Real price

Cheap WhatsApp chatbot: 18 prices checked and what they hide

Quick answer

Among 18 platforms checked on each one's site on September 24, 2026, the cheapest plan with an AI agent is Althos CRM's Starter: R$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan, for 2 users. Cheaper than that, there is only free software installed on your own server, per-person pricing with WhatsApp charged separately or a menu bot with no AI.

About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent

The cheapest plan that already includes an AI agent, among 18 platforms checked on each one's site on September 24, 2026, costs R$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan. Below is the full ranking, with the source for each price, and the four costs that the small number usually hides. At CertuAI, Start costs US$ 75 per month per account.

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Updated September 24, 2026 · Written by , CEO of CertuAI · Florianópolis (SC) · We serve all of Brazil

Summary in 7 facts

By the numbers

NumberWhat it means
18 platformsThe cheapest plan that already includes an AI agent, among 18 platforms checked on each one's site on September 24, 2026, costs R$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan.
US$ 75 per monthAt CertuAI, Start costs US$ 75 per month per account.
R$ 122.18 per monthAmong 18 platforms checked on each one's site on September 24, 2026, the cheapest plan with an AI agent is Althos CRM's Starter: R$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan, for 2 users.
R$ 6301 Per-person pricing JivoChat charges R$ 63 per operator on the annual plan, Callbell R$ 90 per user and Umbler Talk R$ 99.90 per agent, with a minimum of 2.
R$ 1.197,9002 Setup and activation fees Poli Digital charges setup from R$ 1,197.90.
R$ 649Zenvia charges from R$ 649 to R$ 3,999 in the first month to connect WhatsApp, depending on the plan.
R$ 79 per monthAnd there is the platform's own fee: SleekFlow charges R$ 79 per month for hosting the number, Callbell shows R$ 325 per month in WhatsApp credits and RD Station Conversas asks for a minimum wallet of…
R$ 343 per monthAt JivoChat the AI is a separate R$ 343-per-month module.

What the cheap price usually hides

Always compare the total for the month for your case, not the number that appears big on the pricing page. These are the four places where the bill grows, with examples read on each company's site in September 2026.

01

Per-person pricing

JivoChat charges R$ 63 per operator on the annual plan, Callbell R$ 90 per user and Umbler Talk R$ 99.90 per agent, with a minimum of 2. As the team grows, the bill multiplies. Ask how many people are already included.

02

Setup and activation fees

Poli Digital charges setup from R$ 1,197.90. Zenvia charges from R$ 649 to R$ 3,999 in the first month to connect WhatsApp, depending on the plan. RD Station Conversas sells custom setup as a separate purchase.

03

Messages and numbers charged separately

On the official API, Meta charges for some messages directly to you. And there is the platform's own fee: SleekFlow charges R$ 79 per month for hosting the number, Callbell shows R$ 325 per month in WhatsApp credits and RD Station Conversas asks for a minimum wallet of R$ 300 per year.

04

No AI in the entry plan

On the cheapest tier of WaiZap, wChat, SleekFlow and Zenvia, the bot is a menu bot you build yourself, or there is no bot. At JivoChat the AI is a separate R$ 343-per-month module. Cheap without AI means someone answering by hand.

How to build the comparison in ten minutes

Use the same yardstick on every tool you are evaluating.

  1. Count your messages and your people

    Look at how many customers talked to you last month and how many people will answer. It doesn't have to be exact, it has to be real for you.

  2. Add up everything that is charged

    Monthly fee, person, connected number, setup, AI module and what Meta charges separately. Do this for each tool, on the same cycle: monthly with monthly, annual with annual.

  3. Compare what each one delivers in total

    Price only makes sense next to what comes with it: AI that replies on its own, a knowledge base of the business, a customer notebook and a calendar.

WhatsApp chatbots from cheapest to most expensive

Sorted by the lowest monthly value each company publishes for the entry plan, read on each one's site on September 24, 2026. The units are different on purpose: some charge per account, per person, per number and per annual cycle. Read the whole row before comparing two values.

