On the platforms we checked, a WhatsApp bot for a Malaysian business costs from RM0 to about RM1,424 a month in base plan fees, before AI add-ons and Meta’s per-message charges. This page covers prices only. For features and AI type vendor by vendor, see our side-by-side comparison of 7 WhatsApp chatbots in Malaysia.
We checked every figure on 24 September 2026, from Malaysia, on each vendor’s own pricing page and on Meta’s rate card. The pages are listed at the end so you can check them yourself. One of the options, ChatOwl, is ours.
WhatsApp bot Malaysia prices at a glance
| Type | Monthly cost | What the price includes | Extra costs to budget for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free WhatsApp Business app | RM0 | Greeting message, away message and quick replies, all fixed text | Staff time, because a person still answers every real question |
| Unofficial (grey-market) bots | About RM37 to RM90 on the tool we checked | Keyword replies and bulk sending through a QR-linked WhatsApp account | The risk to your number: WhatsApp can restrict or ban it |
| DIY platform on the official API | RM99 to about RM1,424 for the base plan, up to 27% less billed yearly | Shared inbox, flow or chatbot builder, broadcasts on most plans, though often not the cheapest one | AI add-ons or per-reply AI charges, extra users or contacts, Meta message fees, your own build time |
| Managed AI service | RM299 to RM999, with 2 months free when billed yearly | Setup done for you, AI trained on your own prices and FAQs, BM, English and Chinese | Meta message fees (how they reach you depends on the provider), fair-use caps |
USD prices on this page are converted at USD 1 = RM4.08, the mid-market rate on 23 and 24 September 2026. Your card or bank usually adds its own exchange spread on top.
1. Free WhatsApp Business app auto replies: RM0
The WhatsApp Business app is free to download and use, and there are no per-message charges inside it. You get a greeting message for new customers, an away message on a schedule, and quick replies you pull up by typing “/”. Setting them up takes a couple of minutes (step-by-step guide here), and we keep 50 message samples you can copy.
You pay in staff time instead. Each auto reply is one fixed text, so the person asking for a price gets the same line as the person asking for your address, and someone still has to answer both. The limits are covered in what auto reply can and cannot do.
One change to watch: Meta is rolling out its own AI, the Business Agent, inside the WhatsApp Business app for select businesses in a limited set of countries. Meta says getting started is free and that paid subscriptions are coming, but it has not published a price. We could not confirm from Meta that Malaysian businesses have access as of September 2026. If it shows up under Tools in your app, try it before you pay for anything else.
2. Unofficial bots and blasters: cheap to start, risky for your number
These tools link to your WhatsApp by scanning a QR code, the way WhatsApp Web does, and then automate the account from outside. They are usually sold on bulk sending, contact extraction and “number warm-up”. The Malaysian one we checked charges RM37 to RM90 a month, and says in its own FAQ that it is not sponsored, supported or affiliated with WhatsApp.
What you put at risk is the number itself, often the one on your signboard and saved in your customers’ phones. WhatsApp’s terms do not allow this kind of automation, and WhatsApp can restrict or ban accounts that use it. Bulk blasting is the quickest way to get noticed. No unofficial tool is ban-proof, whatever the reseller says. The official WhatsApp Business API is far safer than grey-market blasting, though Meta can still act on genuine policy breaches on any platform, so whoever sets you up should do it properly with you.
3. DIY platforms on the official API: from RM99 a month (RM89 billed yearly)
These give you a dashboard on the official WhatsApp Business API: a shared inbox, a flow or chatbot builder, some form of AI and, on most plans, broadcasts. You build the bot and keep it up to date yourself. Some price in Ringgit and some in US dollars.
| Platform | Cheapest plan with WhatsApp (monthly / billed yearly) | Plan for an AI that replies to customers | AI cost on top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chateefy (RM) | Essential: RM99 / RM89. The free plan has no WhatsApp | Essential lists “AI Integration” | No AI price shown on its pricing page |
| WATI (RM for Malaysian visitors) | Growth: RM399 / RM299 | Pro: RM1,099 / RM799, plus Astra | Astra Pro: USD 99 (about RM404) / USD 79 (about RM322) |
| Zaapi (USD) | Basic: USD 79 (about RM322) / USD 59 (about RM241) | Basic includes the AI agent | USD 40 (about RM163) per 1,000 AI messages |
| respond.io (USD) | Starter: USD 99 (about RM404) / USD 79 (about RM322). No AI agents, workflows or broadcasts | Growth: USD 199 (about RM812) / USD 159 (about RM649) | Included under fair use. Extra credits USD 15 (about RM61) per 1,000 |
What the headline price leaves out
- WATI’s 250 AI credits on Growth (500 on Pro) are Co-pilot credits, which help your staff draft replies. An AI agent that answers customers on its own is Astra, a separate product that needs WATI Pro or Business. Connecting your own AI instead is a USD 100 (about RM408) monthly add-on, also on Pro or Business. Growth includes 3 users and does not let you add more. Pro includes 5, then charges RM140 a month for each extra user. Template messages are billed on WATI’s own rate card, which is about 20% above Meta’s list price.
