Can I send automated WhatsApp messages without enabling the AI chatbot?

Yes, your appointment notifications. They go out from the CitaFlow number, don’t need the AI Chatbot and are turned on in My Business → Notifications, under “Customer Notifications”.

Which notifications you can send without the chatbot

“Appointment confirmations”, “Changes to their appointments”, “Appointment reminders” and “Cancellations”. With WhatsApp or SMS enabled, a monthly supplement applies based on your appointment volume (see the pricing page). CitaFlow covers Meta’s fee for those messages.

What needs the AI Chatbot

• Having the assistant reply to the messages you receive and handle bookings on WhatsApp.
• Sending notifications from your own number instead of the CitaFlow one.
• The templates and automations in Chatbot → Marketing, for example a message after a completed appointment or on the client’s birthday.

For all of this you connect your WhatsApp Business in Chatbot → Channels → WhatsApp. If you connect your existing app, you keep using it on your phone while the assistant replies in parallel.

Messages sent from your number carry Meta’s fee: since October 2026, replies within the 24-hour window include 1,000 free per month per number, and the rest, like notifications and templates, Meta charges directly to the card on your Meta account. It is a Meta fee and all of it goes to Meta: CitaFlow doesn’t charge it or keep any of it.