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Ariko
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South Africa

A WhatsApp AI chatbot for South African businesses

Ariko is an AI receptionist for South African businesses: it answers your customers on WhatsApp and on your website, 24/7, only from your business's own information. It replies in English — or, once you switch it on, in the language each customer writes in — books appointments into Google Calendar, and hands a member of your team anything it can't answer.

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Your customers are already on WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the most used social platform in South Africa: 93.9% of active social media users use it, according to the Global Digital Report 2024 figures Meltwater published in March 2024 (source). For many customers it is the first way they contact a business — and they expect an answer.

What Ariko does for a business in South Africa

  • Answers from your business's information. Opening hours, services, prices, policies, directions — whatever you write in, and nothing it has to invent.
  • Books the appointment in the chat. Connect Google Calendar and Ariko offers free times, books, cancels and reschedules.
  • Speaks your customers' language. English for an account opened in English, or set it to answer each customer in the language they wrote in.
  • Runs on your local time. Opening hours and bookings follow your business's time zone, taken from your browser when you sign up and changeable in the settings.
  • Understands voice notes and images. A customer who sends a voice note or a photo gets an answer to it, not a request to type.
  • Answers on your website too. The same information powers a chat on your site, on the paid plans.
  • Hands over to your team. What it doesn't know goes to a member of the team, and you can take over any chat from the shared inbox.

Who it fits

  • Hair and nail salons — bookings, prices and opening hours.
  • Spas and beauty therapists — treatments, packages and availability.
  • Dental and doctors' rooms — appointments, directions and what to bring.
  • Physios and therapists — first sessions and rescheduling.
  • Gyms, studios and personal trainers — classes, memberships and trial sessions.
  • Tutors and driving schools — lessons, availability and prices.

Your number, and Meta's charges

Ariko runs on Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform. Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges per message, with 1,000 free service messages per number a month and a South African rate beyond that; with Ariko, those charges are included in the subscription (sources). Whether your current app number can connect with the app kept alongside is a question to check with us — see the FAQ below.

A conversation, after hours

An illustration: a made-up nail salon, not a real customer. The bot answers from what the salon wrote and books into its calendar.

Hi, do you have a gap tomorrow afternoon for gel nails?
Hi! Tomorrow there's 14:00 or 16:30 for gel nails — which one suits you?
16:30
Booked: tomorrow 16:30, gel nails. See you then!

Why businesses choose Ariko

  • Answers from your business, not from a script. Write once what the business does — hours, services, prices, policies — and Ariko answers from it, including questions nobody built a path for.
  • In your customer's language. An account opened in English replies in English, and Ariko can be set to answer each customer in the language they wrote in — or only in languages you allow.
  • Booking inside the conversation. Checks Google Calendar for free times, books, cancels and reschedules.
  • WhatsApp and website, from the same information. Ariko also answers in a chat on the business's website.
  • Your team stays in control. A shared inbox: see every conversation and step in by hand at any moment.
  • Meta's message charges included. No separate WhatsApp bill to top up: the charges Meta makes per message are part of the subscription.
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Frequently asked questions

Can Ariko answer my customers in English?

Yes. An account opened in English replies in English, and you can set Ariko to answer each customer in the language they wrote in — or only in languages you pick, with English as the fallback.

Can I keep my business's WhatsApp number?

Ariko connects a number on the WhatsApp Business app by scanning a QR code, where Meta supports keeping the app alongside — what Meta calls coexistence. Meta's documentation does not name South Africa either way, so book a demo and we'll check your number with you before you pay.

Does Ariko book appointments?

Yes, once you connect Google Calendar: it checks free times inside the hours you set, then books, cancels and reschedules from the conversation.

How much does Ariko cost?

You build and test at $0 — No WhatsApp connection on the free plan. WhatsApp starts with the Start plan, $99 a month (charged in shekels: ₪299 a month) with 1,000 messages, and Meta's message charges are included. Full pricing.

What happens when Ariko doesn't know the answer?

It never makes one up. It tells the customer a member of the team can answer and offers to pass the question on; you see it in the inbox and can take over the chat at any moment.

Is Ariko only for WhatsApp?

No. Ariko answers on WhatsApp and in a chat on your business's website, from the same information, on the paid plans.

Sources (checked 27 October 2026)

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