- Zaapi charges for every AI reply through tokens you buy separately, cheaper in bulk (USD 360 per 10,000). WhatsApp broadcasts need the Pro plan at USD 129 (about RM526), or USD 97 (about RM396) billed yearly. A fourth seat on Basic costs USD 35 (about RM143) a month.
- respond.io prices Growth and Advanced (USD 349, about RM1,424) by monthly active contacts. The headline price covers 1,000 of them, and each extra 100 costs USD 12 (about RM49) on Growth. WhatsApp message fees sit outside the subscription as credit you top up. Malaysian visitors also see a banner offering special pricing through sales.
- Chateefy caps Essential at 1,000 contacts. Another 1,000 contacts costs RM100 a month, and so does an extra bot. “AI Integration” is listed without a separate price, so ask what the AI does and whether it costs more.
The DIY cost that no platform invoices you for is your own time. Someone has to write the flows or train the AI, test it against real customer questions, and update it every time your prices change. Zaapi and Chateefy both offer done-for-you builds, but neither shows a price for them on its pricing page. If you are weighing two of these in particular, we also wrote up a WATI alternative and a Zaapi alternative for service businesses.
4. Managed AI service: RM299 to RM999 a month
This is what a done-for-you chatbot company in Malaysia sells, us included. The provider connects the official API for you, trains the AI on your own price list and FAQs, and keeps it tuned. The AI takes the repetitive questions off your team in BM, English and Chinese, and you can take over any chat. You pay in Ringgit and you do not build anything. Two Malaysian examples, with what each price tier includes:
- ForwardChat’s Starter is RM299 a month (RM249 billed yearly), with up to 6,000 AI replies a month under fair use, 200 image recognitions and one WhatsApp number. Growth, RM499 (RM416 yearly), raises that to 12,000 replies, 500 image recognitions and 2 numbers. Pro, RM999 (RM832 yearly), allows 24,000 replies, 2,000 image recognitions and 5 numbers. Setup is free and there is a 7-day trial. The AI pauses at the cap instead of billing overage. ForwardChat says Meta bills broadcasts straight to your own WhatsApp Business account and that it adds no markup.
- ChatOwl is ours. On every plan, Starter included, the AI answers on your website and inside WhatsApp once your number is approved by Meta (how our WhatsApp AI chatbot works).
- Starter, RM299 a month, also gives price ranges from your own price list, a lead inbox app on your phone and lead alerts. Pro, RM499, adds photo reading, appointment requests that offer your real open slots for you to approve, and Telegram. Business, RM999, adds our most capable AI, Instagram and Facebook once approved, and multiple outlets and marketplaces. Paying yearly gives 2 months free (RM2,990, RM4,990 or RM9,990 a year).
- We add no per-message fees of our own, and we cover Meta’s WhatsApp fee up to 2,000 messages a month on Starter, 3,000 on Pro and 5,000 on Business. Above that, we pass Meta’s fee on at cost, about 6 sen a message. Fair use on AI replies is a separate figure: up to 8,000 a month on Starter and 15,000 on Pro.
- Setup is free and done for you. The website side is usually live within a day, and WhatsApp follows once your number is approved by Meta. We handle that application with you. There is a 14-day money-back and you can cancel anytime. All three plans are on our pricing page.
The trade-off against DIY is control. The provider runs the bot, so you change less yourself, and for an owner with no time to build one, that is the point. Before you sign with any managed provider, us included, ask what the fair-use volume is and who pays Meta’s message fees on your number.
What you pay Meta per message
Every official-API option, DIY or managed, runs on Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform, and Meta has charged per message there since 1 July 2025. The free WhatsApp Business app does not carry these charges. The rates below are Meta’s list prices for messages to Malaysian numbers, from its pricing page updated 10 September 2026.
