Meta started charging for its Business Agent on WhatsApp from August 1. Until that date, the agent was free to use. If you turned it on in June or July, you have been running customer service on autopilot at no cost. That window just closed.
From this month, each AI reply is billed based on token usage rather than a fixed per-message price. Depending on the number of tokens consumed, many exchanges may cost a few cents. It is not ruinous, but it is no longer free. And if you have not set it up yet, you missed the trial period.
This matters because the Business Agent is an AI assistant built into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger that handles customer conversations automatically, answering questions, recommending products, booking appointments, and routing complex queries to a human when needed. For a plumber, a café, or a cleaner, that is hours of reply time saved every week.
But you need to turn it on knowing what it costs, and whether it replaces something you are already paying for.
What it actually does
The agent learns automatically from your Facebook Page, past chats, and website, if you have one. It handles customer questions 24/7. You tell it your business hours, upload your price list or catalogue, and set the tone. Then it answers enquiries while you are offline.
You can choose who it responds to: everyone, only new customers, or customers coming from ads. If someone asks a question you have answered a hundred times already (opening hours, booking process, minimum spend), the agent gives them the answer. If the conversation gets specific or unusual, it hands over to you.
It is simple to start, no developer required, and built directly into the app, but the limitations at the self-serve app tier include no shared team inbox, no broadcast campaigns, and no custom AI training on your specific business documents. It works from what you configure in Meta’s interface. That is enough for most local businesses.
What you should do now
AI tools for small business only save you time if they actually do the job you were doing before.
The thing no one tells you
AI tools for small business only save you time if they actually do the job you were doing before. If you were not replying to messages outside business hours anyway, an after-hours chatbot does not save you anything. It just creates the expectation that you are available all the time.
But if you run a business where people message at 9pm asking if you are open tomorrow, or whether you deliver to their suburb, or what your minimum order is, this tool answers those questions instantly. That is worth a few cents per conversation.
The pricing change does not make it a bad tool. It just means you need to measure whether it earns its keep, like anything else you pay for.
Prompted by Intelli Blog.