Autoresponder: Auto-Reply to WhatsApp Messages by Keyword
Updated April 3, 2026 · 5 min read
Someone sends you "price" at 2 AM. You're asleep. By morning, they've moved on to your competitor who responded faster.
This happens every day to marketers and business owners on WhatsApp. The leads are there — they're just not getting answered fast enough.
WASBOT's autoresponder fixes this. Set up keywords, write a reply, and every matching message gets an instant response. No delays. No missed leads. No copy-pasting the same answer for the 50th time today.
How It Works
- Go to the Autoresponder tab in your WASBOT dashboard
- Click "Add Rule" and start adding keywords
- Add multiple keywords — tap the + button to add "price", "how much", "cost" all to the same rule
- Choose a match type — Contains, Exact Match, or Starts With
- Choose who to reply to — All contacts, New/Unsaved only, or Saved contacts only
- Write your reply — the message that gets sent automatically
- Set the cooldown — how often the same person can trigger the reply
The next time someone DMs you with a matching keyword, they get your reply instantly — as a quoted reply to their original message, so they know exactly what triggered it.
Multiple Keywords Per Rule
You can add as many keywords as you want to a single rule. Each keyword gets its own tag — just type a keyword and tap the + button (or press Enter). If someone sends a message matching any of the keywords, the rule fires.
Example: A "pricing" rule with keywords price, how much, cost, payment all trigger the same reply: "Our prices start from N5,000. Send 'catalog' for the full list."
No more creating separate rules for every variation of the same question. You can also paste comma-separated keywords and they'll split into individual tags automatically.
Contact Conditions
Not every auto-reply should go to everyone. The "Reply to" setting lets you target who gets the auto-reply:
All Contacts (default)
Replies to everyone — saved or unsaved. Use this for general FAQs like price, location, or hours.
New / Unsaved Only
Only replies to contacts not saved on your phone. This is the money setting for ad campaigns — when leads from your Instagram or Facebook ads land in your DMs, they get an instant response. Existing customers who already have your number saved don't get spammed with the same welcome message.
Saved Only
Only replies to contacts already saved on your phone. Use this for exclusive info — existing customers get VIP responses, new contacts get the standard reply from a different rule.
How it works under the hood: WASBOT checks whether the sender is in your saved contacts before any auto-save happens. So even if you have contact auto-save enabled, the "unsaved" condition correctly identifies first-time contacts.
Match Types Explained
You get three ways to match keywords:
- Contains (default) — triggers if the keyword appears anywhere in the message. "What's the price?" matches the keyword "price".
- Exact Match — the entire message must match the keyword exactly. Only "price" triggers "price", not "what's the price?".
- Starts With — triggers if the message starts with the keyword. "Hello, I need help" matches the keyword "hello".
For most use cases, Contains is what you want. Use Exact Match for commands like "menu" or "catalog" where you want precise control.
Retrigger and Cooldown
Every rule has two controls:
Can Retrigger
When on (default), the same person can trigger the auto-reply again after the cooldown period. Perfect for common questions people ask repeatedly.
When off, each person gets the reply exactly once. Great for welcome messages or one-time offers — you don't want to send the same "Welcome! Here's 10% off" message every time they say "hi".
Cooldown
When retrigger is on, the cooldown determines how long to wait before the same person can trigger the reply again. Options: Instant, 30s, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 1 hour.
A 5-minute cooldown (default) means if someone sends "price" three times in a row, they only get one reply. No spam.
Reply Delay
You can add a delay before the reply is sent (0-120 seconds). This makes the autoresponder feel more natural — a 5-second delay with a typing indicator looks like a real person typing, not a bot.
Example Rules
Here are some rules that work well for Nigerian businesses:
| Keywords | Reply To | Reply |
|---|---|---|
| price, how much, cost | All | Thanks for asking! Our prices start from N5,000. Send 'catalog' for the full list. |
| hello, hi, hey | New / Unsaved | Hi there! Welcome. How can I help you today? |
| location, address, where | All | We're at 23 Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. Open Mon-Sat, 9 AM - 6 PM. |
| order, buy | All | To place an order, send us: 1) Product name 2) Quantity 3) Delivery address. We'll confirm and send payment details. |
| promo, discount | Saved Only | VIP offer for existing customers: Use code LOYAL20 for 20% off your next order! |
Tier Limits
| Tier | Rules |
|---|---|
| Trial | 3 |
| Basic | 10 |
| Premium | 25 |
| Pro | 50 |
| Enterprise | Unlimited |
Most businesses need 5-10 rules to cover their common questions. If you're hitting the limit, that's a good sign — it means you're getting lots of inbound messages.
What's Coming Next
Here's what's on the roadmap:
- Media replies — send images, videos, or documents as auto-replies (product photos, catalogs, PDFs)
- Message chains — send a sequence of messages instead of just one
- Group support — auto-reply in groups, not just DMs
- Visual flow builder — drag-and-drop automation flows for complex response logic
Get Started
The autoresponder is available now on all plans. Log in to your WASBOT dashboard, click "Autoresponder" in the sidebar, and create your first rule.
If you're not on WASBOT yet, sign up at wasbot.app and connect your WhatsApp in under 2 minutes.
Have questions about the autoresponder? Check our Help Center or email us at support@wasbot.app.