WhatsApp chatbots from cheapest to most expensive
Position and platformEntry price per month, and what it includesWhere we read it
1. WAHAFree and open source, but you install and maintain it on a server of your own. No ready-made AI, it uses WhatsApp Web underneath, and the site itself warns that this is not fully safe against blockingwaha.devlike.pro
2. ZenviaR$ 0 on Starter, with 1 user and no generative AI. Connecting WhatsApp costs R$ 649 in the first month, and the channel package starts at R$ 100 per monthzenvia.com/precos
3. JivoChatR$ 63 per operator on the annual plan. The WhatsApp module costs R$ 175 per month separately and the AI Agent, R$ 343jivochat.com.br/precos
4. CallbellR$ 90 per user. WhatsApp comes in usage credits charged separately, and the advanced bot is a paid modulecallbell.eu/pt/precos
5. WaiZapR$ 97 on Start, with up to 3 users and a chatbot, no AI agent. AI appears in the plan above, at R$ 197 with up to 10 userswaizap.com
6. Umbler TalkR$ 99.90 per agent on the annual plan (R$ 124.88 on the quarterly), with a minimum of 2 agents. AI agents already in the entry plana.umbler.com/br/talk
7. Z-APIR$ 99.99 per connected number. It is an API for a programmer to connect WhatsApp by code scanning, not a ready-made botz-api.io
8. Althos CRMR$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan (R$ 1,466.16 per year), with 2 users, a 24-hour AI agent and 500 AI credits per monthalthoscrm.com.br/planos
9. chatProR$ 199 per number, with up to 5,000 sends per month. It is an API and bulk sending, with no AI agentapi.chatpro.com.br
10. JetChatR$ 224.25 per month on the annual plan (R$ 299 monthly), with 5 agents, 1 channel, WhatsApp's official API and built-in AIjetchat.com.br/planos
11. SleekFlowR$ 259 per month on the annual plan, with 5 users, charged per active contact in the month and with no AI agent. The number on the official API costs another R$ 79 per monthsleekflow.io/pt-br/pricing
12. SocialHubR$ 299 on Essencial, with 3 users, 1 channel and 2,500 credits per month. The checkout lists an AI chatbot on all plans; the page's questions only mention AI from Pro, at R$ 499socialhub.pro/precos
13. CertuAIUS$ 75 per month on Start, per account: AI agent, Brain, CRM, 5 people and 1,600 replies per month.certu.com.br/planos
14. Poli DigitalR$ 369.90 on the Entrada plan, with 3 users, plus a setup fee from R$ 1,197.90poli.digital/planos
15. BlipR$ 389 on Blip Go Essencial, with an AI agent, 100 bulk sends per month and a 15-day trial with no card. The page doesn't say how many agents are includedblip.ai/blip-go
16. wChatR$ 597 on Starter, for up to 5 agents, with a basic chatbot. AI chatbot only from R$ 997 on Prowchat.com.br
17. FlipCRMR$ 797.60 per month on the annual plan, or R$ 997 on monthly Pro, with up to 30 agents and an AI agentflipcrm.app
18. RD Station ConversasR$ 989 per month on Basic, billed on the annual plan, for up to 500 customers served per month. Messages come from a separate wallet, with a minimum of R$ 300 per yearrdstation.com/planos/tallos

Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.

Cheap that turns out expensive

The most common way to spend more is to subscribe to the cheapest tool, find out it only understands a numbered menu and keep answering everything by hand. Then you pay the monthly fee and keep paying for your team's time, which was exactly the cost you wanted to cut.

The second way is to subscribe to something that answers well but records nothing. The conversation happens, the customer disappears, and no contact or task is left to follow up on. Cheap in monthly fee, expensive in lost sales.

Compare the lineup in plans and pricing, see the list of the 10 best WhatsApp customer service platforms, what to look at during the free trial or understand the difference between bot and agent in bot to answer WhatsApp.

CertuAI's lineup, plan by plan

The ranking above puts together vendors that charge in different ways, so it serves to place things, not to choose. This is CertuAI's whole lineup, so you can see which step your business falls on.

All paid plans include the WhatsApp agent, the Brain and the CRM. What changes from one step to the next is how many replies the AI gives per month, how many people answer together and the size of the month's allowance.

CertuAI's lineup, plan by plan
PlanPrice per monthWho it's for
StartR$ 299For those who want the agent, the Brain and the CRM working, with up to 5 people and 1,600 replies per month
ProR$ 599For those who need more volume: 10 people on the team and 5,000 replies per month
MaxR$ 999For those who want more connected numbers, 10,000 replies per month and team controls
Max +Custom pricingLarge operation, closed by conversation

Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.

