What is WhatsApp Business coexistence?

The definition in two minutes

Meta calls this feature “Onboard WhatsApp Business app users”. The word “coexistence” is the one used in support channels and with partners.

The idea: a business keeps its number and its WhatsApp Business app, and a partner’s software plugs into that number to send messages at volume. WhatsApp keeps the message history in sync between the two.

On the account side, Meta converts the existing WhatsApp Business account into a Messaging account and shares it with the partner, along with the WhatsApp account that holds the number. No Messaging account of the partner’s own is created for coexistence.

What syncs, and what stays in the app

What syncs

Contacts and, if the business agrees to share its history, one-to-one chats from the last six months. After that, messages sent and received appear on both sides.

What stays in the app

Calls, the catalogue, orders and status updates, greeting and away messages, quick replies, labels, the business profile and channels. Meta does not support them on the API.

What is not carried over

Groups are not synced. Broadcast lists become read-only, and disappearing messages, view-once messages and live location are turned off in one-to-one chats.

• What you keep and what WYP.chat picks up →

Meta’s rules to know

• Messages sent from the app stay free. Those sent through the API follow Meta’s rates.
• The 24-hour window only applies to messages sent through the API. If a customer writes just before the connection, no window opens: to reply through the API, you then need a Meta-approved template.
• Meta sets the sending speed of these numbers, to stay compatible with the app.
• The app has to stay in use: if the main phone stays inactive for about 14 days, Meta disconnects the number from the API.
• Up to four devices can be linked to the app. They are disconnected when you connect, and you then have to link them again. WhatsApp for Windows and for WearOS are not supported.

• What is free and what is paid →
• The 24-hour window explained →

How it is set up

The partner must be a Solution Partner or a Tech Provider and have switched coexistence on in Embedded Signup. When the business enters a number that is already used in the app, Meta’s window starts this path by itself. The WhatsApp Business app must be version 2.24.17 or later.

During the connection, the app asks you to confirm, then to share your history or not. If the business declines to share it, the connection still goes ahead, without the history.

• The connection steps with WYP.chat →

What it means for a small business

The owner keeps the app and stays reachable as before, while the rest of the team replies from the software, on the same number, in the same conversations. There is no new number to give customers.

In return, you have to accept the app’s limits, open the app regularly and use the API for bulk sending, which follows Meta’s rates.

• App, API or coexistence: which to choose? →

Example

Illustrative case: a hairdresser handles bookings from her phone, with the WhatsApp Business app. When her employee needs to reply too, she connects her number through coexistence: both see the same conversations, she on her phone and her employee in the software. Calls and the catalogue stay in the app.

Frequently asked questions