What you pay for
| Part | How it's charged | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| The platform | A monthly plan, often by volume | What's included: channels, team members, features |
| AI usage | An allowance of replies or credits in the plan, top-ups beyond it | What counts as one, and what costs more (images, files, calls) |
| WhatsApp messages | Meta, per delivered message, by category and country | Replies in the window are free up to 1,000 a month per number; templates are charged |
| Telegram and website chat | No fee to send messages | Telegram charges only for optional paid broadcasts at very high volume |
| Your time | Setting it up, then keeping its knowledge current | How easy it is to add pages, files and rules |
Meta: WhatsApp Business Platform pricing · Telegram: Bots FAQ
What WhatsApp adds: three examples
WhatsApp is the one channel with a per-message fee, so it's where monthly costs differ most. Worked out with Meta's rates effective 1 October 2026:
| Business | What it sends in a month | Meta's charge |
|---|---|---|
| A café in Singapore | 200 chats × 4 replies | $0.00 |
| A clinic in the UK | 500 chats × 4 replies, 300 reminder templates | $28.60 |
| A shop in India | 1,500 chats × 5 replies, 1,000 order updates, 2,000 offers | $34.10 |
The café's 800 replies are all inside the free 1,000, so Meta charges nothing. The clinic pays $22.00 for the replies beyond the free 1,000 and $6.60 for its reminders, at $0.022 each in the UK. Of the shop's $34.10, $23.60 is its offers, marketing templates at $0.0118 each in India. Work out your own with the WhatsApp API cost calculator.
These are Meta's charges only. The chatbot platform's plan comes on top.
Questions to ask any provider
- What counts as one message, reply or credit, and what uses more?
- What happens when the allowance runs out: does the chatbot stop, or is it charged?
- Are WhatsApp's fees billed by Meta to you directly, or passed through with a margin?
- Which channels are included, and is each one extra?
- How many team members are included, and what does another one cost?
- Is there a setup fee, a contract or a minimum term?
- Is there a free trial on your own website and channels?
Is it worth it?
The fair comparison is the time your team spends answering the same questions, and the enquiries lost when nobody answers at night or at weekends. Put your own numbers into the AI chatbot ROI calculator, or try one on your own pages first with Try Kiko on your website.
HeyKiko's pricing
- Plans start from $29 a month, after a 14-day free trial with no card.
- Each plan includes a monthly allowance of AI credits. A normal reply uses one credit on the standard model; replies that read an image or a file use more, and WhatsApp calls use credits per minute. Top-ups are available any time.
- Meta bills your WhatsApp account directly for messages, and HeyKiko adds nothing to Meta's fees.
- WhatsApp and email campaigns have their own balances, so a broadcast never uses your agent's AI credits.
Sources
Checked on 5 November 2026. We make HeyKiko, which this guide uses as its example.
