Buyer's guide · AI chatbots
The best WhatsApp AI chatbots for business — and how each one charges for the AI
The best WhatsApp AI chatbot answers from your own prices, policies and products, hands the chat to a person when it isn't sure, and doesn't lock you into buying AI credits. MotherBot runs AI replies on your own AI account — OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic and others — so the AI provider bills you directly for what you use, with no credits to buy from us.
Updated 27 October 2026. Competitor prices quoted from each vendor’s own pricing page, checked 3 September 2026.
At a glance
The short version. Every row links to the detail below.
| Tool | Best for | Starts at | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
1. MotherBot | AI on your own AI account, no credits | ₹0 · Free Forever | Yes |
2. respond.io | The most complete AI agent for global teams | $79/mo · Starter | No |
3. Gallabox | AI lead qualification in the plan | ₹2,399/mo · Basic | No |
4. Trengo | An AI agent in a mature European inbox | €299/mo · Boost | No |
5. AiSensy | A low base price, AI as an add-on | ₹0 · Free Forever | Yes |
6. Manychat | AI for Instagram and TikTok DMs | $0 · Free | Yes |
We make MotherBot, so it’s first on our own list — read it knowing that. To keep it fair, every competitor figure is quoted from that company’s own page, “Not published” means they don’t say (not that they can’t), and each card names where the tool is weaker, ours included.
What to look for
01
It answers from your information
An AI reply is only useful if it uses your prices, timings, policies and products. Look for a knowledge base you can fill with documents, web pages and your product list.
02
It knows when to stop
When the AI isn't sure, or the customer asks for a person, the chat should go to your team with the whole conversation attached.
03
How the AI is charged
Some tools sell AI as credits or a monthly add-on; others let you use your own AI account. Work out the cost at your real volume before you compare plans.
04
Buttons and AI together
Bookings, payments and order tracking work best as buttons and steps. AI is for the open questions in between. The best tools mix both in one bot.
05
It can do things, not just talk
Looking up an order, booking a slot or handing over to a person mid-conversation turns an AI that chats into one that resolves.
06
Limits you control
How many AI turns a conversation may take, how much of the chat it remembers, and what happens if the AI provider fails.
The list
1. MotherBot
Ten channels, one inbox, built in India
Best for: AI on your own AI account, no credits
AI replies run on your own account with OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic and other providers, so you pay the provider's own rate and there are no AI credits to buy from us. Answers from your own documents and AI that takes actions mid-chat start on the Growth plan; an AI assistant for your agents is on the top plan. The trade-off: you set up an account with an AI provider yourself.
- Free Forever
- ₹0
- Spark
- ₹2,499/mo
- Growth
- ₹4,499/mo
- Infinity
- ₹6,499/mo
Monthly prices, plus GST. No card for the free plan; nothing expires.
See all plans2. respond.io
Global multi-channel inbox
Best for: The most complete AI agent for global teams
AI agents, a knowledge base and an AI assistant for agents, across more channels than anyone else here. AI agents start on its Growth plan, and AI is sold as metered credits on top of the plan.
- Starter
- $79/mo
- Growth
- $159/mo
- Advanced
- $279/mo
From respond.io's own pricing page, annual billing. Contact overage $12 per 100 on Growth, $15 per 100 on Advanced; AI credits $15 per 1,000.
MotherBot vs respond.io3. Gallabox
Well documented, steep seat ladder
Best for: AI lead qualification in the plan
AI qualification and follow-up are features of its Essential plan and above rather than add-ons, with clear documentation. The entry plan is capped at three users.
- Basic
- ₹2,399/mo
- Essential
- ₹5,599/mo
- Advanced
- ₹13,599/mo
From Gallabox's own pricing page at annual billing; quarterly rates in brackets. Meta's charges are separate on both platforms.
MotherBot vs Gallabox4. Trengo
European inbox, conversation-metered
Best for: An AI agent in a mature European inbox
Publishes an AI agent, a knowledge base and an AI assistant for agents alongside email, voice and social. Priced in euros with a monthly conversation allowance, well above the Indian tools.
- Boost
- €299/mo
- Pro
- €499/mo
- Enterprise
- Custom
From Trengo's own pricing page at annual billing; monthly rates in brackets. Quoted in euros and not converted — an exchange rate is an assumption.
MotherBot vs Trengo5. AiSensy
Cheapest entry, AI sold separately
Best for: A low base price, AI as an add-on
The lowest paid starting price of the Indian tools here. Its AI agent is a separate monthly add-on with a set number of AI messages, so add it to the price before comparing.
- Free Forever
- ₹0
- Basic
- ₹1,500/mo
- Pro
- ₹3,200/mo
From AiSensy's own pricing and help-centre pages. Excludes GST. WhatsApp's own per-message charges are separate on both platforms.
MotherBot vs AiSensy6. Manychat
Social-first, contact-metered
Best for: AI for Instagram and TikTok DMs
Manychat AI comes on its Pro plan, and it's the strongest tool here for comment-to-DM automation on social media. It's priced by contacts and isn't built for a WhatsApp sales or support team.
- Free
- $0
- Essential
- $17/mo
- Pro
- $39/mo
Manychat restructured its pricing on 2 March 2026 into five tiers; figures here are the monthly rates. WhatsApp and SMS carry additional per-message charges on top.
MotherBot vs Manychat
How AI auto-replies work on WhatsApp
On the official WhatsApp Business API, an AI chatbot can reply freely for 24 hours after a customer's last message. It can't start a conversation on its own: outside that window, the first message has to be a template Meta has approved. So an AI bot answers people who write to you, and your broadcasts and reminders bring them back.
Meta charges for replies too, after the first 1,000 a month on each WhatsApp number, billed to your own WhatsApp Business Account. An AI that answers in one complete message instead of four short ones costs less on both bills — Meta's and the AI provider's.
Three costs to add up
Every WhatsApp AI chatbot has the same three costs, whichever tool you pick. Only the third one varies much between platforms.
The software. The plan you pay the platform. Check whether the chatbot builder and AI are on the plan you'd buy, or sold as add-ons.
Meta's message charges. Billed by Meta to your own WhatsApp Business Account. No platform can remove them.
The AI itself. Either credits you buy from the platform, or your own AI provider account billed at the provider's rates. With your own account you also choose the model.
How to stop an AI chatbot making things up
AI models are fluent even when they're wrong. These five habits keep a WhatsApp AI bot honest.
Give it your facts. Prices, timings, delivery areas and policies in a knowledge base, so it answers from them.
Narrow instructions. Tell it what it may talk about, what to say when it doesn't know, and which languages to answer in.
Hand over early. Complaints, refunds and anything about money go to a person.
Cap the turns. Limit how long one conversation can run on AI before a person steps in.
Read the chats. Look through a week of AI conversations before you trust it with more.
Questions people ask
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