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BotPenguin Zapier integrationAutomate BotPenguin with Zapier.

The BotPenguin Zapier integration has 2 triggers and 4 actions. A new contact or an incoming message can start an automation, and Zapier can add a contact, update its attributes, or send a message or a WhatsApp template through your BotPenguin bot.

See the 6 operations

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Overview

What the BotPenguin Zapier integration does

BotPenguin builds AI chatbots for websites and messaging apps, WhatsApp included. Through Zapier, your bot stops being an island: it tells your other tools about new contacts and incoming messages, and it lets them write back, by adding contacts, tagging them with attributes or sending messages.

Three results that map onto real operations. A welcome that goes out on its own: New Contact Created fires the moment the bot captures a lead, and Send Template Message sends the WhatsApp template you prepared. Contacts that arrive from elsewhere: Add a Contact puts a person with a name and a phone number into BotPenguin, ready for the bot. A richer contact record: Update Contact Attributes writes a key and a value on a contact, and Send Session Message replies with free text.

What Zapier does not do here: there is no search step, so a Zap cannot look up a contact before acting; the actions find the person themselves from an email, a WhatsApp number or a UUID. There is no trigger for an attribute change or a closed conversation, and no action to delete a contact. If you are weighing platforms, the BotPenguin Make integration page and the Make vs Zapier comparison are the natural next reads.

Vocabulary

Zapier terms, quickly

Seven words do the heavy lifting below. Here they are, one line each.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time the trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap, such as a new contact in your bot. With the Zap on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does once started: the step that writes, sends or updates something for you, like a WhatsApp message.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. Plans are counted in tasks per month.
Polling vs instant
A polling trigger is checked by Zapier on a timer. An instant trigger is pushed by the app itself the moment the event happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap continue only when what came in meets your condition, and stops it there otherwise.
Connection
Your BotPenguin account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every BotPenguin step in every Zap you build.
Cost

What a BotPenguin Zap costs

BotPenguin is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan. Both triggers are instant, so the plan never slows them down.

  • Free plan100 tasks per month
  • Zaps on freeUnlimited, two steps each
  • Premium appNo
  • Trigger speedInstant on every plan

Triggers never cost a task, however many messages your bot receives. Each contact added, attribute updated or message sent successfully is one task; a failed action is not counted. That matters with New Incoming Message: on a busy bot, one action per message adds up quickly. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps. A filter or a second action makes the Zap multi-step, which needs a paid plan.

Connect

Connect BotPenguin to Zapier

  1. 01

    Go to Apps

    Open Apps in your Zapier account and click + Add connection. You need a BotPenguin account, plus access to any bot or contact list owned by someone else that the Zap should use.

  2. 02

    Pick BotPenguin

    Search for BotPenguin in the dialog, select it and click Add connection. Sign in to BotPenguin in the tab that opens, with the account that runs your bot.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Allow Zapier to use the account. That connection then serves both triggers and all four actions in every Zap, so you only do it once per BotPenguin account.

First Zap

Your first BotPenguin Zap: answer the messages that matter

GoalWhen an incoming message mentions price, reply to that contact straight away with a session message that points to your price list.

  1. 01

    Build: pick the trigger

    Create a Zap, choose BotPenguin, then New Incoming Message, and select your BotPenguin connection. The trigger needs no other setting.

  2. 02

    Test and read the result

    Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent items of the account, so you map the next steps on a real message rather than on blank fields.

  3. 03

    Add a filter

    From the plus icon, add Filter: the message text as field, a text rule that looks for a word, and price as value. Other messages stop here. This step makes the Zap multi-step, so a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add Send Session Message

    Choose Send Session Message. In Search, map the sender's email, WhatsApp number or UUID from the trigger, then write the reply in Message, with the link to your price list.

  5. 05

    Test, then Publish

    Send the test to your own number first, check it arrives, then click Publish. Messages received before that moment are not answered.

Triggers

The 2 BotPenguin triggers

2 events start a Zap when something happens in BotPenguin, and 2 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

New Contact Created

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new contact or lead is created in BotPenguin.”

Starts the Zap when a new contact or lead is created in BotPenguin, for instance when a visitor leaves their details in a conversation. It is the moment a chat turns into a lead.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a car dealership whose website bot collects test-drive requests and wants each lead in the sales tool before the visitor has closed the page.
Watch out
do not follow it with Add a Contact in the same account, or each contact the Zap adds starts it again.
2

New Incoming Message

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when there is a new incoming message.”

Fires on every new message that reaches your bot. You get each message as it lands, which makes it the trigger for replies, alerts and logs.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
a support team that wants every question about price answered with the same link, as in the Zap above.
Watch out
it fires on every single message. Without a filter, one chatty contact can trigger dozens of runs, and each action after it costs a task.
Actions

The 4 BotPenguin actions

BotPenguin gives you 4 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Send Session Message

Action

In Zapier“Sends a session message.”

Sends a free-text message to a contact through BotPenguin. You write the text; the contact is found from the Search field.

