Comparison

Before you buy a WhatsApp bot: eight questions that reveal the difference, and the answer you should hear

9 min read Updated 23 September 2026 ArabyBot team No competitor names — shapes, not companies
On this page 4
  1. Why questions, not features
  2. The eight questions
  3. The ten-minute test before paying
  4. Frequently asked questions

The short answer

Eight questions that reveal the difference in ten minutes: is the connection through Meta's official API or "scan the code"? In whose name is the number registered? What is the pricing model and who pays Meta's fees? Does it understand dialect and voice notes? Where do its answers come from? When does it hand to a person? Does it read your store or a copy? And what happens to your data if you leave? — with the answer you should hear, and our own answer to each.

The short answer

Eight questions that reveal the difference in ten minutes: is the connection through Meta's official API or "scan the code"? In whose name is the number registered? What is the pricing model and who pays Meta's fees? Does it understand dialect and voice notes? Where do its answers come from? When does it hand to a person? Does it read your store or a copy? And what happens to your data if you leave? — with the answer you should hear, and our own answer to each.

Also asked as: «اسأل ايه قبل ما اشتري بوت واتساب» · «كيف أختار بوت واتساب» · «وش أتأكد منه قبل أشترك ببوت» · «مقارنة بوتات الواتساب»

Why questions, not features

Feature lists look alike: "AI", "auto-reply", "campaigns", "integrations". The difference you will pay for three months later does not show in them: is the number yours? Will it be banned? Who pays Meta? What does the bot say when it does not know? The eight questions below are for any provider — us included — with the answer you should hear next to each, and our own, so we do not say what we will not stand behind.

The eight questions

1. Is the connection through Meta's official API?

The answer you should hearHear: "WhatsApp Business API through Meta Business Manager, your number registered under your business". Beware: "scan the code from your phone" or "works with your regular number instantly".
Our answerWe are a Meta-verified tech provider and connect through the official API only. A number on the WhatsApp Business app moves in coexistence mode and keeps its chats.

2. In whose name is the number registered?

The answer you should hearHear: "under your name in your own account; we are a provider with access". Beware: "we register it for you on our side" — that number does not leave with you.
Our answerUnder your name, in your own Meta Business account. You can remove our access at any time from Meta's settings.

3. What is the pricing model, and who pays Meta's fees?

The answer you should hearHear: "a platform subscription, Meta's fees on your own account with no markup, replies to whoever wrote to you free". Beware: a single "per message" price that does not separate the two, or a cap on conversations in the plan.
Our answerA flat monthly subscription with no cap on conversations or teammates, and Meta's fees on your own account with no markup. Measured on 21,667 messages, 69.7% cost nothing at Meta — pricing.

4. Does it understand my customers' dialect and voice notes?

The answer you should hearHear: "try it now" — then test with dialect, a voice note and a typo. Beware: "supports Arabic" with no demo; the Arabic they mean is usually translated MSA.
Our answerThe agent answering you from the chat button here is the one that will answer your customers: Egyptian, Gulf, MSA, or "auto" in the customer's dialect, and it transcribes and answers voice notes.

5. Where do its answers come from?

The answer you should hearHear: "from your files, your site pages and your store, and it says it does not know when it cannot find it". Beware: "it knows everything" — a bot that knows everything invents.
Our answerA knowledge base from your files (PDF, Excel, text), a crawl of your site, and your connected store. What is not there gets "I do not know" and a hand-off — a written rule whose breaches we watch daily.

6. When does it hand to a person, and how?

The answer you should hearHear: "when it does not know, when the customer asks for a person, or when they are upset — and the bot goes quiet the moment an agent steps in". Beware: a bot that keeps talking while the agent types, so both answer at once.
Our answerIt hands over in all three cases and goes quiet in the thread the moment an agent writes from the dashboard, the app, or even the WhatsApp app itself. There is an off switch for the agent per conversation.

7. Does it read my store or a copy of it?

The answer you should hearHear: "it asks your store at the moment of the customer's question: price, size, stock". Beware: "upload your product file" presented as the connection — a file is a copy that sells what ran out.
Our answerA direct connection to Shopify, WooCommerce and Easy Orders, with Salla and Zid written and opening by agreement; before a connection it works from your file or store link, and we tell you the file is a copy.

8. What happens to my data if I leave?

The answer you should hearHear: "the number stays yours, you export contacts and conversations, and your data is deleted on request". Beware: an annual contract with no export clause.
Our answerThe number is yours, export is on the dashboard, a published retention policy (90 days for conversations), a public data processing agreement, and account deletion from settings.

The ten-minute test before paying

  1. Message the demo bot the way your customer writes

    Three messages: a dialect price question, a voice note, and a question nobody knows ("do you have a branch in Aswan?"). The third reply is the test: it should say it does not know and hand over.

  2. Ask to see the number in the Meta account

    Whoever registers the number under your name can show you in a minute. Whoever hesitates, ask why.

  3. Ask for any customer's latest Meta invoice

    Names redacted. The point is to see that Meta's fees reach the customer as they are. Whoever cannot show it is selling them with a margin.

  4. Write your exit question before you enter

    "If I leave after six months, what do I keep?" The right answer: the number, the contacts, and the conversations exported. Any other answer shows its real price on the day you leave.

Frequently asked questions

1

What is the difference between "scan-the-code" linking and the official API?

Scan-the-code runs a program on a WhatsApp Web session of a regular number, which WhatsApp's terms forbid; the number works until it is caught. The official WhatsApp Business API registers the number under your business in Meta Business Manager, and your bot answers it from Meta's own servers with no phone. The first is cheaper in month one and costlier the day the number is banned.

2

Are Meta's fees part of the platform subscription?

Ask this explicitly. With us Meta's fees are billed on your own account with no markup, and the subscription is separate; some platforms merge the two into a "per message" price carrying a margin you cannot see. A customer's reply to you — most conversations — is free at Meta either way.

3

How do I test dialect understanding before buying?

Send the demo bot three messages the way your customers write: a dialect question, a voice note, and a message with a typo. A platform that asks you to fill a form before you can try does not want you to try. Our agent is the chat button on this page.

4

What should the bot say when it does not know?

Say "I do not know, and a teammate will reply within [time]", then go quiet. The bot that invents an answer to look smart is the one that sells a size that ran out and promises a slot that does not exist. Ask the provider: where does the bot get its answers, and what does it do when it cannot find one?

5

What if I want to move to another platform later?

Ask before signing: is the number registered under my own Meta Business account? Can I export contacts and conversations? A number registered under the provider does not move with you, and conversations that cannot be exported are lost. With us the number is yours and export is on the dashboard.

Read next

WhatsApp Business App vs WhatsApp Business APIShould I use the WhatsApp Business app or the API?WhatsApp banned your number? The real reasonsWhy did WhatsApp restrict my number, and how do I prevent it?Best Arabic chatbot 2026: the criteria and a platform comparisonWhat is the best Arabic chatbot for business?WhatsApp API pricing in Egypt 2026 — real numbers and a calculatorWhat does the WhatsApp API cost in Egypt?
And you run all of it from your phoneEverything on this page is also run from the ArabyBot mobile app — replies, orders, campaigns and AI reports. Not a web dashboard only.

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