Chatbot service pricing: how agencies and freelancers in India package and charge
Indian agencies usually price chatbot services in three parts: a one-time setup fee for discovery, flows, templates and training, a monthly retainer for platform access, changes, reporting and support hours, and pass-through costs such as Meta charges and AI usage billed at cost or paid by the client directly. Work out each part from your hours, platform cost and target margin.
- Use a three-part structure: one-time setup fee, monthly retainer, and usage costs passed through at cost.
- Price the setup fee from scope, meaning flows, templates, channels, languages and integrations, not from a flat guess.
- Define the retainer by included hours, response time and a named monthly report so that changes do not become unlimited.
- Let each client hold their own Meta account and AI key so volatile usage bills never sit on your books.
- On Convo360's partner programme you pay a per-client platform fee from a prepaid wallet, set your own prices and keep the rest.
How do Indian agencies usually structure chatbot pricing?
Most agencies and freelancers who last in this business charge in three parts. Each part covers a different kind of cost, so mixing them into one number is where margins leak.
| Component | What it covers | How to price it |
|---|---|---|
| One-time setup fee | Discovery, WhatsApp number connection, flows, templates, knowledge base, training | Estimated hours × your hourly rate, plus a buffer for revisions |
| Monthly retainer | Platform access, changes, campaigns, reporting, support | Platform cost per client + included hours × rate, then add your margin |
| Pass-through usage | Meta template charges, AI usage, telephony minutes | At cost, or paid by the client directly to the provider |
This article gives you the structure and a worksheet. It does not quote market rates, because a freelancer in Indore and a twelve-person agency in Bengaluru have very different hourly costs. Your numbers must come from your own hours.
What should the setup fee include?
The setup fee pays for work that happens once. Write the scope into the proposal so the client can see what they are buying.
- Discovery: one workshop to list the top questions, the handover rules and the systems to connect.
- Channel connection: the client's WhatsApp number through Meta's embedded signup, plus the website widget if needed.
- Flows: a fixed count, for example a welcome menu, a lead capture flow and one reminder flow.
- Templates: drafting, submission to Meta and one round of rework if a template is rejected.
- AI agent: system prompt, knowledge base upload and testing in the client's languages.
- Training and handover: one session for the client's team on the live-chat inbox, and a short handover document.
Scope drivers are the number of flows, channels, languages and integrations. A Hindi and Marathi bot with a Google Sheets lookup and Razorpay payment links is a bigger job than a single-language FAQ bot, and the fee should say so. Our client onboarding playbook has a discovery checklist you can reuse.
What goes into the monthly retainer?
The retainer is where recurring income comes from, so define it by limits, not by promises. Three tiers work well because clients can pick one without negotiating.
| Included | Basic | Growth | Managed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform access and hosting of the bot | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Flow and knowledge base changes | Small fixed hours | More hours | Highest hours |
| New templates per month | Limited | More | As needed within hours |
| Campaigns run for the client | Not included | Fixed number | Planned calendar |
| Reporting | Monthly summary | Monthly report and call | Report, call and quarterly review |
| Support response time | Next working day | Same working day | Priority, named contact |
Fill in your own hours for each tier. Anything beyond the included hours is billed at your hourly rate, and saying that upfront avoids awkward conversations in month four.
What should you bill at cost instead of marking up?
Three costs rise and fall with the client's volume: Meta's template message charges, AI usage and, for voice bots, telephony minutes. Treat them as pass-through.
- They are volatile. One Diwali broadcast can multiply the Meta bill. If that bill sits inside your fixed retainer, your margin disappears in a single campaign.
- They create cash-flow risk. Paying a client's usage first and collecting later makes you their lender.
- Clients can check them. Meta's rates are public, so a hidden markup damages trust when it is found.
The cleanest arrangement is BYOK. The client holds their own WhatsApp Business account and their own OpenAI, Claude or Gemini key, and pays those providers directly. Convo360 adds zero markup on messages, minutes or AI tokens, so there is nothing to reconcile. Your invoice then contains only your setup fee and retainer. For the client-side maths, share our monthly cost worked example.
