WhatsApp automation, from first reply to repeat sale.
Keyword replies, chatbots, AI answers, follow-up sequences and order updates on the official WhatsApp Business API, built without code and running day and night.
What is WhatsApp automation?
WhatsApp automation is software that sends and answers WhatsApp messages for your business without someone typing each one: instant keyword replies, chatbots, AI answers, reminders, follow-up sequences and order updates. It runs on the official WhatsApp Business API, so it works for your whole team on one number, day and night.
Automate AI is a WhatsApp automation platform by UC Tech Private Limited. You build automations yourself without code, or describe what you want and AI drafts it for you to check, and every automation follows WhatsApp’s rules on opt-in, templates and reaching a person.
- 24/7Replies run on our servers, even when phones are off
- No codeDrag-and-drop chatbot builder
- 24 hrsWhatsApp’s window for free-form replies; templates after
- 1,000Free service replies per number each month
What can you automate on WhatsApp?
Most of the messages a team types again and again:
- Answers to common questions: prices, timings, locations, documents.
- The first reply to every new lead, from ads, forms and marketplaces.
- Follow-ups over days or weeks, stopped as soon as the customer replies.
- Reminders on a schedule, such as birthdays and anniversaries.
- Order, payment and shipping updates, and abandoned-cart reminders.
- Routing: assigning chats, setting statuses and alerting the right person.
What WhatsApp’s rules allow
Automation on the WhatsApp Business API is allowed when it follows Meta’s policies:
- Inside the 24-hour window after a customer messages you, bots and AI can send any message type.
- After it closes, or to start a conversation, you need an approved template message.
- Message only people who opted in, and honour every opt-out.
- Meta limits how many marketing templates one person receives, so fewer, better follow-ups win.
- Always give customers a clear way to reach a person.
Everything you can automate in one place.
Reply instantly
- Keyword auto-replies with text or buttons, matched exactly or anywhere in the message.
- Business hours, with an away message or template when you’re closed.
- Chatbot flows with menus, buttons, lists, questions and media, started by a keyword or a new contact.
- AI Assistant that answers from your documents and website, by text or voice note.
Capture leads
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads whose chats land in your inbox, ready for a bot or the AI.
- Facebook Lead Ads saved as contacts, with an automatic first message.
- IndiaMART enquiries fetched every few minutes, with a welcome message, and JustDial leads saved to a group.
- Instagram comments and DMs answered by keyword, with a private DM to commenters.
Follow up
- Drip sequences: templates over days or weeks that stop when the contact replies.
- Scheduled automations: one template daily, weekly, monthly, or on a contact’s birthday or anniversary.
- Campaign resends to failed, undelivered or unread contacts, or only to those who read it.
- AI Sales Center scores every lead from 0 to 100 and creates follow-up tasks for your team.
Sell and update orders
- Shopify: order placed, paid, shipped and cancelled messages, each with its own template.
- Abandoned-cart reminders 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours and 3 days later, with the cart link.
- Online store order updates at every stage, and new-order alerts for your team.
Run the team inbox
- Shared inbox with round-robin auto-assignment, quick replies and internal notes.
- AI chat summaries and auto-status: AI sets a status only when it’s sure.
- Zoho Bigin contacts and deals, and Google Sheets two-way contact sync.
- REST API, SDKs and webhooks to connect your own systems.
Set it up with AI
- AI Copilot: type a task and it builds flows, templates, groups and campaign drafts, with your OK.
- Generate with AI in the flow builder drafts a chatbot from a plain-language description.
- AI Template Studio helps write and design templates to submit for Meta’s approval.
Checked against the Automate AI app in October 2026. Some features depend on your plan; see pricing.
Automation that respects your customers.
Stops when they reply
A drip sequence stops for a contact who replies, so your team can take over.
Business hours
Drip messages wait for your business hours, and an away message covers the hours you’re closed.
Spending limits
Daily, weekly or monthly limits per drip sequence, so automations never overspend.
Opt-outs handled
A typed STOP or unsubscribe, or an opt-out keyword you add in Settings, opts the contact out automatically.
A person is always close
The AI Assistant alerts up to 10 team numbers on WhatsApp, and every chat has switches to turn the bot or AI off.
You approve what AI sets up
AI Copilot waits for your OK on important steps, and it never sends messages or touches your wallet.
WhatsApp watches how people react to business messages. These controls keep automations helpful, and your number in good standing.
Connect, build, and let it run.
- 1Connect your WhatsApp number
Open Connect WhatsApp and finish Meta’s signup in a few minutes: a new number, or the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app, with coexistence.
- 2Build the automation
Drag steps onto the chatbot canvas, set up a drip sequence or a scheduled message, or describe what you want and let AI draft it for you to check.
- 3Let it run, and step in when needed
Replies go out on their own, any time. When a customer asks for a person, the AI Assistant hands the chat over and alerts your team, and it waits in the shared inbox.
Which WhatsApp automation should you use?
| Starts when | Best for | What it sends | In Automate AI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword auto-reply | A message contains a keyword | Prices, timings, quick answers | Text or buttons | Keyword auto-replies |
| Chatbot flow | A keyword, or a new contact | Menus, bookings, qualifying leads | Buttons, lists, media and questions | Automation › Flows |
| AI Assistant | A customer asks anything | Open questions, from your own documents | Text or a voice note | AI Assistant |
| Drip sequence | A contact is enrolled | Nurturing leads over days or weeks | Approved templates, step by step | Automation › Schedule › Drip Sequence |
| Scheduled automation | A date or a schedule | Birthdays, anniversaries, regular reminders | One approved template | Scheduled automation |
| Event message | Something happens in another system | Order updates, cart reminders, new leads | Approved templates | Shopify, Online Store, lead integrations |
Bots and AI reply inside the 24-hour window; anything sent later is an approved template. More in our WhatsApp automation guide and auto reply guide.