Values checked on September 24, 2026 against the lineup in plans and pricing, which is the source. No lock-in and no setup fee.

What it costs for a team of 3 people

Entry price is misleading when billing is per person. This is the same math for 3 people answering the same number, using only what each company publishes on its own site, read on September 24, 2026. What Meta charges separately is not included, explained further below.

WaiZap: R$ 97 per month on Start, which goes up to 3 users, but with no AI agent. With AI, R$ 197.

SleekFlow: R$ 259 per month on annual, with up to 5 users and no AI agent, plus R$ 79 per month for the number on the official API.

Callbell: 3 users at R$ 90 come to R$ 270 per month, with WhatsApp charged in credits separately.

SocialHub: R$ 299 per month on Essencial, which has 3 users. The checkout lists an AI chatbot; the page's questions only mention AI from Pro, at R$ 499.

CertuAI: US$ 75 per month on Start, which already includes up to 5 people and the AI agent.

Umbler Talk: 3 agents at R$ 99.90 come to R$ 299.70 per month on the annual plan, with AI agents.

JivoChat: 3 operators at R$ 63 and the R$ 175 WhatsApp module come to R$ 364 per month on annual. With the AI Agent, another R$ 343.

Poli Digital: R$ 369.90 per month on Entrada, which has 3 users, and setup from R$ 1,197.90 one time.

Althos CRM: Starter has only 2 users. For 3, the next plan, with 5 users, comes to R$ 245.22 per month on annual.

The cheapest for 3 people with AI therefore falls between R$ 197 and R$ 300 per month. What separates the options in that range is not the price, it is what the AI knows about your business and what is left recorded after each conversation.

Who was left out of the ranking, and why

Two well-known names in the Brazilian market weren't included in the order because a clear entry price couldn't be read on their sites on September 24, 2026. Sorting by an uncertain number would be making it up.

Digisac: the plans address on the site returned page not found. The price comes by quote.

Huggy: the pricing page shows a Starter plan at R$ 0 with 1 user and Intermediário from R$ 579 per month, but doesn't make clear whether WhatsApp is included in the R$ 0 plan or which payment cycle applies to the value shown. Ask before counting on it.

For a small business, quote-based pricing means delay: the comparison that would take ten minutes starts taking days. What to ask for in a quote like that is in how much a WhatsApp chatbot costs.

The math at three volumes, with the numbers on the table

Comparing plan prices answers nothing, because what changes the bill is how many messages your business gets per month. At CertuAI each AI reply within the plan costs 120 credits, and credits are sold at 2,000 per real, so the reply comes to R$ 0.06 (Brazilian reais). With that number you can build the math for any plan, instead of comparing adjectives.

Start costs US$ 75 per month and fits 1,600 replies a month. Pro costs US$ 120 per month and fits 5,000. Max costs US$ 249 per month and fits 10,000. At three real volumes:

300 replies a month. They fit in Start, and the price doesn't go down when you use less. At that volume you aren't paying per reply, you are paying for what comes with it: the agent, the Brain, the CRM and five people answering.

1,600 replies a month. That is Start's ceiling, and it is where it is cheapest per reply: R$ 0.19 (Brazilian reais) each. Once you hit the ceiling, the next step stops being an expense and becomes sizing.

2,000 replies a month. You are past Start, so the step is Pro, at US$ 120 per month, with 3,000 replies of headroom up to its ceiling. At its ceiling the reply comes to R$ 0.12 (Brazilian reais).

What decides your step isn't the monthly fee, it is how many messages your business gets per month.

What Meta charges separately, and what changes in October 2026

This is the part that almost never appears in comparisons and the one that scares people most on the first bill. Meta's charge applies to anyone who connects through the official API, is separate from the monthly fee of any platform, including ours, and is made per message delivered.

Until September 30, 2026, replying to someone who wrote first, within 24 hours, is not charged. A utility template, such as an order notice, sent within that window isn't either.

From October 1, 2026, each business number gets 1,000 free service messages per month, combined. Beyond that, each one is charged: in Brazil, R$ 0.035, per the October 1 table. A number that sends 3,000 replies in the month pays Meta for the 2,000 that went over, about R$ 70. With no payment method registered, Meta delivers only the 1,000 and stops.

