The WhatsApp chatbot that knows your business
Recoverly is an AI WhatsApp chatbot that replies in seconds from what you've told it: guidelines, FAQs, products or services, opening hours and policies. It answers in the customer's language, shows a typing indicator first, labels each thread, and steps aside the moment a teammate replies. No decision trees, no code, and it runs on Meta's official API.
What is a WhatsApp chatbot?
A WhatsApp chatbot is software that answers customer messages on WhatsApp automatically, on behalf of a business. It has to run on the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta's official API, because neither the personal app nor the WhatsApp Business app lets a bot plug in. The app alone stops at a greeting, an away message and saved replies.
Chatbots come in two kinds. A rule-based chatbot follows a script drawn in a builder: numbered menus, buttons, keyword triggers. It's predictable until a customer types something the script didn't expect, which on WhatsApp is most messages. An AI chatbot reads the question in plain language and writes an answer from information you supply. Good ones stay inside that information and hand over to a person when they should.
Recoverly's chatbot is the second kind. It answers from your own knowledge, lives inside a shared inbox your team can step into at any moment, and works next to the automations that send your confirmations and reminders.
- Guidelines your tone, rules and policies, written like notes for a new hire.
- FAQs question-and-answer pairs, each with an optional image to send.
- Products or services names, prices, stock and links, with an optional daily refresh.
- Hours and locations opening times, addresses and delivery areas.
- Recent sends the promotions and updates that customer already received.
- Photos and voice notes it looks at pictures and transcribes spoken questions.
An AI agent for WhatsApp, with rules you control
You provide the facts and the boundaries and decide when a human takes over. The chatbot does the typing.
A WhatsApp chatbot builder without the flowchart
Traditional chatbot builders make you predict every question and draw a branch for it. Here you write down what a new employee would need to know, and the AI works out each answer. Change a price once and every later reply uses it.
- Guidelines. Tone, return rules, delivery areas, things to never promise. If they conflict with a default behavior, your guidelines win.
- FAQs with images. Its first source. Attach a size chart or a price list and the image goes out with the answer.
- Synced catalog. Prices, stock and links can refresh daily, so availability answers stay current.
- Campaign-aware. It quotes the offers you recently sent a customer exactly as written, never a discount you didn't make.
Your team steps in, the bot steps back
Chatbot conversations sit in the shared inbox beside automated messages and the chats you answer from your phone. When a teammate replies, the AI pauses on that thread for a window you pick, from 15 minutes to 24 hours.
- Automatic pause. Answer from the inbox or your phone's WhatsApp Business app and the AI holds off for that customer.
- Flags for a person. Refunds, custom quotes and callback requests get an honest “a teammate will confirm” plus a notification to you.
- Auto-labels. Describe a label in plain words, such as “wholesale enquiry”, and the AI tags every matching conversation.
- Alerts that matter. Browser notifications for every message, or only where a human is needed.
Answers from your data, or a handoff
A WhatsApp AI chatbot is only worth having if customers can trust it. Recoverly's takes prices, stock, delivery times, fees, return rules and discounts only from the information you provided. It answers the part it can and names the part a person must confirm.
- No invented facts. It won't guess a delivery date, create a discount, or describe a product that isn't in your catalog.
- Fallback, then silence. When unsure, it sends your fallback message and, by default, stays quiet until a human replies.
- Customers only. Coexistence syncs personal chats too, so one switch limits the AI to contacts your business knows.
- Window and consent aware. It never starts a conversation, replies only inside WhatsApp's 24-hour service window, and never answers an opt-out with a pitch.
Replies in their language, at a human pace
Customers write the way they talk: in Spanish, Arabic or Portuguese, sometimes in dialect, often in three short bursts. The chatbot answers in the language it was addressed in and takes a beat first, like a person paying attention.
- Same language back. Dialects included: a question in Moroccan Darija gets a reply in Darija, not formal Arabic.
- Typing indicator. The customer sees an answer is on its way, as they would with a person.
- One answer, not three. Rapid-fire messages are gathered into one question and answered once.
- Working hours. Let the AI cover nights and weekends, or restrict it to the days and times you set.
What a WhatsApp bot for business handles first
The questions your team answers over and over, answered in seconds, with a person one message away.
Customer support
Returns, delivery times, warranty and opening hours, answered from your policies, with a handoff when a case needs judgment.
Learn more →Pre-sale questions
Size, fit, “do you have it in blue?”. The AI suggests a specific item with its price and link, then asks one next-step question.
Learn more →Order status
It sees the confirmations and shipping updates already sent, so “has it shipped?” gets a real answer.
Learn more →Booking questions
Prices, durations and cancellation rules, plus your booking link. Reminders stay with the appointment automation.
Learn more →Lead qualification
New enquiries get a specific reply and one qualifying question, and promising leads are labeled for sales.
Learn more →FAQs with pictures
Menus, size charts and “how do I…” questions answered from your FAQ list, with the right image attached.
Learn more →AI chatbot vs rule-based builders vs app auto-replies
Three ways to answer WhatsApp messages without typing every reply yourself, and what each can really do.
| Recoverly AI chatbot | Rule-based chatbot builders | WhatsApp Business app auto-replies | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Understands free-text questions | Yes, reads intent in plain language | Only the keywords and menu options you scripted | No, one greeting or away message for everyone |
| Setup work | Write guidelines and FAQs, sync your catalog | A branch for every path, maintained by hand | Two canned messages and saved quick replies |
| Uses live product or service data | Yes, synced, with a daily refresh option | Only if someone wires up an API | No |
| Languages | Replies in whatever language the customer uses | Usually one flow per language | One message text per setting |
| Human handover | Pauses when your team replies, flags threads that need a person | Usually a “talk to an agent” menu option | Not needed: you answer everything |
| Pricing | Included in Lite at $19/mo, no per-conversation fees | Often per bot session or per agent | Free |
Reflects typical tools as of September 2026; see Alternatives for named vendors.
Live in minutes
Connect WhatsApp in two minutes
Log in with Meta and pick the number you already use. With coexistence, the phone app stays in service.
Teach it your business
Write your guidelines, add your most common FAQs, and sync your catalog or services. Set working hours and a fallback message.
Switch it on and review
Read the first conversations in the inbox, step in where you want, and turn every handoff into a new FAQ.
Good questions
Let the AI take the first reply.
Connect your WhatsApp Business number, add your FAQs and switch the chatbot on. Included in Lite at $19 a month, with a 7-day free trial.