Six automations worth setting up first.
New lead, instant welcome
A Facebook lead form or Click-to-WhatsApp ad brings a lead in; a welcome template or chatbot replies at once, and a drip sequence follows up until they reply.
After-hours enquiries
Outside business hours, the AI Assistant answers from your documents, or an away message says when you’ll reply. Your team picks up in the morning.
Abandoned-cart recovery
Shopify reminders go out 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours and 3 days after a cart is left, with the cart link and an optional discount code.
Order updates
Customers hear when an order is placed, paid, shipped or cancelled, without anyone typing a message.
Marketplace enquiries
IndiaMART enquiries arrive every few minutes and get a welcome message on WhatsApp, ready for your sales team.
Birthday and anniversary wishes
A scheduled automation sends your template on each contact’s date, with an offer if you like.
Ideas by industry: e-commerce, real estate, education, automobile and all industries.
What WhatsApp automation costs.
Automation from Series 2
Keyword auto-replies, chatbot flows, the AI Assistant, lead capture, Instagram auto-replies, the API and AI Copilot come with Series 2, 3 and 4, from ₹1,799 a month (Series 3, billed yearly). Series 1 is for campaigns and the team inbox.
Templates, per message
Templates your automations send are charged per delivered message from your wallet, at our message rates, which include Meta’s fee.
Replies in the window
Service replies inside the 24-hour window are free for the first 1,000 per number each month, then charged at the utility rate.
AI on your own key
There’s no limit on AI replies from us. AI features use your own connected AI key, so AI usage is billed by your AI provider.
Prices are set and billed in Indian rupees. Estimate a month with the pricing calculator.
WhatsApp Automation FAQ
What is WhatsApp automation?
WhatsApp automation is software that sends and answers WhatsApp messages for a business without someone typing each one: keyword replies, chatbots, AI answers, reminders, follow-up sequences and order updates. Businesses run it on the WhatsApp Business API so it works for a whole team on one number.
Is WhatsApp automation allowed?
Yes, on the official WhatsApp Business API and within Meta’s rules: message people who opted in, use approved templates outside the 24-hour customer service window, and give customers a way to reach a person. Unofficial bulk-sending tools on personal WhatsApp accounts break WhatsApp’s terms and can get numbers banned.
Can I automate the WhatsApp Business app?
Only a little. The app has a greeting message, an away message and quick replies, and they need your phone online. Chatbots, AI replies, follow-up sequences, integrations and a shared team inbox need the WhatsApp Business API, through a platform such as Automate AI.
How does AI WhatsApp automation work in Automate AI?
The AI Assistant answers customers from your own documents and website, by text or voice note, and hands the chat to a person when needed. AI Sales Center scores leads and creates follow-up tasks, and AI Copilot sets up flows, templates and campaign drafts for you to approve. AI features use your own connected AI key.
Do I need to know coding?
No. Chatbots are built on a drag-and-drop canvas, and drip sequences, scheduled messages and integrations are set up from forms in the app. Developers can also use the REST API and webhooks.
Is there free WhatsApp automation?
The WhatsApp Business app’s greeting and away messages are free. On the API, Meta charges per delivered template message, and the first 1,000 service replies per number each month are free. Automate AI plans with automation start at ₹1,799 a month (Series 3, billed yearly).
Is Automate AI a WhatsApp automation agency or a software?
Automate AI is software that your team runs itself, by UC Tech Private Limited. Book a demo and we walk you through it using your own use case. Agencies and consultants can join our Partner plan to offer WhatsApp automation to their clients.
Can I keep my existing WhatsApp number?
Yes. With WhatsApp coexistence, the number you use in the WhatsApp Business app connects to Automate AI and you keep using the app on your phone. Past chats stay in the app.
Can an automation message a customer after 24 hours?
Only with an approved template. Inside the 24-hour window that starts when the customer messages you, chatbots and AI can send any message type; after it closes, drip sequences, reminders and other follow-ups use approved templates.
Put your WhatsApp on autopilot, with a person close by.
Start with one automation, like a welcome flow or a follow-up sequence, and add more as you grow.
Explore more features
- MarketingBroadcast rich WhatsApp templates now or on a schedule, and track every read.
- ChatbotBuild WhatsApp chatbots on a drag-and-drop canvas, no code needed.
- AI AssistantAI that answers customers from your own documents, by text or voice.
- AI Sales CenterLead scores, next steps and follow-ups from your WhatsApp chats.
- AI CopilotType a task and AI sets it up in your account, with your OK.
- Drip CampaignA series of WhatsApp messages over days or weeks that stops when they reply.
- Click-to-WhatsApp AdsFacebook and Instagram ads that open a WhatsApp chat, written by AI and published from Automate AI.
- Shared Team InboxYour whole team on one WhatsApp number, with assignment, notes and quick replies.
- Instagram Auto-ReplyKeyword replies to Instagram comments and DMs, with a private DM to commenters.
- Online StoreYour own store page with products, orders, payments and WhatsApp order updates.
- Voice AIAI phone agents that answer calls and call your leads, in six languages.