A marketing template, which is an offer sent by you, is always charged. And whoever arrives from a click-to-WhatsApp ad opens a free window, and Meta says that window "can stay open up to 7 days" (Meta's pricing page, read on October 9, 2026).

When comparing, separate the two bills. Always ask whether the per-message value in the quote is Meta's or the platform's own.

Testing for free before paying, and where that stops

Outside CertuAI, read the phrase "free forever" carefully. In the ranking above it means a server you maintain yourself, a plan without WhatsApp or a fee to connect the channel in the first month. It isn't a lie, but it becomes a surprise when nobody reads it.

The cheap that turns out expensive when you leave

The cost that never makes it into the spreadsheet is the cost of switching later. It doesn't show up in the monthly fee and it is what keeps companies on a bad tool for years.

The first is the number. If you connected through the official API, the number is yours and it migrates, but the migration goes through Meta and takes time. If you connected by scanning a code on the screen, leaving usually means reconnecting everything.

The second is what the agent learned. The knowledge base of your business, with prices, rules and way of replying, is something you built. Ask before subscribing whether it can be exported, because rebuilding from scratch costs hours.

The third is the conversation history, which is your customer record. It is worth something for selling again and, depending on the industry, you need it kept. If leaving doesn't give that back, the cheap monthly fee was a loan, not a price.

When the most expensive plan turns out cheaper

Price per reply is the only way to compare plans of different sizes, and it inverts the order the plan price suggests. At each plan's ceiling, Start delivers the reply at R$ 0.19 (Brazilian reais) and Pro at R$ 0.12. Max, at US$ 249 per month with 10,000 replies, comes to R$ 0.10.

That only holds if you use what you bought: a big plan with little activity is the worst of both worlds, because the monthly fee sits idle.

The math that settles it takes a minute. Count last month's messages on your WhatsApp, divide the monthly fee by them and compare the result, not the list price.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest WhatsApp chatbot?

With AI already in the entry plan, the cheapest we found with a published price was Althos CRM's Starter, at R$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan, for 2 users, according to the company's site in September 2026. Without AI, there is WAHA, free, but you install and maintain it on a server of your own.

Is there a free WhatsApp chatbot?

It exists, with conditions. WAHA is free and open source, but it needs a server and someone technical. Zenvia's Starter costs R$ 0, but connecting WhatsApp to it costs R$ 649 in the first month. JivoChat's free plan doesn't include WhatsApp.

What is CertuAI's cheapest plan?

Start, at US$ 75 per month, with the agent, the Brain, the CRM, five people answering and 1,600 replies per month.

Where do the other platforms' prices come from?

Each value was read on the company's own pricing page on September 24, 2026, and the address is next to it in the table. Nothing was estimated. Anyone who doesn't clearly publish their entry price was left out of the ranking, with the reason written.

Does the ranking compare like with like?

No, and it says so in the table. Some charge per account, per person, per number and per annual cycle. The order is by the number each company publishes, so always add it up for your own case before deciding.

Besides the monthly fee, does Meta charge anything?

Anyone who connects through the official API pays Meta separately, in any tool. Marketing templates are always charged. Replies to someone who wrote first, within 24 hours, are not charged until September 30, 2026; from October 1, each number gets 1,000 of these messages free per month, and anything above is charged.

How much does an extra person on the team cost at CertuAI?

R$ 30 (Brazilian reais) per month per person above what the plan already includes. Start already comes with five people, Pro with ten and Max with 25.

What if I want to connect a second number?

The extra WhatsApp connection slot costs R$ 200 (Brazilian reais) per month.

Is there a lock-in or a setup fee?

There is no lock-in and no setup fee: you cancel whenever you want and the number stays yours.

Where to go next?

Do the math with your volume

Build the agent with your services and see how much of your customer service it handles on its own.

Start US$ 75 per month, with agent, Brain, CRM and 5 people.

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In short

Among 18 platforms checked on each one's site on September 24, 2026, the cheapest plan with an AI agent is Althos CRM's Starter: R$ 122.18 per month on the annual plan, for 2 users. Cheaper than that, there is only free software installed on your own server, per-person pricing with WhatsApp charged separately or a menu bot with no AI.

About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent