hour
$6,100 a month (160 h)
Senior AI engineer
Leads AI architecture and delivery
$60 / hour
$8,150 a month (160 h)
Two-week trial with the developer you choose. No charge if you stop within the first five working days. US Eastern clients get 09:00 to 12:00 US Eastern time through an evening shift, at 15% extra. Full pricing and comparisons.
What can a WhatsApp chatbot send inside and outside the 24-hour window?
When a customer messages or calls you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and your chatbot can send free-form replies with text, media, lists and buttons. Outside it, you can send only templates: pre-approved messages categorized as marketing, utility or authentication. Meta reviews each template, and the category sets the price.
Meta's wording: "When a WhatsApp user messages you or calls you, a 24-hour timer called a customer service window starts," and non-template messages can be sent only while it is open (Meta). Inside it the Cloud API supports text, media, documents, locations, interactive lists and reply buttons (Meta). Templates are reviewed when created or edited, and only approved ones can be sent (Meta).
- Utility templates are non-promotional and typically triggered by the customer's own action or request. Authentication templates carry a one-time password. Marketing covers promotion and any mixed or unclear content (Meta).
- If Meta finds a utility template that should be marketing, it changes the category, usually with a day's notice, and repeated misuse can block new utility templates for 7 or 30 days.
- So the chatbot must answer before the window closes, and later reminders go out as templates. We keep promotional wording out of utility templates.
How does Meta charge for WhatsApp messages?
Per delivered message, by category and by the recipient's country code. Marketing, utility and authentication templates are charged at Meta's rates. Since October 1, 2026, service messages are charged too, after the first 1,000 a month on each business number. Utility messages sent in reply inside the window are now charged as well.
| Category | How Meta bills it |
|---|---|
| Marketing template | Per delivered message, by market |
| Utility template | Per message, lower at monthly volume; replies inside the window charged since October 1, 2026 |
| Authentication template | Per message, lower at monthly volume |
| Service (non-template, from a person or a third-party AI) | First 1,000 a month per number free, then per message since October 1, 2026 |
| Meta Business Agent (Meta's own agent) | $2.00 per million tokens since August 1, 2026, with no free tier (Meta) |
From Meta's pricing pages, checked 5 November 2026. Meta can change rates on the first day of each quarter, and publishes rate cards by country.
- Meta charges only for delivered messages, and messages customers send you are free (Meta).
- The free tier is per business phone number, covers service messages only, and doesn't roll over.
- Without a payment method on file, Meta delivers service messages within the free tier and stops once it is used up.
- Eligible government and non-profit organizations keep service messages free beyond the tier through December 31, 2027.
- A conversation from a Click to WhatsApp ad opens a free entry point window, with no charge for marketing, utility, authentication or service messages.
When is Meta Business Agent the better buy?
When WhatsApp is your main channel, your answers come from your FAQs, website and files, and your sector is supported. Meta Business Agent is configured inside Meta, can call your APIs, and is billed per token, about 4 to 5 cents a message by Meta's estimate. It isn't offered for finance, government or health businesses.
Meta Business Agent handles WhatsApp conversations around the clock in your brand voice, answers from business information, FAQs, websites and files, and connects to your own APIs and webhooks. It covers every sector except finance, government, health, alcohol, gambling, over-the-counter drugs and matrimony services, and the business must be in a country where Meta offers it.
Meta estimates a typical message uses 20,000 to 25,000 tokens, about 4 to 5 cents. In its own Brazil example, a third-party AI service message costs about 2 to 3 cents when simple and 9 to 10 cents when complex, on model costs Meta estimated; Meta says the comparison isn't like for like (Meta).
- Choose Meta's agent when WhatsApp is the channel that matters, its sources and API connections cover what customers ask, and your sector is supported.
- Choose a custom chatbot when your sector is excluded, when it must act on orders or accounts with your own rules and approvals, when the same assistant must also answer in your app or help desk, or when the model must run in your country or on your servers (private AI).
If Meta Business Agent covers your need, we will say so on the first call. For one assistant across channels, see AI chatbot integration.
What does a WhatsApp chatbot cost to run and build?
Two running costs and the build. Meta's fees depend on your message categories, countries and volume, and model usage depends on conversation length. By our planning estimates, a WhatsApp chatbot that reads your business systems takes 480 to 960 hours to build, and one that takes actions 800 to 1,600. Engineering is $45 to $60 an hour.
| What the chatbot does | Build hours | At Webify.AI rates |
|---|---|---|
| Reads your business systems, such as orders | 480 to 960 | $22,800 to $45,600 |
| Takes actions, such as rebooking | 800 to 1,600 | $42,000 to $84,000 |
Planning estimates, not quotes. Maintenance is 20 to 40 hours a month in the first months, $1,050 to $2,100. Meta's fees and model usage come on top.
We price your expected message mix against Meta's rate card before you commit. See our AI agent cost guide and pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Does Meta allow AI chatbots on WhatsApp?
Yes, for businesses serving their own customers. Meta's terms bar AI providers whose main offering is the AI itself, such as a general-purpose assistant. A support or sales chatbot isn't affected.
Are WhatsApp service messages free?
The first 1,000 delivered each month on each business phone number are. Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges for service messages beyond that. Eligible government and non-profit organizations keep them free through December 31, 2027.
Do we need Meta business verification to use the Cloud API?
Not to start. Verification raises the limits on phone numbers, templates and messaging, and an admin of your business completes it in Business Manager.
Can a person take over from the chatbot?
Yes. Meta's Business Messaging Policy requires a clear escalation path when you automate replies, such as a transfer to a human agent in the chat.
Can WhatsApp conversations be used to train our AI model?
Meta's terms bar using WhatsApp Business Platform data to train or improve AI systems, with one exception: fine-tuning a model for your exclusive use. We design data handling around that rule.
Talk to an engineer about your WhatsApp chatbot
A conversation about your goals and systems, and a straight answer on whether an agent is the right tool. Paid work starts only after you have agreed a written scope.
- We sign your NDA before the first call if you need one
- You leave with a next step, even if the answer is "you don't need an agent"
- The code and IP are yours if you go ahead
Book a free first call
Pick a time, or send us the details and we will reply.