Your WhatsApp AI Assistant: It Replies, Qualifies, and Alerts You When Leads Are Hot

If you run a service business in 2026, your WhatsApp inbox is probably the most valuable real estate you own. It is also probably the messiest. Leads show up asking the same five questions, at the worst times, and by the time you reply half of them are already gone.

You do not need another booking app to fix that. You already have a booking tool you like (Acuity, Calendly, Fresha, Booksy, GlossGenius, whatever). What you need is an AI sales agent that lives inside WhatsApp and handles the lead layer before anyone ever touches that booking tool.

That is what Replypop is. And yes, the free plan is real.

What a WhatsApp AI Assistant Actually Does

An AI sales agent on WhatsApp, done right, does one job: it makes sure no lead sits unanswered and no qualified lead falls through the cracks. Concretely:

Replies instantly when someone DMs you, in natural language, using your business info and pricing.
Asks your qualification questions (the ones you configure: service interest, budget, timing, location).
Captures the answers as structured data, not a messy chat log.
Scores each lead and marks the hot ones.
Alerts you when a lead is ready so you can jump in.
Hands off to your booking tool when it is time to actually book.

Notice what is not on the list: running your calendar, taking payments, sending appointment reminders, managing staff schedules. Replypop does none of that. Your booking tool already does all of it, and does it well.

Why "Auto-Reply" Is Not the Same Thing

Most of the cheap (or free) WhatsApp tools out there are auto-reply builders. You set up a keyword ("price"), you type a canned response, and the tool fires back that exact text whenever the keyword appears. That is useful for office hours messages. It is not useful for real leads.

Leads do not speak in keywords. They say things like:

"Hi, do you still have Saturday available for a deep tissue?"
"How much if I bring my sister too?"
"Can you fit me in before 6 on Thursday?"

An auto-reply tool either ignores those or fires back the wrong canned message, which is worse. A real AI sales agent reads the message, understands intent, and replies like a person who actually works at your shop.

What Replypop's Free Plan Includes

The Replypop free plan is designed so you can actually use it, not a 7-day bait. It gives you:

Connection to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.
An AI sales agent that reads and replies to inbound messages.
Your configurable qualification questions.
Lead scoring and a simple pipeline view.
Hot-lead alerts.
One unified inbox across all three channels.

You pay when you want more conversation volume or more team members. Until then, the free tier is a real working setup for a solo operator.

Keep Your Booking Tool

Here is the part we want to be crystal clear about: Replypop is not a replacement for your booking tool. If you are using Acuity, Calendly, Fresha, Vagaro, GlossGenius, Booksy, or anything else, keep using it. Replypop is designed to work on top of whatever you have.

Your booking tool owns:

The calendar and availability.
Payments, deposits, packages, memberships.
Intake forms.
Appointment reminders.
Staff and resource scheduling.

Replypop owns:

The messaging channels your booking tool cannot see.
Every inbound lead on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.
Qualification, scoring, and high-intent lead alerts.

When a lead is qualified, Replypop either tees up a follow-up call time for you to confirm manually, or you drop your booking link into the chat and the booking happens in your scheduler, exactly like today.

A Real Conversation Example

Lead, 9:42pm: "Hey, do you have anything Saturday afternoon for highlights?"

Replypop, 9:42pm: "Hi! Yes, Saturday afternoon has a couple of openings. Just to make sure we match you to the right stylist, how long is your hair right now and have you had highlights done before?"

Lead: "Shoulder length, first time highlights."

Replypop: "Perfect, thanks for sharing. Our highlights for first-timers usually run about 2.5 hours and start at $180. Does that work for you?"

Lead: "Yes, sounds good."

Replypop: "Great, I'm flagging you to [your name] now so she can lock in the time with you personally. Talk soon!"

You wake up, see the lead card in Replypop, check the conversation, and drop your booking link. The lead books in your existing scheduler. You never lost the message to the 10pm black hole.

Setup Time: About 15 Minutes

Sign up for the free plan.
Connect your WhatsApp Business number.
Paste in your services, pricing, hours, and FAQs.
Configure your qualification questions.
Leave it running.

That is it. You do not build decision trees. You do not map out flows. You just describe your business in plain language and the AI handles the rest.

Who Should Use a Free WhatsApp AI Assistant

Solo pros who cannot afford to lose a single lead to a slow reply.
Small salons, spas, barbershops, clinics, and studios with real inbound DM volume.
Owners who already have a booking tool they like and do not want to switch.
Anyone who is tired of being the human auto-reply at 11pm.

Who Does Not Need One

Businesses with almost no WhatsApp inbound.
Pure appointment-page businesses where every customer finds you through search and books directly.

The Bottom Line

A WhatsApp AI sales agent is not supposed to replace your booking software. It is supposed to catch the leads your booking software will never see, qualify them, and hand them off clean. That is what Replypop does, and the free plan is enough to get started today without touching your existing scheduler.

Get Started Free

Keep your booking tool. Add the AI that captures the leads before they ghost you.