WhatsApp chatbot for a Brazilian business: types, rules, costs and platforms

A WhatsApp chatbot for a Brazilian business runs on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, the official API. A customer writes, Meta passes the message to your platform by webhook, and the bot replies inside the 24-hour customer service window. You draw the bot in a no-code flow builder, add an AI step if it must answer free text from your own documents, and set rules that pass the chat to a person. Meta's policy requires that last part.

Costs change on 1 October 2026. Until 30 September, the bot's replies inside the window cost nothing on Meta's side. From 1 October, Meta charges R$0.0350 per delivered reply once a business number has used its 1,000 free messages of the month. The platform plan, AI usage and often a setup fee come on top.

Three kinds of WhatsApp chatbot

• Flow bot, built without code. Menus, buttons, lists and keywords drawn in a visual builder. It handles routing, opening hours, lead qualification and order status, and breaks on free text.
• AI chatbot with a knowledge base. A language model answers free text from documents, pages and Q&A pairs you load (retrieval, often called RAG). It suits product and policy questions and gets answers wrong when the content is missing or stale.
• AI agent. An AI chatbot that also calls tools: looks up an order, updates the CRM, books a slot, sends a Pix charge. Because it acts on real data, it needs permission limits, logs and a human fallback. AI agents on WhatsApp and MCP goes deeper.

What WhatsApp requires

The official API. The bot runs on the WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), directly with Meta or through a provider. Tools that link a phone by QR code are not part of it; see official vs unofficial WhatsApp API.

Opt-in for messages you start. Meta's Business Messaging Policy lets a business contact people only if they gave it their number and opted in, and Meta's opt-in guide asks that the person see clearly which business will write. A customer who writes first can be answered; opt-in matters when you later send a template.

The 24-hour window. Free-form replies (text, media, buttons, lists, WhatsApp Flows) are allowed only within 24 hours of the customer's last message, and each new message restarts the clock. After that, only an approved template reopens the chat; see WhatsApp message templates.

A way to reach a person. Automation inside the window is allowed with "prompt, clear, and direct escalation paths": a transfer to a human agent in the chat, a phone number, email, web support, a store visit or a support form.

Meta's rule on AI providers. Section 4.7 of the Meta Terms for WhatsApp Business Platform (updated 23 September 2026) restricts companies whose product is a general-purpose AI assistant. Brazil is a market where Meta says it must allow them, and since 11 March 2026 it charges them for every free-form message. A company answering its own customers with AI is not such an AI Provider. If you hire one as your solution provider, WhatsApp data may not train AI models, except to fine-tune one used only by your business.

How inbound automation works

1. The customer writes, taps a button or arrives from a Click to WhatsApp ad, and Meta sends a webhook (an HTTP request with JSON) to your platform.
2. The platform matches a flow by keyword, button or ad, or hands the text to the AI step, which pulls passages from the knowledge base and drafts a reply.
3. The reply goes back through Cloud API: text, up to three reply buttons, a list with up to 10 options, or a WhatsApp Flow form.
4. When a handoff rule fires, the chat moves to the team inbox and the bot pauses: BotConversa for 60 minutes after an attendant replies, Manychat for 30 minutes by default.

Setting up a WhatsApp chatbot, step by step

1. Pick one job for launch: order status, scheduling, FAQs or lead qualification.
2. Connect the number to the official API through a provider; how to choose a BSP.
3. Write the greeting: company name, a link to the privacy notice, and a first menu of three buttons or one list that includes "talk to a person".
4. Load the knowledge base with current policies, prices and FAQs, and put 30 to 50 real customer questions to it before launch.
5. Set handoff rules: keywords, a limit on failed answers, business hours and an after-hours message.
6. Read transcripts weekly for missed questions and late handoffs.

Costs that matter for a bot

Meta's charges for recipients in Brazil:

Message	Until 30 Sep 2026	From 1 Oct 2026
Customer's messages to you	Free	Free
Bot and agent replies inside the window (service)	Free	R$0.0350 after 1,000 free per number a month
Utility template inside the window	Free	R$0.0350
Utility template outside the window	R$0.0350	R$0.0350
Marketing template	R$0.3217	R$0.3217

Chats that start from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button get a 72-hour window in which every message is free.

From October, a chatty bot costs more. The allowance counts delivered messages per number and does not carry over, so a menu sent as three bubbles uses three messages where one interactive message with buttons uses one. A number that delivers 3,000 replies in a month pays for 2,000 at R$0.0350 each. Several platforms resell Meta's fees at their own per-message rate, shown on each card; monthly totals are in WhatsApp API pricing in Brazil.

On the provider's side, watch three things:

• The entry price may not include the bot. Kommo starts from $20/month, but that Base plan has no Salesbot or AI agent for new customers. Zenvia's Starter costs from R$100/month + R$649 one-time setup, lists WhatsApp conversations as sandbox only, and leaves bot-to-human transfer to Specialist.
• AI is billed differently. Included with a cap (Kommo Advanced: three active AI agents), sold as an add-on (Poli Digital, Digisac, Blip's Studio), or run on your own model key (Manychat, SendPulse), in which case the model vendor bills you.
• Setup fees. RD Station Conversas costs from R$1,099/month + R$1,999 one-time setup; Poli Digital from R$369.90/month + from R$1,197.90 one-time setup; Octadesk from R$2,499/month + one-time setup fee on request.

