A WhatsApp chatbot is one of the fastest ways for a South African business to answer enquiries after hours. The question we hear most is what it actually costs. Here is a plain breakdown of the three parts that make up the price.
1. Setup and build
This covers conversation design, Meta verification, building the flows, connecting your CRM or calendar and testing. A focused lead qualification bot for one department typically costs between R9 500 and R25 000. Bots that handle bookings, stock lookups or multiple departments sit higher because there is more to connect and test.
2. Monthly running costs
Every bot needs hosting, monitoring and tuning. Expect a monthly fee of R1 200 to R3 500 depending on volume and how much ongoing improvement you want. This is where a good partner earns their keep: reviewing conversations and improving answers so the bot gets better every month.
3. Meta’s message fees
Meta charges for certain messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform, mainly template messages your business starts, such as reminders and marketing. Replies to customers who message you first are generally free within the customer service window. These fees are billed by Meta at cost and for most small businesses they are modest compared to the build and running costs.
What pushes the price up or down
- Number of conversation paths and departments
- Integrations with CRMs, calendars, stock systems or DMS platforms
- AI answers trained on your own documents
- Reporting dashboards for owners
- Volume of conversations each month
Is it worth it?
If your team misses enquiries after 17:00 or spends hours answering the same questions, a chatbot usually pays for itself quickly. One booked test drive, fitment or consultation a week often covers the monthly fee.
Want a fixed quote for your business? Tell us what you need and we will come back within one business day, or read more about our WhatsApp AI chatbots.