What is the WhatsApp Business API?

The definition in two minutes

Meta offers several ways to use WhatsApp in a business, including the WhatsApp Business app, installed on a phone, and the WhatsApp Business Platform, which plugs into software. The WhatsApp Business API is the front door to that platform.

In its documentation, Meta describes it as a set of messaging and calling APIs for businesses. The API has no screen: the software plugged into it shows the conversations, shares the inbox between several people and sends the campaigns.

What it is for

Depending on the software, you can:

• let several people reply from the same number, each with their own login;
• send messages in bulk, from Meta-approved templates and with your customers’ consent;
• automate order confirmations, appointment reminders and replies outside opening hours;
• hand part of the replies to an AI agent, under your control.

Meta’s Cloud API also supports WhatsApp calls and groups.

Cloud API and On-Premises API

Only one version is still in service: the Cloud API, hosted by Meta. The old On-Premises API, which businesses hosted themselves, stopped working on 23 October 2025: messages sent to or from a number still registered on it are no longer delivered.

What you need to connect

• A Meta business portfolio, which groups your accounts. Once verified, it unlocks some features, such as higher throughput.
• A WhatsApp account, which holds your numbers, and a messaging account, which holds your templates, your billing and your payment methods.
• A business phone number, real or virtual.
• A payment method, for the messages Meta charges for.
• Software that takes care of the technical side.

The Meta rules that come with it

• To message a customer first, or more than 24 hours after their last message, you need a Meta-approved message template. Within 24 hours, you can reply freely.
• The customer must have agreed to receive your messages before you send them a template.
• The number of different customers you can contact outside that window is capped over a rolling 24 hours.

• The 24-hour window explained →
• WhatsApp consent: rules and wording →
• Messaging limits explained →

What it costs

Meta charges for using the API per delivered message, by the message’s category and the recipient’s country. Messages your customers send you are never charged, and Meta includes 1,000 service messages per month and per number. The software plugged into the API has its own price, billed separately.

• What is free and what is paid →

WhatsApp Business app or API?

The app suits replying alone from a phone. The API becomes useful when several people reply, when you send messages in bulk or when you want to automate. With coexistence, the same number can stay in the app and also work on the API.

• App or API: the comparison →
• Coexistence with WYP.chat →

Connecting a WhatsApp number to the API: the steps

1. Choose the software : Choose software that plugs into the WhatsApp Business API. It takes care of the technical side, so you do not need a developer.
2. Open Meta’s connection window : From the software, open Meta’s connection window (Embedded Signup) and sign in with your Meta account.
3. Pick the portfolio, the account and the number : Choose or create your business portfolio, your WhatsApp account and the number to connect. They remain yours.
4. Add a payment method : In Meta’s billing centre, add the payment method that will pay for chargeable messages.
5. Get your templates approved : Create your message templates and submit them to Meta: you need them to message a customer first or after the 24-hour window.

Example

Illustrative case: a hardware shop receives quote requests on the owner’s WhatsApp. When two sales assistants need to reply, it plugs its number into software through the API. Both see the same conversations, each request has an owner, and order confirmations go out from a Meta-approved template.

Frequently asked questions