Pricing worksheet: work out your own numbers
| Line | Formula | Your number |
|---|---|---|
| A. Setup hours | Discovery + flows + templates + AI agent + training | ____ hours |
| B. Hourly rate | Your monthly team cost ÷ billable hours, plus profit | ₹____ |
| C. Setup fee | A × B × 1.2 (20% revision buffer) | ₹____ |
| D. Platform cost per client | Your plan or partner fee ÷ active clients | ₹____ |
| E. Monthly service hours | Changes + campaigns + report + support | ____ hours |
| F. Monthly cost to serve | D + (E × your internal hourly cost) | ₹____ |
| G. Retainer | F ÷ (1 − target margin) | ₹____ |
| H. Pass-through | Meta, AI and telephony at cost, or paid directly | Not in your invoice |
For line D, an agency on the Business plan at ₹7,999 a month plus GST with unlimited workspaces divides that fee across its clients. With eight clients the platform share is about ₹1,000 each before GST. If you want a 40% margin and your cost to serve is F, the retainer is F ÷ 0.6. Add 18% GST on your own invoice if you are registered.
How does the reseller and white-label programme work on Convo360?
Convo360, the AI voice and WhatsApp chatbot platform from A Plus Solution, has a partner programme with two tracks. As a reseller you sell under Convo360's brand. As a white-label partner you run the platform on your own domain with your own logo, login and prices.
- Top up a prepaid wallet. Partner billing runs from the wallet, and GST tax invoices are issued automatically.
- Add a client. Each client gets their own account with their own WhatsApp number and AI keys. A per-client platform fee is paid from your wallet.
- Set your price. You decide what the client pays. The difference between your price and the per-client fee is your margin, and you keep it.
- Deliver faster. Install a ready-made agent from the Template Store, then adjust it in the Flow Builder with blocks such as Send Template, AI Reply, Buttons and Save CRM lead.
Partner pricing is shared on request, so use your quoted fee for line D of the worksheet. The reseller docs explain the wallet, and you can apply from the partners section.
Which pricing mistakes erode agency margins?
- Unlimited changes. A retainer without an hour cap becomes a full-time job for one client.
- Absorbing Meta bills. Never bundle usage into a fixed fee unless you cap the volume in writing.
- Charging per message. It feels fair, but it punishes the client for success and makes your income unpredictable.
- No minimum term. Setup effort is front-loaded. A three or six month minimum protects it.
- No annual review. Scope grows quietly. Revisit the tier every year against the hours you actually logged.
- Selling software, not outcomes. Clients pay retainers for a managed result such as answered enquiries and booked appointments, not for a login.
Example conversation
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Frequently asked questions
How much should an agency charge for a WhatsApp chatbot in India?
There is no single market rate. Build the price from a one-time setup fee based on estimated hours, a monthly retainer that covers your platform cost per client plus service hours and margin, and usage costs such as Meta charges and AI tokens passed through at cost.
Should agencies mark up Meta WhatsApp charges?
It is safer not to. Meta's charges are variable and publicly listed, so a markup creates cash-flow risk and trust problems. Let the client connect their own WhatsApp Business account and pay Meta directly, and earn your margin on setup and retainer fees instead.
What is included in a chatbot maintenance retainer?
A typical retainer includes platform access, a fixed number of hours for flow and knowledge base changes, new template submissions, campaign support, a monthly performance report and a defined support response time. Work beyond the included hours is billed separately at your hourly rate.
How do chatbot resellers make money?
A reseller or white-label partner pays the platform a per-client fee and charges the client a higher price of their own choosing. The difference is recurring margin. Most partners add setup fees and managed-service retainers on top, which often earn more than the software margin.
How does wallet billing work for Convo360 partners?
Partners keep a prepaid wallet on Convo360. When a client account is added or renewed, the per-client platform fee is paid from that wallet, and GST tax invoices are issued automatically. The partner bills the client at their own price. Partner pricing is available on request.
Should a freelancer charge a setup fee or only a monthly fee?
Charge both. Most of the effort happens in the first few weeks, so a monthly fee alone means you fund the build yourself and lose money if the client leaves early. A setup fee covers that work, and the retainer covers ongoing service.
Related reading
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