A template is a pre-approved message you use to start a conversation or to write outside the chat window: a promotion (marketing), a reminder or order update (utility), or a one-time login code (authentication). The 24-hour customer service window opens each time a customer messages you, and the ordinary replies you send inside it are service messages.
| Message to a Malaysian number | Until 30 Sep 2026 | From 1 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing template | RM0.3467 each | RM0.3467 each |
| Utility template, outside a chat window | RM0.0564 | RM0.0564 |
| Utility template, inside an open window | Free | RM0.0564 |
| Authentication template | RM0.0564 | RM0.0564 |
| Service reply, from staff or a bot | Free | RM0.0564 |
| Chat started from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or Facebook Page button, if you reply within 24 hours | Free for 72 hours | Free for 72 hours |
The fine print on Meta’s charges
- Some providers say Meta gives each number 1,000 free service messages a month. The Meta pricing page does not list a free allowance as of 25 September 2026, so this guide counts every reply.
- The 72-hour free window only opens when the customer taps the ad or Page button in the WhatsApp app on an Android or iOS phone (not WhatsApp Web or desktop) and you reply within 24 hours. It covers template and service messages, but not Meta’s own AI agent.
- If the WhatsApp Business account that sends your messages (yours, or your provider’s if they pay Meta for you) has no payment method on file by 30 September 2026, Meta stops delivering service messages from 1 October 2026.
- Utility and authentication get cheaper at very high volumes (utility from 150,000 messages a month). Marketing has no volume tiers.
- These are list prices, and a platform that bills messages for you can charge more. WATI’s Malaysia rate card (updated 1 July 2026) lists marketing at USD 0.1032 against Meta’s USD 0.086, with utility and authentication at the same 1.2 times. ForwardChat says it adds no markup. respond.io’s pricing page does not say either way.
- Meta’s own AI agent is a separate message category on the Business Platform, charged since 1 August 2026 at USD 2 per million tokens. Meta puts that at about 4 to 5 US cents (roughly RM0.16 to RM0.20) a message. Separately, Meta says getting started with the Business Agent inside the WhatsApp Business app costs nothing, and it has not said how the two prices relate.
Worked example: one month for a small service business
This is an illustration, not a quote. It adds up the list prices on this page for one made-up business so you can see how the pieces combine. Your own numbers will be different.
The assumptions:
- One WhatsApp number, no more than three staff logins, and fewer than 1,000 customer contacts.
- 1,500 replies in the month (about 50 a day), all sent inside the 24-hour window. To keep the sums simple, we count all 1,500 as AI replies on the AI options. In practice your team takes over some chats.
- No broadcasts or other template messages.
- Monthly billing with no yearly discount, and USD at RM4.08.
- Zaapi’s AI tokens are counted pro rata at USD 40 per 1,000. Bought as two 1,000-message packs they would cost USD 80 (about RM326), and that row would come to about RM733.
- The month is October 2026 or later, so Meta charges for service replies: 1,500 replies at RM0.0564 is RM84.60.
| Option (who answers customers) | Total for the month | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|
| Free WhatsApp Business app (your staff, using quick replies) | RM0 | No platform fee and no Meta fees in the app |
| Chateefy Essential (a chatbot flow you build) | RM183.60 | RM99 plan + RM84.60 Meta |
| WATI Growth (a chatbot flow you build) | RM483.60 | RM399 plan + RM84.60 Meta |
| Zaapi Basic plus AI tokens (an AI agent you set up) | About RM652 | About RM322 plan + about RM245 for 1,500 AI messages at USD 40 per 1,000 + RM84.60 Meta |
| respond.io Growth (an AI agent you set up) | About RM897 | About RM812 plan with AI included under fair use + RM84.60 Meta |
| WATI Pro plus Astra Pro (an AI agent you set up) | About RM1,588 | RM1,099 plan + about RM404 Astra + RM84.60 Meta |
| ForwardChat Starter (managed AI) | RM383.60 | RM299 plan + RM84.60 Meta |
| ChatOwl Starter, ours (managed AI) | RM299 | RM299 plan. We pay the RM84.60 Meta fee, because 1,500 messages is inside the 2,000 a month Starter covers |
We added Meta’s charge at list rate, with no margin, to every official-API row except ChatOwl’s. Depending on the provider, Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business account, or the provider passes the charge on to you, sometimes with a margin (see WATI above). On ChatOwl we cover Meta’s fee up to 2,000 messages a month on Starter, so this month’s RM84.60 is on us. In a busier month, we pass on Meta’s fee for each message over 2,000 at cost, about 6 sen each. Astra Pro’s 5,000 credits cover the 1,500 replies at 1 credit for a simple reply and 3 for a rich one, and both managed rows stay well inside their fair-use volumes. The DIY rows also leave out the hours someone on your side spends building and updating the bot.
Questions to ask before you pay
- Is the AI in the price one that replies to customers by itself, or one that only helps your staff write replies?
