How to set up an auto reply in the WhatsApp Business app
The WhatsApp Business app, the free app for small businesses, includes automatic messages at no cost. You will not find them in ordinary WhatsApp. The steps below follow the WhatsApp Help Center, checked November 2026; on some phones the menu is under Settings → Business tools instead of a Tools tab.
- 1Open the WhatsApp Business app and go to the Tools tab.
- 2Tap Away message (or Greeting message) and turn on Send away message (or Send greeting message).
- 3Tap the message to edit the text, then tap OK.
- 4For an away message, tap Schedule and choose Always send, Custom schedule, or Outside of business hours (this needs business hours set in your business profile).
- 5Tap Recipients and choose Everyone, Everyone not in address book, Everyone except…, or Only send to….
- 6Tap Save.
What do greeting messages, away messages and quick replies do?
Each of the three tools does one narrow job. Knowing exactly when each fires stops you from expecting more than it can give.
| Tool | When it is sent | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting message | Automatically, when a customer messages you for the first time or after 14 days with no messages in that chat | Welcoming new customers and pointing them to your menu, catalogue or price list |
| Away message | Automatically, on the schedule you choose, for example outside business hours | Telling customers when you will reply |
| Quick replies | Only when you choose one, by typing / in a chat; you can save up to 50 | Answering common questions faster when you are replying yourself |
Where built-in WhatsApp auto replies stop working
Built-in auto replies are a good start and cost nothing. But they send the same words to everyone, whatever the customer asked. A customer who writes “Is the blue one in stock in size M?” at 11 pm gets “Thanks for your message, we will reply during business hours,” and many will buy elsewhere before morning.
- They cannot read the question, so they cannot answer it.
- One greeting and one away message, with no difference by topic or language.
- Quick replies save typing, but someone still has to be there to send them.
- Nothing collects the customer's details or passes the chat to the right person.
How does an AI auto reply for WhatsApp work?
An AI chatbot replaces the single fixed message with an answer to the actual question. It connects to your number through the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta's official way for software to send and receive WhatsApp messages for a business. Unofficial tools that automate the phone app break WhatsApp's terms and can get a number banned; the official platform is the approved route.
With Gydr, the chatbot answers from the knowledge you load: your FAQs, products and prices, policies and branches. It replies in the language the customer writes in, can ask a few questions to take a booking request or an enquiry, and hands the chat to your team when a person is needed. It is the same chatbot that answers on your website, so you maintain one set of answers.
How to set up an AI WhatsApp auto reply with Gydr
You need a WhatsApp Business account in Meta's system, which the sign-up flow can create for you, and a Gydr chatbot with its knowledge already added.
- 1In the Gydr dashboard, open Channels and click Connect Channel, then choose WhatsApp.
- 2Choose which number the chatbot will answer on: a number used only for the platform, or My existing WhatsApp Business app number to keep it on your phone.
- 3Click Continue with Facebook, sign in, and choose your business and number. For an existing app number, scan the QR code with the WhatsApp Business app.
- 4Open your widget, attach the WhatsApp channel on its Channels tab, and publish.
- 5Send your number a message from another phone and watch the chatbot answer.
Can you keep using the WhatsApp Business app with an AI chatbot?
Yes, if you connect your existing app number. Meta calls this onboarding WhatsApp Business app users, often called coexistence: the same number works in the app and through the platform, and messages are mirrored between the two. You can still reply from your phone, and Gydr's chatbot steps aside in that chat when you do.
Meta sets some conditions (from Meta's “Onboard WhatsApp Business app users” page, checked November 2026): the app must be version 2.24.17 or newer, group chats are not synced, broadcast lists become read-only, disappearing messages are turned off for one-to-one chats, and some linked devices are unlinked. Messages you send from the app stay free; the chatbot's replies through the platform follow Meta's pricing.
What does an AI WhatsApp auto reply cost?
There are two separate bills. Meta charges your WhatsApp Business account for messages sent through the platform: from 1 October 2026, service replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are charged per message, with a monthly free allowance per number, and messages customers send you are free (Meta's WhatsApp pricing page, checked November 2026). Gydr charges credits for the AI work on your Gydr plan.
Because Meta counts messages, Gydr writes one complete reply per turn on WhatsApp instead of splitting an answer across several bubbles. Our WhatsApp Business API guide explains Meta's pricing model in more detail.
Common questions
Install the WhatsApp Business app, go to the Tools tab, tap Away message or Greeting message, turn it on, write your text, choose a schedule and recipients, and tap Save. Ordinary WhatsApp does not have this feature.
Not with the built-in tools: they send one fixed message. To answer each question on its own, you need a chatbot connected through the WhatsApp Business Platform.
If you connect your existing WhatsApp Business app number, the number stays on your phone and your earlier chats stay there too. Group chats are not synced, and a few app features change, as Meta lists in its own documentation.
Yes. You can reply yourself from the WhatsApp Business app, or connect a helpdesk such as Zendesk so the chat opens there with the conversation attached.
No. Gydr answers customers who message you. It does not send broadcasts or marketing templates, so customers who have not written to you will not receive messages from the chatbot.