A practical guide to setting up automatic WhatsApp replies for Zendesk in 2025

Does your team dread the Monday morning scramble to answer WhatsApp messages from the weekend? It’s a common headache. A great sales lead comes in late on Friday, but by the time anyone sees it, Meta’s 24-hour reply window has closed. Just like that, a potential customer is gone.

Replying quickly is non-negotiable for keeping customers happy and closing sales that come through WhatsApp. But how are you supposed to do that without making your team work around the clock?

This guide will walk you through the different ways to set up automatic WhatsApp replies for Zendesk. We'll cover everything from Zendesk's built-in features and complicated custom builds to newer AI tools, giving you a straightforward comparison so you can pick what's right for your team.

What are automatic WhatsApp replies for Zendesk?

When we talk about automatic replies for WhatsApp in Zendesk, it’s about more than just a simple “we’re away” message. A good auto-reply is a smart tool. It can set expectations, gather info, and, most importantly, keep that conversation window open so a human agent can actually follow up.

Think of it as your first response for common situations, like:

• Letting a customer know you got their message outside of business hours.

• Telling customers you're experiencing high volume and giving them a realistic wait time.

• Sending a quick holding message to keep the 24-hour window from closing on a tricky ticket.

For any business using WhatsApp for support or sales, this isn't just a nice feature to have. It's essential for keeping service quality high and not losing out on revenue.

Method 1: Using Zendesk's built-in auto-responder

The most direct way to get started is with Zendesk’s own "Auto-responder" for social messaging. It’s the out-of-the-box option you can find right inside your Zendesk account.

It's a simple toggle you can flip on in the Admin Center. When a customer sends a WhatsApp message for the first time, it shoots back a single, pre-written response. The good news? According to Zendesk's own documentation, this reply does reset the 24-hour clock. It’s a quick fix, and it’s definitely better than leaving customers on read.

But its simplicity is also its downfall. You'll likely run into its limitations pretty fast.

First off, the message is the same for everyone. You can't have different replies for when you're in the office versus out of office, or for a sales question versus a support ticket. It's a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't fit much.

The biggest issue, though, is that it only sends once a day. Zendesk’s help docs say, "The automatic response is sent once a day, not every time the end user sends a message." This makes it useless for sending follow-up reminders or handling a conversation that goes back and forth.

Finally, it’s not smart. The auto-responder can't understand what the customer is asking about. It can't figure out their intent, send the ticket to the right team, or do anything other than send that one message. It’s a blunt instrument, and it can’t be connected to Zendesk’s other business rules or triggers, so you can't build any real workflows with it.

Method 2: The complex way with triggers and webhooks

To get around the native tool's shortcomings, some teams dive into the more technical side of Zendesk's automation engine. This route gives you more control, but it's a lot more complicated.

Here's what that usually looks like:

1. Set up Zendesk Triggers: You create a trigger that fires when certain things happen, like "Ticket is created," "Channel is WhatsApp," or "Hours since pending is 23."

2. Use Webhooks: The trigger then pings an external service using a webhook, sending over the ticket details.

3. Talk to the Sunshine Conversations API: This is the API that runs Zendesk's messaging features. To send a reply from your own script, you have to communicate with this API.

4. Add a middle layer: Now for the tricky part. You can't just call the Sunshine Conversations API directly from a Zendesk trigger. You need something in between to process the request. This could be a third-party app from the marketplace or some custom code you host yourself on a service like Cloudflare Workers, Zapier, or Make.

While this approach is definitely powerful, it comes with its own set of headaches.

It requires a developer

This is not a task for a support manager. You’ll need a developer or someone who’s very comfortable with APIs, writing JSON, and managing cloud functions. It’s not something you can just set up on your own.

It’s brittle and needs constant maintenance

Custom integrations are fragile. If Zendesk or Meta changes their API, your whole system can break, leaving you scrambling to find a developer to fix it.

The costs can pile up

The price isn't always straightforward. You might have to pay for a third-party app from the Zendesk Marketplace, plus a monthly fee for a service like Zapier, all on top of your existing Zendesk plan.

It's slow to update

Need to change the message or adjust the timing? You'll probably have to go back to the developer who built it. This makes it hard for support teams to manage their own workflows and adapt on the fly.

Method 3: The modern way with a dedicated AI agent

There's a third option that gives you the power of the API method without all the technical baggage: using a specialized AI platform that plugs directly into Zendesk. This is the modern fix that puts the support team back in control.

A screenshot of the eesel AI platform showing how to build custom rules for automatic WhatsApp replies in Zendesk.

Platforms like eesel AI sit on top of your existing helpdesk and let you build complex automations without writing any code.

Here’s how it solves the problems with the other methods:

• Get started in minutes, not months: Forget about waiting on developers. With eesel AI, you connect your Zendesk account in one click and start building rules in a simple, visual editor. You can get up and running on your own without needing a sales call or demo.

• Get full control and customization: This is where you can finally fix that weekend message problem. eesel AI’s workflow engine lets you create very specific, time-based rules. For example:

  • "If a WhatsApp ticket has been waiting for a reply for 22 hours, send a message saying 'Our team is still looking into this for you, we'll be in touch shortly!' and add a 'priority' tag."

  • "If a WhatsApp message mentions 'pricing' or 'quote', instantly reply with a link to our pricing page and assign the ticket to the Sales group."

• Be intelligent, not just automatic: The replies don't have to be canned. You can train eesel AI on your past tickets and knowledge base articles so it can give helpful answers to common questions, not just generic "we got your message" confirmations.

• Test it out first: Before you go live, you can run a simulation on your past tickets. eesel AI will show you exactly how your new rules would have worked last week, giving you a clear picture of the impact and removing the guesswork of launching a new workflow.

Pricing comparison: Zendesk vs. AI solutions

Let's talk about what these options actually cost.

Zendesk's native auto-responder is included in most Zendesk Suite plans. While these plans come with "Essential" AI features, the more advanced automation tools are often paid add-ons.

Plan	Price (Billed Annually)	Key AI/Messaging Features
Support Team	$19/agent/month	Basic ticketing only
Suite Team	$55/agent/month	Messaging, 1 Help Center, AI agents (Essential)
Suite Professional	$115/agent/month	Advanced reporting, SLAs, 5 Help Centers
Suite Enterprise	$169/agent/month	Custom roles, Sandbox, 300 Help Centers

The cost of Method 2 (Webhooks) is all over the place. It could involve a one-time developer fee, ongoing maintenance costs, and multiple software subscriptions that could change without notice.

In contrast, platforms like eesel AI have clear, predictable pricing. You won't find any surprise fees per resolution that punish you for doing a good job.

Plan	Price (Billed Annually)	AI Interactions/mo	Key Features
Team	$239/month	Up to 1,000	Train on docs, Copilot, Slack integration
Business	$639/month	Up to 3,000	Train on past tickets, Custom Actions, Simulation
Custom	Contact Sales	Unlimited	Advanced security, multi-agent orchestration

Stop chasing the clock and start automating

Handling WhatsApp’s 24-hour rule in Zendesk is a real challenge. Zendesk's built-in tool is a starting point, but it's just too basic for a growing business. Custom API solutions are powerful but bring a lot of complexity, cost, and maintenance that most support teams simply don't have the time or budget for.

A dedicated AI agent like eesel AI offers a great balance. It gives you powerful, customizable automation that’s easy enough for anyone on the team to use. The goal isn't just to beat the 24-hour clock; it's to use that first message to create a smarter, more helpful customer experience that builds trust.

Ready to build automatic WhatsApp replies in minutes? Sign up for eesel AI and connect your Zendesk account to see how it works today.