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Customers write to businesses on WhatsApp at any hour, and most of them expect an answer right away. An auto reply makes sure nobody waits until you open. There are two ways to set one up:
- With an AI Agent in Chatfuel. It answers every WhatsApp message on your business number, 24/7 or only after hours, from your own prices, hours and policies. It books appointments and hands chats to your team when a person is needed.
- With the free WhatsApp Business app. A greeting message, an away message and quick replies send the same text you wrote in advance.
This guide covers both, step by step. You'll also find message examples to copy and the rules WhatsApp sets for automated messages.
See also: What Is WhatsApp Business and How to Use It
What is auto reply on WhatsApp?
An auto reply is a message your business sends in response to a customer without anyone typing it. There are two kinds:
- Fixed messages. The WhatsApp Business app sends text you wrote in advance: a greeting when someone writes to you for the first time, or an away message while you're closed. It's the same text for everyone, so it can't answer the question itself.
- AI replies. An AI agent reads each message and answers it: the price of a service, whether you're open on Saturday, a free slot for tomorrow. Every reply is written for that conversation, from what you taught the AI.
Personal WhatsApp has no auto reply. You need the WhatsApp Business app or the WhatsApp Business Platform (often called the WhatsApp API), which Chatfuel connects to.
Fast answers matter because messaging is how most people want to reach a business. In Meta-commissioned research by Kantar, 73.3% of consumers across 22 markets said they prefer messaging when they communicate with a business.
WhatsApp auto reply options compared
| Chatfuel AI Agent | WhatsApp Business app | |
|---|---|---|
| What it sends | An answer to each question, written from your AI Knowledge Base | The same text you wrote, to everyone the rule covers |
| When it replies | Always, or only outside working hours | Greeting: first message or after 14 days of silence. Away: always, on a schedule or outside business hours |
| Bookings and sales | Books appointments and quotes prices from your catalog | No |
| When a person is needed | Hands the chat to a teammate by your rules | You answer from your phone |
| Team | Shared inbox, each teammate with their own login | One phone and up to 4 linked devices |
| Price | Plan from $20/month with $20 in credits, plus Meta's fees per message | Free |
| Best for | Businesses with many chats, or that get messages after hours | Owners who answer every chat themselves |
How to set up WhatsApp auto replies with Chatfuel
In Chatfuel, the AI Agent replies on your own business number, on the official WhatsApp Business Platform. You can set everything up in one sitting.
1. Connect your WhatsApp number
Go to Settings, click Add number and follow Meta's signup window. Connect a new number, or keep the one you already use in the WhatsApp Business app: with Coexistence, it keeps working in the app and in Chatfuel at the same time. Step by step: How to Create a WhatsApp Business Account.
2. Fill in the AI Knowledge Base
The AI Agent answers from what you put in AI Knowledge Base. In General information, add your contact details, address, payment options and Open hours. Add your services and prices to Catalog and the questions customers ask most to FAQ. The more you add, the fewer chats need a person. See how the AI Agent answers FAQs on WhatsApp.
3. Turn on Incoming messages and write AI instructions
Go to AI Agent › Automations and open WhatsApp Incoming messages, the automation that answers every message a contact sends you. Turn it on.
In AI instructions, tell the AI Agent who it is and how to talk: its name, your tone, how to greet people and what it should never say. This does the job of the app's greeting message: the AI Agent welcomes every new client by name and goes straight to the answer.
Then choose When AI replies:
- Always: the AI Agent answers every message, day and night. This is the default.
- Outside of working hours: the AI Agent answers only while you're closed, according to your Open hours. During the day, your team replies.
Settings marked follows Main bot come from Main bot and apply to every channel. Change one here to set WhatsApp apart, for example to answer 24/7 on WhatsApp and only after hours on Instagram.
4. Decide when your team takes over
In Switch to human agents, describe when a person should step in, such as a refund request or a complaint, and choose the teammate. You can add up to 20 rules. The AI Agent tells the customer that someone will reply and passes the chat on. As soon as a teammate answers in Chats, the AI Agent stops in that chat, so you never talk over each other. Guide: How to set up chat assignment rules.
