What is the price of a WhatsApp chatbot? (Actual Pricing)

In the world of e-commerce or digital commerce, chatbots have become powerful allies to automate responses, generate leads, and close more sales. If you are considering one for your business, the first thing you are probably asking is how much does a WhatsApp chatbot cost? 🤖

Today, I will tell you what the cost of a WhatsApp chatbot depends on. We will explore the main alternatives to obtain a chatbot (not all are equal!), the costs of implementing each type of chatbot along with their pros and cons so you can choose the one that best suits your business.

Factors to consider in the price of your chatbot 

The prices of a WhatsApp chatbot in Latin America can go up to approximately USD 15,000. It all depends on your business needs. Therefore, to understand how much a chatbot will cost you, you should consider these aspects that influence its price:

1. Features

What do you expect your chatbot to do? Do you want it to answer basic questions? Do you expect it to make sales or manage appointments? Is it necessary for it to route conversations to a human agent? Keep in mind that the more advanced and complex the interactions with the user, the higher the cost of the technology.

2. Level of customization

This involves the identity of your brand. Do you want a chatbot that displays your logo and colors or a generic one? Do you want its responses to adapt to your brand voice? Customizing your chatbot involves tailored adjustments that increase the price, but achieve differentiation and build trust with your users in every conversation.

3. Message volume

If you usually receive thousands of chats per month, consider that some providers charge based on the number of messages processed by the chatbot. 

👉 Note! Even though the chatbot provider offers you an attractive price, don't forget that WhatsApp has its own fees for using its API. These costs can vary according to the country, message volume, and functionalities used, and you should consider them in the final price.

4.- Integrations

Do you need to connect the chatbot with your CRM, online store, or database? Each integration may require specific developments or paid access that impacts the chatbot's cost.

5.- Flow configuration

Whether done by you or a provider, defining use cases, conversation flows, and configuring responses requires hours of work that also count in the price.

But, how much does it cost to implement a chatbot?

Now that you have this insight into the factors affecting the price, you should know there are different types of chatbots and depending on their features, the prices will vary.

How much does a WhatsApp chatbot cost? Real prices for your business

Here I will show you the alternatives to get a WhatsApp chatbot, their real costs in the market, and the pros and cons of each option so you can make a guided decision.

3.1 In-house chatbot development

If you manage code and have a technical team at your disposal, developing your own in-house chatbot could be an option for you.

Advantages

• You have control to customize it to the fullest (brand image, integrations, features)

• It may be more economical in the long term (if you have the team and time).

Disadvantages

• Requires considerable development time (even more than other options), which can delay the chatbot's implementation.

• There is a high initial investment in development and maintenance.

• You need a specialized technical team with knowledge in data, AI, and programming.

Estimated cost of developing an in-house chatbot

To calculate the costs, I have gathered the average salaries reported to 2024 by Getonboard and Glassdoor for each role of a team developing chatbots in LATAM.

To implement an in-house chatbot you need: Project manager (USD 2,100), full-stack developer (USD 2,108), Machine learning engineer (USD 2,859), Data scientist (USD 2,550), Conversational designer (USD 1,575), UI designer (USD 1,822) and QA tester (USD 1,950), giving an approximate total of USD 14,964 /month or even more if you need advanced AI.

3.2 AI chatbot from a provider

If you don't have your own development team or want a faster and scalable solution, AI chatbots offered by providers are an excellent option.

Advantages

• No technical knowledge required to implement it.

• You get advanced AI capabilities for natural dialogue and continuous learning.

• Allows integration with other business tools (CRM, ecommerce).

• Ensures scalability to adapt to your business growth.

Disadvantages

• Lack of in-depth knowledge of your business, so you must get involved and provide information about your processes throughout development and implementation.

• Customization may be limited by the provider's plans.

Estimated cost of an AI chatbot

Prices vary greatly depending on features, but you can find options starting from USD 10 per month (the most basic and limited) up to plans above USD 3,215 monthly. 

You may be interested in: The best chatbots for WhatsApp

For example, Sendpulse offers a plan where you can integrate ChatGPT into your automatic responses and uses AI to recognize audio messages from your clients. In this case, you have to drag and build your conversation flows on their platform as you see in the image below. 

The average price is USD 40 per month for a maximum of 5,000 subscribers on your chatbot (does not include OpenAI token costs)

On the other hand, if your business is online commerce and you want a chatbot to sell more through WhatsApp, YaVendió! is your AI-specialized sales chatbot. 

The best part is that you won’t have to build flows or see the cumbersome part of development because the team at YaVendió! implements the chatbot for you in just 14 days. 

Plans start at USD 199 per month and already include the cost of AI, WhatsApp API, platform service, support, and continuous optimization. (Chatbot implementation is free) Learn how much it costs to implement a chatbot with YaVendió!

3.3 Traditional button-based chatbot

Traditional chatbots (those based on menus or buttons) are a basic and functional option for answering frequently asked questions about your business or guiding clients through a process. They do not have the flexibility to answer queries you haven't set up, but they are easy to use.

Advantages

• Ideal for basic functions like predefined answers.

• Relatively easy to implement and configure without technical know-how.

Disadvantages

• They are unable to learn from past conversations or generate natural dialogue like AI chatbots.

• They may be limited for complex sales or customer service processes.

Estimated cost of a traditional chatbot

For menu-based traditional chatbots, you can find free solutions with average costs of USD 450/month. 

These prices are from platforms where you or your team will have to build the entire chatbot, which also involves time costs and a learning curve to understand how to use each feature.

Some examples are Whaticket with a trial period or Landbot with a free but limited plan for chats on your website.

Chat for free with an AI chatbot

If you're interested in the AI option, at YaVendió! we have our own AI chatbot you can chat with (and test the power of our technology). Chat with YaVendiosita on WhatsApp now and get a free demo 🎁