Which WhatsApp chatbot platforms cost the least?

For a bot, the price that matters is the plan that includes it: the cheapest plan with the official API and automation of incoming messages, which is also the plan each platform is scored on. Sorted by that price:

With a no-code flow builder

With AI answering customers (an AI chatbot, or an agent that takes actions)

Add Meta's fees where the platform passes them through, and any setup fee. For a like-for-like total with two agents, 1,000 replies and 1,000 utility templates a month, the lowest in the catalog is SendPulse, R$146.00 a month; the pricing guide lists every platform whose total can be calculated.

LGPD points for a chatbot

Points to check with your encarregado (data protection officer) or lawyer, not legal advice:

• Say who is talking. Name the company and link the privacy notice in the first message (LGPD art. 9).
• Ask only what the task needs (art. 6, III). A CPF to find an order, yes; a CPF before saying the opening hours, no.
• Keep proof of opt-in. The burden of proving consent is on the company (art. 8, §2): store date, channel and wording.
• Health data is sensitive. Clinics and pharmacies need specific, highlighted consent or another art. 11 basis; hand those chats to a person early.
• Automated decisions can be reviewed. If the bot approves credit or eligibility, the customer may ask for a review (art. 20).
• Route rights requests for access, correction or deletion (art. 18) to the encarregado (art. 41).
• Know where the data goes. Platforms and AI models often process data abroad, allowed only in the cases of art. 33.
• Regulated services (telecom, electricity, health plans) also follow Decreto 11.034/2022: first access to an attendant cannot depend on the customer giving data, and ads during the wait need consent (art. 4, §4 and §5).

Which platforms offer a builder, AI and handoff

From each card, for the plan the card scores, checked 24 September 2026. Other plans of the same product can differ.

• Builder, AI agent, knowledge base, handoff from bot and AI: Blip Platform (Plus), BotConversa (Pro), Botmaker (Standard), Infobip (AgentOS), Kommo (Advanced), Octadesk (One), respond.io (Growth), SendPulse (Pro), Treble (Base), VTEX CX Platform (Weni).
• The same, but the AI answers without taking actions: Digisac, RD Station Conversas (Basic), Sinch (Chatlayer), Umbler Talk (Essencial), Zenvia (Specialist).
• With gaps:
  • Blip Go: AI chatbot, knowledge base and handoff; the automation is pre-built, not drawn.
  • Poli Digital: flow builder; the AI chatbot is an add-on whose knowledge base and handoff appear only on the sales page.
  • Manychat (Pro): builder and an AI Step on WhatsApp; the knowledge base works on Instagram only.
  • WATI (Growth): builder, AI chatbot, knowledge base; bot-to-person assignment is documented only on Pro and Business.
  • Gupshup (Console CX): builder and handoff; whether AI is included is not stated.
  • Huggy: builder and handoff; AI only through partners such as Rotik or n8n.
  • Twilio: Studio builder and a knowledge base; you bring the AI model, and documented handoffs need Twilio Flex, a separate product.
  • 360dialog: API without its own builder; its AI agent is Meta Business Agent, Meta's product in early access, billed by Meta.

The ranking of WhatsApp platforms for Brazil weighs these facts with price, API depth, Pix, support and reputation.

Related guides

• WhatsApp Business API in Brazil: the full guide
• WhatsApp API pricing in Brazil
• WhatsApp message templates
• AI agents on WhatsApp and MCP
• WhatsApp CRM guide for Brazil
• WhatsApp Cloud API explained

About this guide

Written by the editorial team of WABA Index, an independent catalog of WhatsApp Business platforms for companies selling in Brazil. No platform pays for its position or for a mention, and the site has no affiliate links. Scoring rules: methodology.

Methodology

On 24 September 2026 the editors read Meta's pricing pages (standard, non-template and AI Provider), its message, webhook and opt-in docs, the Business Messaging Policy, section 4.7 of Meta's platform terms, the LGPD, Decreto 11.034/2022 and the 23 platform cards. Rates, prices and fees come from the catalog data at build time. Nothing was tested hands-on; features come from vendors' public pages, recorded on each card.

Last updated

24 September 2026: Meta's rates for Brazil before and after 1 October 2026, the policy and terms quoted, and the builder, AI and handoff facts on every card.

FAQ

Is a WhatsApp chatbot free to run?

Until 30 September 2026, replies inside the 24-hour window are free on Meta's side. From 1 October 2026 each costs R$0.0350 after 1,000 free per number a month. The platform plan and AI usage are separate.

Can I connect ChatGPT or another AI model to my number?

Yes, for your own customer service, through a platform connected to the official API. General-purpose AI assistant companies follow separate rules, and WhatsApp data may not train models other than one fine-tuned only for your business.

Do I need a developer?

Not for flow bots or AI chatbots on a no-code builder. API-first offers such as 360dialog's API expect your own code, and an AI agent linked to your order system needs someone to connect it.

Can a bot get my number banned?

Bots on the official API are allowed. Blocks and reports lower a number's quality, and long periods of low quality limit how many people it can reach. Opt-in and a quick path to a person lower that risk; no provider can remove it.