WhatsApp Chatbot: How to Create One Step by Step (2026)

There are three ways to run a chatbot on WhatsApp. The WhatsApp Business app includes a free greeting message, away message and quick replies, but it does not answer questions for you. A platform connected to the WhatsApp Business API answers every message, with a menu of options or with an AI agent, without any coding. And if you have developers, you can build your own bot on Meta's API. The "free bots" that connect by scanning the WhatsApp Web QR code break WhatsApp's terms, and the number can end up banned.

What is a WhatsApp chatbot

It is a program that answers the messages your WhatsApp number receives without a person typing each reply. There are three levels. A menu bot shows fixed options ("reply 1 for prices"). An AI that answers understands the question however it is written and replies with your information. An AI agent also does things inside the conversation, like booking an appointment or taking an order. The full difference is in chatbot vs AI agent.

Option 1: WhatsApp Business automatic replies (free)

The WhatsApp Business app has three reply tools under the Tools tab:

• Greeting message. Sent when a customer messages you for the first time, or messages you again after 14 days of inactivity. You choose whether it goes to everyone, to people not in your address book, to everyone except some, or only to some.
• Away message. Tells people you can't reply right now. You schedule it to send always, on a custom schedule, or outside your business hours, if you set them in your business profile.
• Quick replies. Saved texts, photos or videos that you insert by typing "/" in the chat. You can save up to 50.

With these tools, anyone who messages you for the first time gets a reply right away. But the app does not understand questions or answer for you beyond those cases, and a person still sends each quick reply. The phone also needs an internet connection for greeting and away messages to go out. The rest of the app is covered in WhatsApp for business.

Option 2: a platform connected to the WhatsApp Business API

For a chatbot to actually answer, your number has to be on the WhatsApp Business API, Meta's official platform for businesses. Chatbot platforms make that connection for you, and you set up the bot from their dashboard, without coding. Depending on the platform, the bot follows a menu you build from blocks or answers with an AI agent that reads your business information.

What you need:

• A number. A new one or the one you already use in the app. With Coexistence you keep replying from the WhatsApp Business app while the bot answers through the API on the same number.
• A Meta business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business Account. The platform walks you through creating them. We explain each one in what is a WABA.
• Your business information. Prices, hours, catalog, shipping and return policies, and the questions you get most.

Two Meta rules apply to any bot on the API. The first is the customer service window. When a customer messages you, you have 24 hours to reply freely, and the timer resets with each of their messages. Outside that window you can only send templates approved by Meta, and only to people who agreed to receive your messages. We explain it in the WhatsApp 24-hour window. The second is cost. Meta charges per delivered message by category and the customer's country, and since October 1, 2026 it also charges for your replies inside the window, with 1,000 free per number per month. The details are in WhatsApp Business API pricing. The platform adds its own fee.

Option 3: build it yourself on Meta's API

If you have developers, you can connect your own system to the WhatsApp Cloud API, receive messages by webhook and reply from your server, with a language model if you want AI. You get full control, and your team takes care of hosting, the knowledge base, testing, the handoff to a person and the adjustments every time Meta changes something.

Meta's rule on AI in WhatsApp

This rule applies to options 2 and 3. Since January 15, 2026, Meta's terms for the WhatsApp Business Platform (section 4.7) only allow general-purpose AI assistants, like a ChatGPT inside WhatsApp, in countries where the law requires Meta to accept them, such as Brazil and the European Economic Area. A chatbot that answers your own business's customers uses AI as part of your customer service, which is what the platform is for. And if your provider is an AI company, the terms do not let it use your conversations to train its models, except to fine-tune one for your business's exclusive use.

How to create a WhatsApp chatbot step by step

With a platform, which is option 2, the process has six steps:

1. Define what it has to handle. Go through your recent chats and list the questions that come up most, what the bot should do with each one (answer, book, take an order) and what it must never say, like a price that changes or a discount that does not exist.
2. Decide when it hands over to a person. Complaints, payments, large orders or any customer who asks. Write it down as a rule.
3. Connect your number. If you already serve customers from the WhatsApp Business app, Coexistence lets you connect that same number and keep using the app.
4. Load your business information. Your website, price lists, catalog and policies. An AI agent answers from that, and it may make up whatever is missing, as we explain in why AI agents make things up.
5. Test it with real questions before launch. Use your list from step 1, including the messy questions, and check that it answers correctly, follows your rules and hands over when it should. The guide is in how to test a WhatsApp AI agent.
6. Launch it and review the conversations. In the first week, read the conversations every day and fix what it got wrong. What to look for is in how to know if your AI agent answers well.

Is there a free WhatsApp chatbot?

Only the WhatsApp Business app tools are completely free: greeting message, away message and quick replies. On the API, Meta charges for delivered messages, with 1,000 free replies per number per month, and platforms charge a subscription, though many have a trial period.

The "free WhatsApp bots" installed by scanning the WhatsApp Web QR code, and modified versions of the app, are a different case. WhatsApp's help center says its apps are not intended for automated or bulk messaging, that this has always violated its terms, and that using unofficial apps can lead to a temporary or permanent ban. If your number is your sales channel, the risk is not worth it.

If customers also message you on Instagram, the options are similar. We cover them in Instagram DM automation.

Common questions

How do I create a chatbot for WhatsApp? Connect your number to a platform that uses the official WhatsApp Business API, load your business information, define when it hands over to a person and test it with real questions before launch. If you have developers, you can also build it on Meta's Cloud API.

Can I have a free chatbot on WhatsApp Business? The WhatsApp Business app includes a free greeting message, away message and up to 50 quick replies. A chatbot that understands questions and answers on its own needs the API, where Meta charges per delivered message.

Can I use my existing WhatsApp number? Yes. With Coexistence, the same number works in the WhatsApp Business app and on the API at the same time, so the bot answers and you keep replying from your phone.

Can I put ChatGPT on my business WhatsApp? You can use AI to serve your customers. What Meta's terms restrict since January 15, 2026 is offering general-purpose AI assistants through the WhatsApp Business Platform, except in countries where the law requires Meta to allow it. An agent that answers with your business information is the common use.

Can my number get banned for using a bot? Using a bot through the official API is allowed. Bans usually come from unofficial bots connected through WhatsApp Web and from bulk messages to people who did not agree to receive them.

---

Ciarem answers your WhatsApp conversations with an AI agent that knows your business, and the same agent handles Instagram and your website chat. You test it before launch, and it hands over to your team when needed. Create your WhatsApp chatbot with Ciarem.