Your customers already
message you on WhatsApp.
Right now that happens on someone’s personal phone, with no record of what was promised and no way to take payment. Sema turns it into a proper counter: one inbox for your team, M-Pesa in the chat, and the cost of every message in front of you before you send it.
Connect your own WhatsApp Business number. No card needed to start.
- Official WhatsApp Business Platform
- M-Pesa STK push, built in
- KRA eTIMS invoices
- Data stays in your workspace
Most of your messaging is free.
Here is the part that is not.
WhatsApp charges per message now, not per conversation. Answering a customer who wrote to you costs nothing for 24 hours; reaching out first costs money. Move the sliders and see your own number.
Answering them is free for 24 hours. Most shops sit between 60 and 90%.
KES 1.04 each in Kenya
- Messages
- KES 624
- Growth plan
- KES 9,900
- Total a month
- KES 10,524
Kenyan rates, Growth plan. You are billed for what is actually delivered — if WhatsApp does not charge us for a message, we do not charge you for it.
How a conversation actually works
One customer, one day, and the only clock that decides what you pay.
- 1Window opens
A customer messages you
They already have WhatsApp and they already have your number. Nothing to install, no app to convince them to download.
- 2Free
You reply free for 24 hours
Anything you like — text, photos, voice notes, a payment request. WhatsApp does not charge for replies inside the window.
- 3Closing
The window closes
Sema shows the clock running down on every conversation, and puts the ones about to close at the top of the queue.
- 4Charged
After that, messages cost money
Only an approved template gets through, and each one is billed. Sema shows you the price before you press send.
What you get
One inbox for the whole team
Everyone answers from the same number instead of four staff phones. Assign conversations, leave notes for each other, and see who is handling what.
It is ordered by the time left to reply, not by what arrived last — because the conversation about to cost you money is rarely the newest one.
- JKJoseph Kariuki2
Is the delivery coming today or tomorrow?
—Amina - MWMercy Waithera
Asante! I have sent the payment.
—You - DODaniel Otieno1
Do you deliver to Kisumu?
—Brian - FNFaith Njeri
Thanks, I will collect on Friday.
—Amina
Get paid without leaving the chat
WhatsApp Pay does not exist in Kenya, so every other platform sends your customer to a link and loses half of them. Sema sends an M-Pesa prompt to their phone and confirms it in the conversation.
Campaigns that respect the rules
Send to a segment of your contacts at a rate WhatsApp is happy with, with opt-outs handled automatically so your number keeps its quality rating.
Costs you can see
Every message is priced before it is sent and reconciled against what Meta actually charged. Top up by M-Pesa, watch the balance in the header.
If your people are on WhatsApp, this is for you
The job is the same whether they are customers, patients, members or respondents: reach them where they already are, keep a record of it, and be able to show they agreed to hear from you.
Shops and traders
TodayOrders arrive on three staff phones. Nobody can say what was promised to whom, and payment means sending a till number and then chasing screenshots.
With SemaOne number the whole team answers, with the order and the M-Pesa request in the same thread — and the payment confirming itself in the conversation.
Clinics and hospitals
TodayReception rings patients one at a time to confirm tomorrow’s appointments, and the ones who do not pick up still do not turn up.
With SemaA reminder template the day before. Whoever replies opens a free 24-hour window, and the answer lands in the shared inbox instead of a handset.
Schools and colleges
TodayFee balances go home on a printed slip that never arrives, and following up means a phone call per parent.
With SemaA fee notice to the parent list, paid by M-Pesa in the same thread it arrived in, with every notice and payment on the record.
SACCOs, insurers and lenders
TodayStatements and renewal notices go out by bulk SMS at a flat rate whether anyone reads them — and if a member disputes being contacted, there is no proof they ever agreed.
With SemaTemplates priced per message before they send and reconciled against what Meta actually charged, delivered only to members whose opt-in is recorded and who can stop them with one word.
Researchers and M&E teams
TodayEnumerators work from personal WhatsApp. The responses live on their handsets, and when someone leaves the fieldwork leaves with them.
With SemaOne workspace the whole team answers from, replies kept where the study can export them, and consent recorded per respondent. Sema distributes and keeps the record; it is not a form builder.
Event organisers
TodayJoining details sit in an email nobody opened, and a change of venue reaches half the room on the morning.
With SemaAn approved template to the attendee list that arrives where they actually read, and tickets paid by M-Pesa before anyone travels.
Law firms, landlords, cooperatives and more
Messaging a list is the part most tools stay quiet about. Meta requires an opt-in and Kenya’s Data Protection Act requires you to be able to prove one. Sema records when and how each contact agreed and handles STOP automatically, which is what makes sending to members and respondents workable rather than risky.
The parts everyone else leaves out
WhatsApp Pay does not operate in Kenya. Every international platform handles that by sending your customer somewhere else to pay, which is where the sale goes to die. Sema treats M-Pesa as the payment method rather than an afterthought.
- M-Pesa
- STK push to the customer’s phone, confirmed in the chat
- KES billing
- Priced and invoiced in shillings, not converted at checkout
- Local rates
- Kenyan message rates, not a flat international price
- KRA eTIMS
- Invoices carry the fields the taxman asks for
- Swahili and English
- Templates and replies in the language your customers use
Questions worth asking first
Do I keep my own number?
Yes. You connect your own WhatsApp Business number through Meta, and it stays yours. If you ever leave, the number and its history go with you.
What does WhatsApp itself charge?
Since July 2025 Meta charges per message, by the country you are messaging and the type of message. Replies inside a customer’s 24-hour window are free. Sema shows both what Meta charged and what you paid.
Can I message people who have not contacted me?
Only with a template Meta has approved, and only if they agreed to hear from you. Sema records when and how each contact opted in, because Kenya’s Data Protection Act requires you to be able to show it.
What happens to my customers’ data?
It stays in your workspace. You are the data controller and Sema is the processor. Nobody outside your team can read your conversations — that boundary is enforced by the database itself, not by the interface.
Do I need a KRA-compliant invoice?
Every invoice carries the fields KRA eTIMS requires. Businesses outside Kenya are zero-rated as an exported digital service.
Start with the conversations you are already having.
Connect your number, import your contacts, and answer from one place. You can be running today.
No card needed. Your number and its history stay yours.