Meta's agent answers questions.VoluChat closes the sale.
Meta now bundles an AI agent into the WhatsApp Business app, and Meta One business plans in India start at ₹639/month. It is a genuinely good responder. But it does not know your live size stock, it does not run your size chart, and it does not take the payment — you still close every sale by hand.
Meta plan prices, benefits and availability vary by region, app and account — always check the plan shown inside your own account.
First, What You Are Comparing
Meta Business Agent comes in two very different shapes.
One is a switch you flip inside the app. The other is a developer project. Neither is a boutique sales closer.
Agent inside the WhatsApp Business app
Switch it on, let it learn from your Page, past chats, website and catalogue, and it replies to customer questions 24/7. It gathers customer details, answers basic product and shipping questions, and hands complex chats back to you.
Cost: free to start, with a monthly response allowance included. More responses come with a Meta One business plan — from ₹639/month (Essential) in India, priced per profile.
Good for: answering daytime WhatsApp questions when you are busy. Not built for closing an Instagram-driven sale.
Agent on the WhatsApp Cloud API
You (or a developer you hire) build the integration, wire up your own tools and host it. Meta then bills per token for Meta Business Agent messages — its own documentation illustrates replies landing around 4–5 US cents each at $2.00 per million tokens.
Timeline: Meta Business Agent messages are billed from Aug 1, 2026, and service and utility messages are charged from Oct 1, 2026.
Good for: brands with an engineering team. Your bill rises with every extra reply — including the ones a viral Reel brings in.
Detailed Breakdown
Seven jobs a boutique actually needs done.
Comment-to-DM Capture
Turning a comment on a Reel or post into a private sales conversation
Built to answer inbound messages, not to capture comments. Nobody replies to the 11:30 PM "Price?" comment, and nobody opens a DM with that post's exact outfit, price and sizes.
You would have to build and host the comment webhooks and the post-to-product matching yourself.
Replies to the comment in 2 seconds and slides into her DM with the exact price, photos and size options from that post.
Live Stock & Variant Accuracy
Knowing whether M is actually available before you promise it
Answers from what it learned about your business content. It is not checking your live size-wise stock, so promising a size you no longer have is a real risk.
You would have to build your own inventory tool and webhooks to connect real stock.
Reads live variant stock (S–XXL) before answering, and holds the size while she pays.
Sizing & Fit Advice
Answering "Will this fit a 38 bust in Peach M?" correctly
Gives general answers about your products. It does not run your size chart, your fabric stretch or your alteration margins.
Requires custom prompt work and a size-chart lookup tool built by a developer.
Qualifies her measurements against your size chart, then advises on bust margin, fabric stretch and alterations.
Getting Paid
Actually collecting the money and creating the order
Can answer questions about discounts, payment and shipping, but it does not take the payment and it does not create your order. You still close manually.
Usage-based per-token billing on top of message charges. A viral Reel multiplies your bill, not just your sales.
Collects the address in chat and sends a 1-click UPI link — or matches a QR payment screenshot to her order for one-tap confirmation.
Courier Tracking & Exchanges
Answering "Where is my parcel?" and processing a size exchange
No courier integration. It escalates these to you, so you are still looking up AWBs late at night.
Requires you to build the logistics and exchange integrations yourself.
Pulls live Delhivery or Shiprocket status and runs your 7-day exchange rules with unboxing photos automatically.
Runs On Your Existing Number
Whether you change numbers, migrate chats or lose the WhatsApp Business app
Lives inside the WhatsApp Business app on your number.
Needs a Cloud API number — which, with Coexistence, can be the same number you already use in the app.
Runs on WhatsApp Business Coexistence on the number you already use. Your team keeps the app for calls and manual replies.
Effort & Cost to Run
What it takes from you to get it live, and what it costs as you grow
Quick to switch on in the app, and an agent allowance is included free. Extra responses need a Meta One business plan — from ₹639/mo (Essential) in India, priced per profile.
You own the build, the hosting, the tokens and the on-call. Meta bills from Aug 1, 2026 per token, with service and utility messages charged from Oct 1, 2026.
100% done-for-you in 48 hours — catalog, size chart, Meta APIs, payments, tracking and voice — at a fixed monthly rupee price with a conversation allowance.
You only need questions answered
Your business only ever chats on WhatsApp, your catalogue is simple, and you are happy to close and collect every payment yourself. Meta's included agent allowance will answer basic questions, and there is nothing wrong with that.
You want the order paid for
Shoppers comment on your Reels and message you at night about price, size and stock, and you want those conversations to end in a paid order without a person. That means comment-to-DM, sizing from your chart, live stock, in-chat UPI and parcel follow-ups — on the same WhatsApp number you already use.
The rupee maths, stated plainly
Meta One Essential is ₹639/month and answers WhatsApp questions — but you still close every order, take every payment and type every address yourself. VoluChat starts at ₹3,999/month and includes 800 conversations where the sizing, the stock check, the address, the UPI payment and the parcel follow-up are all handled. Measured against a chat executive at ₹15,000–₹22,000/month who only works 10 AM to 7 PM, the second number is the cheaper one.
And you do not have to give up anything to switch: VoluChat runs on WhatsApp Business Coexistence, on the same number you use in the WhatsApp Business app today.