Is there a free WhatsApp chatbot?

Yes, there are free ways to start: Meta's native tools, free starting access, and no-cost plans from other vendors. What they include varies sharply. Some organise manual replies, others test automation, and very few connect WhatsApp without restrictions on usage, channel access, availability, or continuity.

First define what must happen without a person. If you only need a catalog, greeting, away message, and saved replies, the WhatsApp Business app can make manual service more orderly without setting up a conversational agent.

If the system must understand open questions, recommend products, book appointments, or hand a conversation over with context, you are evaluating an agent. Meta offers a self-serve Business Agent that it describes as free to get started for eligible businesses, while also announcing future paid subscriptions and publishing no duration or allowance for that access.

A free tier may also hide a different channel. Manychat Free is USD 0 per month, but its own plan excludes WhatsApp. Chatbase Free is USD 0 per month and publishes one agent with fifty monthly credits; while Chatbase documents a WhatsApp connection, its public information does not confirm that connection on Free.

The verifiable choices fall into four groups: manual WhatsApp Business tools, Meta Business Agent starting access, free tiers that exclude WhatsApp, and free tiers whose channel access is not confirmed. A useful comparison keeps price, WhatsApp availability, allowance, team access, and continuity in separate columns.

This table does not list everything that appears in a search. It includes only options supported by the site's fact packs and keeps the gap visible whenever a vendor does not publish the exact plan-and-channel combination.

A USD 0 tier that cannot connect WhatsApp can still teach you how automation works on Instagram or Messenger, but it does not answer this page's question. Free access with no end date can support a trial; it cannot support a reliable annual budget yet.

Limits usually appear in five places: WhatsApp is excluded, the allowance only supports a trial, one person gets access, actions on business systems are unavailable, or free access can change. Meta usage or template charges may also apply even when the software has no monthly subscription.

The first filter is the channel. If a free plan lists Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, and Telegram but excludes WhatsApp, there is nothing to configure: connecting your number requires a paid tier. That is the published position for Manychat Free.

The second is the work an agent can finish. Answering from uploaded information is not the same as checking stock, updating a CRM, creating a payment, booking an appointment, or leaving a task for somebody else. Ask about each concrete action rather than a broad artificial-intelligence label.

The third is continuity. Chatbase deletes free agents after fourteen inactive days. Meta publishes no end date or allowance for its free starting access and has already announced paid offers. A trial can prove the conversation works without proving the operating cost.

Finally, there is Meta's infrastructure. From August 1, 2026, the platform version of Meta Business Agent costs USD 2 per million tokens, and WhatsApp templates have their own charges. A free subscription and a free operation are not the same thing.

A free option stops being enough when a conversation must end in a verified action: checking inventory, quoting with conditions, collecting payment, booking, updating the CRM, or following up. It also falls short when several people need shared context, permissions, and a clear handoff between agent and team.

Do not pay merely because one week brought more messages. Pay when the limit breaks the result: the customer has to repeat details, somebody copies information between systems, a quote gets no reply, or the agent guesses because it cannot reach the source of truth.

Test against real conversations. Mark which ones end with a fixed answer and which require a lookup or an action. If most are opening hours, directions, and a basic catalog, keep the simple option. If the important work starts after the answer, compare full capability and total cost.

Before migrating, get a written answer on contact and conversation exports, number ownership, approved templates, and charges outside the plan. A clean exit is worth more than a free trial that is hard to dismantle.

No. Eva starts at $191 USD per month with annual billing or $229 USD month to month on the Essential plan. The price includes an AI agent and CRM; it makes sense when conversations must retrieve data, complete tasks, and keep context, not when you only want to test automatic replies.

Eva has no free plan, and we will not blur that fact. It is our product, so the fair comparison is against the complete job you want handled: answering, checking a catalog, recording the contact, moving the opportunity, creating a payment or appointment, and carrying follow-up from the same conversation.

If all you need today is a greeting, catalog, and quick replies, start with WhatsApp Business. If you want to validate an automated conversation and your account is eligible, try Meta's starting access. Eva begins to make sense once you can name the tasks you need completed and the cost when they are missed.

In a demo, we will also tell you when changing is unnecessary. Bring real examples, the number of people answering, and what happens after each message; that is enough to compare the free option against the full cost rather than the front-page price.

• Manychat Free and Chatbase Free were checked on their public pricing pages on July 28, 2026; figures remain in USD with no conversion.
• Meta Business Agent limits come from Meta's announcement, product page, and platform pricing documentation checked on July 28, 2026.
• No WhatsApp connection is presented as free when the vendor does not clearly publish its plan eligibility.
• Eva is our product; its amounts are read from the site's pricing catalog and change when that catalog changes.