When to use it
a short, case-specific reply right after the contact wrote in, like confirming that a request was received.
Watch out
Search and Message are both required, and a WhatsApp number must include the country code, digits only.
2

Send Template Message

Action

In Zapier“Send Template-Based WhatsApp Messages”

Sends a WhatsApp message built on a template you prepared, through a WhatsApp bot you pick.

When to use it
a welcome, a reminder or a confirmation that should read the same every time and go out the moment a contact appears.
Watch out
the bot, the template and the number are required. The number takes the country code without the plus sign.
3

Update Contact Attributes

Action

In Zapier“Updates user-specific custom attributes of a contact.”

Writes a custom attribute on an existing contact: a key and the value it should hold.

When to use it
a purchase or a booking happened in another tool, and the bot should know it, for instance to stop pitching what the person already bought.
Watch out
Search, Attribute Key and Value are required. Search takes an email, a WhatsApp number or a UUID, with digits only for numbers.
4

Add a Contact

Action

In Zapier“Adds a contact to your BotPenguin account.”

Creates a contact in your BotPenguin account from a name and a phone number, so the bot can reach that person.

When to use it
leads from a trade show list or a web form should be reachable by your WhatsApp bot without manual import.
Watch out
Country Code, Phone Number and Contact Name are required, and the country code goes in its own field, like +91.
When it breaks

When a BotPenguin Zap breaks

Zapier ties no help article to BotPenguin, so the risks below are the ones every Zap shares. With a chatbot, they show up in a few precise places.

Most failures come from phone formats and from volume. A Zap reacts only to what happens after it is published, and on a messaging bot, what happens can be a lot. When a case below does not explain it, the Zapier troubleshooting page is the next stop.

  • Old contacts and messages are skipped

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is switched on. Contacts and messages from before you published stay where they are.

  • A contact loop

    New Contact Created followed by Add a Contact in the same account sets the Zap off again with each new contact, and burns through tasks fast.

  • A wrong number format

    One field wants a plus sign, another wants none, others digits only. A number in the wrong format makes the step fail and the message never leaves.

  • A sudden wave held back

    After a bulk import of contacts, a trigger can return a huge batch at once. Zapier's flood protection may hold it back rather than run it all.
Need help

Need help automating BotPenguin with Zapier?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

BotPenguin Zapier integration: what people ask

01Is the BotPenguin Zapier integration free?
Yes. BotPenguin is not a premium app, so it works on the free Zapier plan. You get 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, each limited to two steps: one trigger and one action. New Contact Created followed by Send Template Message fits. A filter or a second action makes the Zap multi-step, which needs a paid plan. Prices are not listed here because they change too often to stay accurate.
02How many tasks does a BotPenguin Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds. Each contact added, attribute updated, session message or template sent counts as one, and a failed action is not counted. The triggers are free. The catch is New Incoming Message: it fires on every message, so a Zap that replies to each one uses one task per message. On a busy bot, a filter that keeps only the messages you care about is what keeps the monthly count under control.
03Does BotPenguin trigger in real time on Zapier?
Yes. Both triggers, New Contact Created and New Incoming Message, are instant: BotPenguin tells Zapier the moment the event happens, and the Zap starts right away whatever your plan. The polling grid, from every 15 minutes on Free to every minute on Team and Enterprise, does not apply to them. In the editor, a Zap built on an instant trigger shows a lightning bolt. The type is set by the app and cannot be changed.
04What does connecting BotPenguin to Zapier take?
A BotPenguin account, plus access to any bot or contact list owned by someone else that the Zap needs. You add the connection once from the Apps page with + Add connection, sign in to BotPenguin and grant access. For Send Template Message, the WhatsApp bot and the template must already exist in BotPenguin, because the action asks you to select both. Prepare them before you build, and keep a test number with its country code at hand.
05Which phone number format does BotPenguin expect in Zapier?
It depends on the action, and that is the trap. Send Template Message wants the number with the country code and without the plus sign. Add a Contact splits it: the country code in its own field, written like +91, and the phone number in another. Send Session Message and Update Contact Attributes accept a WhatsApp number with the country code, digits only, or an email or UUID instead. Test each step with a real number.
06What if the BotPenguin operation you need is not on Zapier?
Then the Zap cannot do it with BotPenguin today. The visible operations are two triggers and four actions: add a contact, update attributes, send a session or a template message. Nothing deletes a contact, edits the bot or looks a contact up before acting. The usual workaround is to keep BotPenguin as the trigger and let another app handle the rest. Check what other automation tools expose for BotPenguin too before you commit to one.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for BotPenguin?
Pick on criteria, not on a ranking. Coverage: on Zapier, BotPenguin offers two instant triggers and four actions; compare with what other tools expose for the same app. Cost: Zapier bills each successful action, and New Incoming Message fires on every message, so estimate tasks per conversation before you choose. Team: the tool your people already know is the one they will keep running. Weigh those for your own bot.
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