WhatsApp Chatbot Builder
Build WhatsApp chatbots by drawing them
Drag steps onto a canvas and connect them. Menus, questions, API calls, AI answers and hand-over to a person, all without writing code.
Included with the inbox add-on · 8 triggers · 32 step types
What is a WhatsApp chatbot builder?
A WhatsApp chatbot builder lets you design automated WhatsApp conversations visually. Each conversation is a flow: a trigger starts it, and steps send messages, ask questions, make decisions and take actions until the flow ends or hands the chat to a person.
Ours runs on the official WhatsApp Business API, on the same numbers as your team inbox. Flows can use WhatsApp's interactive messages (reply buttons, lists, product catalogs, forms and payment requests), call your own systems over HTTPS, and answer free-text questions with AI.
It is built for the people who own the customer conversation, not only developers. Every flow is checked before it goes live, can be tried in a test chat first, and keeps its earlier versions so you can roll back.
Triggers
Eight ways a flow can start
Put one or more triggers on a flow's Start step. When a message could start several flows, triggers are checked in this order, so the most specific one wins.
- 01
Button or list reply
A tap on a reply button, list option or template quick reply.
- 02
Keyword
A word or phrase: exact, at the start of the message, or anywhere in it.
- 03
Click-to-WhatsApp ad
Customers arriving from your Facebook or Instagram ads, any ad or specific ones.
- 04
First message
The very first time a customer writes to your number.
- 05
Outside business hours
Messages that arrive while you're closed, at most once every 12 hours per chat.
- 06
Any message
Every message that no more specific trigger picked up.
- 07
Nothing matched
A fallback for messages nothing else handled, at most once an hour per chat.
- 08
Started by a team member
An agent starts the flow from the inbox, for example to collect details.
Steps
32 steps, in five groups
Every step WhatsApp supports, plus the logic and connections to make them useful.
Send
12 steps · Every message type WhatsApp offers.
- Text
- Photo, video, audio, document or sticker
- Reply buttons
- List menu
- Link button
- Location
- Contact card
- Template
- Product, list or catalog
- WhatsApp Form
- Payment request
- Reaction
Ask
4 steps · Questions that wait for an answer and check it.
- Question: text, number, email, phone, date, URL or pattern
- Ask for a file
- Ask for a location
- Ask for an address
Logic
8 steps · Decide what happens next.
- Condition
- Switch
- Business hours
- Random split (A/B test)
- Set variable
- Delay, with a typing indicator
- Go to a step or another flow
- End
Connect
3 steps · Reach your systems, AI and your team.
- API request, with values saved from the response
- AI answer
- Email your team
Chat actions
5 steps · Change the chat itself.
- Add or remove labels
- Update contact fields
- Hand over to a person
- Opt out or back in
- Mark as read
AI answers
AI answers that know when to stop
The AI answer step replies to free-text questions from the knowledge you write into it. When the answer isn't in your knowledge, it takes the Not sure exit instead of guessing, and the flow can hand the chat to a person.
- Uses your own Anthropic API key and the Claude model you choose. You pay Anthropic directly; we don't add a charge.
- The key is checked with Anthropic, stored encrypted, and never shown again, only its last 4 characters.
- Your instructions set the tone. Your knowledge sets the limits.
Built for live numbers
Safe to change on a busy number
A chatbot talks to real customers. The builder is designed so a change never breaks a live conversation by surprise.
Checked before publishing
Missing settings, broken connections and dead ends are flagged. Errors block publishing; warnings don't.
Test chat
Try a flow in a test chat inside the builder before any customer sees it.
Versions and rollback
Publishing keeps the earlier version. Roll back in one click.
Exit words and timeouts
Customers leave any flow by typing stop or cancel, and a chat that goes quiet leaves after the time you set.
Retries on bad answers
Questions re-ask with your message when an answer doesn't fit, up to 5 times, then take the Invalid exit.
The bot steps back
After a person replies in the inbox, the bot stays quiet in that chat for the hours you choose.
Templates
Start from a ready-made flow
Five templates cover the flows most businesses build first. Open one, change the words, publish.
Welcome menu
Greets new customers and offers a menu: prices, order status or a person.
Lead capture
Asks for a name and email, saves them, labels the chat and emails your team.
Order status
Asks for an order number, looks it up in your system and replies with its status.
FAQ with AI
Answers questions from your knowledge with AI, and hands over when it isn't sure.
Away message
Tells customers you're closed and when you'll reply.
Pricing
Included with the inbox
The chatbot builder and the team inbox are one add-on to the WhatsApp API plan.
Ask for USD pricing
Billed monthly in USD, on top of the API plan
Needs the WhatsApp API plan.
Inbox & Chatbot add-on includes
- Shared inbox with Mine, Unassigned and All views
- Chat assignment, including new chats to the least busy agent
- Visual flow builder: 8 triggers and 32 step types
- AI answers with your own Anthropic API key
- Agent role for people who only answer chats
Messages are paid from a prepaid wallet on each number, at a per-message rate for each category (marketing, utility, authentication, service). Top up from the dashboard.
FAQ
WhatsApp chatbot questions
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You build flows by dragging steps onto a canvas and connecting them. The API request step is there for teams that want to connect their own systems, and it is configured with a form, not code.
What does the chatbot builder cost?
It is included in the Inbox & Chatbot add-on, billed monthly on top of the WhatsApp API plan. WhatsApp messages the bot sends are paid from each number's prepaid wallet. Ask us for current USD pricing.
How do AI answers work, and what do they cost?
Add your own Anthropic API key on the Chatbot page and choose a Claude model. The AI answer step replies from the knowledge you write into it, and takes its Not sure exit when the answer isn't there. Anthropic bills you for AI use directly; HostMentor doesn't charge for it.
Can the bot hand a chat to a person?
Yes. The hand-over step flags the chat as needing a person and can leave it unassigned, give it to a named teammate, or share it between your agents. The person who gets it receives an email with a link to the chat.
Can the bot look up orders or bookings in my system?
Yes. The API request step calls your HTTPS endpoint with GET, POST, PUT, PATCH or DELETE, and saves values from the JSON response, like an order status, into variables the next steps can use.
What happens when a customer types something unexpected?
Buttons and lists have an Other reply exit, questions re-ask up to 5 times before taking their Invalid exit, and customers can leave any flow by typing stop or cancel. A Nothing matched flow can catch everything else.
Can I try a flow before customers see it?
Yes. Every flow has a test chat in the builder. Publishing keeps earlier versions, so you can roll back if something isn't right.
Is this the same as your AI ChatBot service?
No. The chatbot builder is a self-serve product for WhatsApp, included with the inbox add-on. Our AI ChatBot service is a custom bot we build and run for you across your website, WhatsApp and RCS.
Related
Let your first flow answer tonight
Tell us what your customers ask most. We'll set up WhatsApp, the inbox and a first flow with you.