5. Test it and go live
Click Test automation to chat with the AI Agent using your real settings before customers do. Then message your business number from a personal phone. Every conversation lands in Chats, where you see what the AI Agent answered and can step in at any moment.
See what else the AI Agent does on WhatsApp: Chatfuel for WhatsApp.
How to auto reply outside business hours
Pick the setup that matches who answers during the day:
- Your team works the day shift. Set When AI replies to Outside of working hours and add your Open hours to the AI Knowledge Base. The AI Agent covers evenings, nights and days off, and your team replies while you're open. If no Open hours are set, the AI Agent replies at all times.
- You want answers around the clock. Keep When AI replies on Always. The AI Agent still knows your hours from the Knowledge Base, so at 7 AM it can say when you open and book a slot for later that day.
Unlike an away message, the reply isn't "we're closed, we'll get back to you". The customer gets the answer, and often a booking, while you're away. Guide: How to control when the AI replies.
How to set auto reply in the WhatsApp Business app
The free WhatsApp Business app has three tools for this, all in the Tools tab: greeting messages, away messages and quick replies. They work the same way on Android and iPhone. Your phone needs an internet connection for automatic messages to go out.
Greeting message
- Open WhatsApp Business and go to the Tools tab.
- Tap Greeting message and turn on Send greeting message.
- Tap the message to edit it, then tap Save.
- Tap Recipients and choose who gets it: Everyone, Everyone not in address book (Exclude my contacts on iPhone), Everyone except… or Only send to….
WhatsApp sends the greeting when someone messages you for the first time, or after 14 days without messages in that chat. Source: WhatsApp Help Center.
Away message
- In the Tools tab, tap Away message.
- Turn on Send away message and tap the message to edit it.
- Tap Schedule and choose Always send, Custom schedule or Outside of business hours. The last option appears only after you add business hours to your business profile.
- Choose Recipients, with the same options as the greeting, and save.
Source: WhatsApp Help Center.
Quick replies
Quick replies aren't sent automatically: they're saved answers you send yourself. In Tools › Quick replies, tap +, write the message, add a Shortcut and tap Save. In a chat, type / and pick the reply. You can save up to 50. Source: WhatsApp Help Center.
Meta's AI in the app
Meta is adding its own AI to the app, Meta Business Agent, in the Tools tab. For now it's available in a limited number of countries to selected businesses, with a waitlist. When it's connected, greeting messages turn off. Source: WhatsApp Help Center.
The app and Chatfuel on one number
With Coexistence, your number works in the WhatsApp Business app and in Chatfuel at once. The app's greeting and away messages keep working there, and Chatfuel can't see or change them. If the AI Agent answers on that number, turn them off in the app so customers don't get two automatic replies. When you reply from the app, the AI Agent pauses in that chat.
WhatsApp auto reply message examples
Use these as greeting or away messages in the app. Replace the parts in brackets.
- Greeting: "Hi! Thanks for messaging [Business]. Tell us what you need and we'll help you right here."
- After hours: "Hi! We're closed right now. We're open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 7 pm. Leave your question here and we'll answer first thing in the morning."
- Holiday: "Hi! We're closed for the holidays until [date]. We'll reply to every message when we're back. Thank you for your patience."
- Busy day: "Thanks for your message! We're getting more chats than usual, so replies may take a little longer today."
- Order received: "Thanks for your order! We're preparing it now and will send you an update in this chat when it ships."
- Appointment request: "Thanks for your request! We'll confirm the date and time in this chat shortly."
For the AI Agent, write rules in AI instructions instead of fixed text:
- "Greet new clients by name and say you're the salon's AI assistant."
- "When we're closed, say when we open and offer the first free slot."
- "If someone asks for a refund or complains, apologize and say a teammate will reply in this chat today."
- "Never give medical advice. Suggest a consultation instead."
Automated messages beyond replies
Auto replies answer people who write to you. Messages you send first follow WhatsApp's rules:
- The 24-hour window. Free-form messages, from your team or the AI Agent, can go out only within 24 hours of the customer's last message. Each new message from the customer resets the window. Guide: 24-hour messaging window.