- Is AI usage charged per message, capped under fair use, or included?
- How many users and contacts does the plan include, and what does the next one cost?
- Is the headline price the monthly rate or the yearly one, and in which currency? Paying yearly cuts roughly 20 to 27% on WATI, respond.io and Zaapi, and gives 2 months free on ChatOwl and ForwardChat.
- Who pays Meta’s message fees on your number, and is there a markup?
- Is the setup in the price or quoted separately, and who pays for the time to update the bot when your prices change?
Which option fits your budget
Here are the totals from the worked example above (1,500 replies, monthly billing, Meta’s fees included), grouped into bands:
- RM0 is the free WhatsApp Business app with your staff answering. If you only get a handful of messages a day, mostly simple questions, that is usually enough, and it is worth checking whether Meta’s Business Agent has reached your account.
- About RM130 to RM430 a month buys a DIY flow builder such as Chateefy Essential or WATI Growth. Add the hours someone on your team spends building and updating the flows.
- About RM300 to RM330 a month is the managed range, ForwardChat Starter or ChatOwl Starter (ours) in the example, with the setup done for you.
- About RM600 to RM1,530 a month covers a DIY platform with an AI agent that answers customers, such as Zaapi, respond.io or WATI with Astra, plus your own time to set it up.
Price is only one filter. To choose on features, see how the 7 WhatsApp chatbots compare.
Common questions
How much does a WhatsApp bot cost in Malaysia?
On the plans we checked in September 2026: RM0 for the free WhatsApp Business app’s auto replies, RM99 to about RM1,424 a month for a DIY platform’s base plan before AI add-ons (up to 27% less billed yearly), and RM299 to RM999 a month for a managed AI service. Bots on the official API also carry Meta’s charges for template messages, and from 1 October 2026 for replies beyond 1,000 a month per number.
Is there a totally free WhatsApp bot for business?
The free WhatsApp Business app has greeting messages, away messages and quick replies, all of which send fixed text. Meta is also rolling out a free-to-start AI agent inside the app for select businesses in some countries, with paid plans announced, but we could not confirm it is open in Malaysia as of September 2026. A bot on the official API costs money, through a platform fee, a managed service fee or your own developer time, plus any Meta message charges.
Does WhatsApp charge per message in Malaysia?
On the official WhatsApp Business Platform, yes. Meta charges for delivered template messages to a Malaysian number, apart from the free cases in the table above: RM0.3467 for marketing and RM0.0564 for utility or authentication. Ordinary replies inside the 24-hour window are free until 30 September 2026. From 1 October 2026 each reply costs RM0.0564. The free WhatsApp Business app has no per-message charges.
Who pays Meta’s fees on a managed AI service?
It depends on the provider, so ask before you sign. ForwardChat says Meta bills broadcasts straight to your own WhatsApp Business account with no markup, and it tells customers that Meta charges for replies beyond the free 1,000 a month. On ChatOwl, which is ours, we add no per-message fees of our own, and we cover Meta’s WhatsApp fee up to 2,000 messages a month on Starter, 3,000 on Pro and 5,000 on Business. Above that, we pass Meta’s fee on at cost, about 6 sen a message.
What is the official WhatsApp Business API?
Meta’s approved way for software to send and receive WhatsApp messages for a business. Meta hosts it as the Cloud API. Every legitimate third-party bot, DIY or managed, runs on it, and it is where Meta’s per-message pricing applies.
Can I keep my existing WhatsApp number?
Yes. A number already on the WhatsApp Business app can be moved onto the official API. Before you switch, ask your provider how they handle the move, including what happens to your existing chat history.
Why do some platforms show prices in US dollars?
respond.io and Zaapi price in US dollars, even for visitors from Malaysia, so your Ringgit cost moves with the exchange rate and your card’s conversion fee. WATI shows Malaysian visitors Ringgit prices for its main plans, but prices its Astra AI agents in US dollars. ChatOwl, ForwardChat and Chateefy bill in Ringgit. On this page we converted at USD 1 = RM4.08.
Where these prices come from
We read these pages on 24 September 2026 from a Malaysian connection. Vendors change their prices, so check the page before you sign up.
- Meta: WhatsApp Business Platform pricing and service and Business Agent message pricing
- Meta: Business Agent announcement (3 June 2026)
- WATI: plans and Astra AI agent pricing
- respond.io pricing
- Zaapi pricing (Malaysia)
- ForwardChat pricing
- Chateefy pricing
See it answer your own customers
We set up a working demo on your real price list before you pay anything, in BM, English and Chinese. From RM299 a month, with the AI on your website and inside your WhatsApp once your number is approved by Meta.