- Templates. Outside the window, you can send only templates approved by Meta, in three categories: Marketing, Utility and Authentication. See how they work: WhatsApp templates.
- Order updates. Confirmations, shipping and delivery updates go out as Utility templates, through broadcasts or the Chatfuel Public API. More: order tracking on WhatsApp.
- Appointment reminders. Bookings in Chatfuel can send three automatic WhatsApp messages: when the booking is made, 24 hours before and 2 hours before. More: booking appointments.
- Follow-ups. When a customer goes quiet, the AI Agent can send up to two follow-ups inside the 24-hour window. More: follow-ups.
Meta charges for messages on the WhatsApp Business Platform by message type and the customer's country. Since 1 October 2026 that includes replies inside the 24-hour window, after the first 1,000 a month per phone number. Chats that start from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad open a free window. Rates by country: WhatsApp Business Pricing: App, API and Meta Fees.
Best practices for WhatsApp auto replies
Say it's an AI assistant
Tell people in the first reply that they're talking to an automated assistant. In Chatfuel, add it to your AI instructions, like Mia does in the chat above.
Make it easy to reach a person
WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy allows automation inside the 24-hour window only when customers have a clear, direct way to reach a person: a human agent in the chat, phone, email or a support form. Set up Switch to human agents and tell the AI Agent what to say when it hands a chat over.
Keep your information current
Old prices or wrong hours in an auto reply cost more than no reply at all. Update the AI Knowledge Base whenever prices, hours or policies change. With fixed messages in the app, change the text before every holiday.
Make it personal
Use the customer's name and answer the actual question. A reply that repeats the menu when someone asked about Saturday feels like a wall, not a service.
Message first only with permission
Send marketing messages only to people who agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp, and respect every request to stop. Add an opt-out button to marketing templates.
Test before you go live
Try the questions customers ask most in Test automation, then message your number from a personal phone. Check the replies again after you change prices or hours.
Summary
The fastest way to auto reply on WhatsApp with real answers is an AI Agent in Chatfuel. Connect your number, add your hours and prices to the AI Knowledge Base, turn on WhatsApp Incoming messages and choose whether the AI Agent replies always or only outside working hours. Add rules for when your team takes over and test it before customers write. If you answer every chat yourself, the free WhatsApp Business app sends a greeting, an away message and quick replies with fixed text, and you can connect the same number to Chatfuel later.
See also: WhatsApp Business Pricing: App, API and Meta Fees
FAQs
How do I set up auto reply on WhatsApp?
With Chatfuel, connect your number in Settings, add your hours and prices to the AI Knowledge Base and turn on WhatsApp Incoming messages in AI Agent › Automations. The AI Agent then answers every message. In the free WhatsApp Business app, go to the Tools tab and turn on Greeting message or Away message.
Can WhatsApp send an automatic reply outside business hours?
Yes. In Chatfuel, set When AI replies to Outside of working hours and add your Open hours: the AI Agent answers while you're closed, and your team replies during the day. In the WhatsApp Business app, set the away message schedule to Outside of business hours.
Is WhatsApp auto reply free?
Greeting and away messages in the WhatsApp Business app are free. On the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta charges per message, including replies inside the 24-hour window after the first 1,000 a month per number. Chatfuel plans start at $20 a month with $20 in credits, and you can start with a free trial.
Can I set an auto reply on personal WhatsApp?
No. Personal WhatsApp has no greeting, away or automatic messages. Move your number to the free WhatsApp Business app, which brings your chats with it, or connect a business number to Chatfuel.
Can an AI answer WhatsApp messages for my business?
Yes. Meta's terms bar general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp Business Platform, but not AI that serves your own customers, such as an assistant that answers questions and books appointments. Chatfuel's AI Agent answers from your AI Knowledge Base and hands chats to your team by your rules.
Can I keep the WhatsApp Business app after connecting Chatfuel?
Yes. With Coexistence, the same number works in the app and in Chatfuel. Turn off the app's greeting and away messages so customers don't get two automatic replies. When you reply from the app, the AI Agent pauses in that chat.
