What is the WhatsApp Business API? A plain-English guide

"WhatsApp Business API" is the name most people use for the WhatsApp Business Platform: Meta's official way for companies to send and receive WhatsApp messages from software instead of a phone. If you want to message thousands of customers, run a chatbot, share one number across a support team or connect WhatsApp to your CRM and store, this is the product you need. This guide explains what it is, how it differs from the free apps, and what it takes to get started.

Three WhatsApp products, three different jobs

Meta offers three ways to use WhatsApp, and they are easy to confuse:

• WhatsApp Messenger is the personal app you already use with friends and family.
• WhatsApp Business app is a free app for small businesses. It adds a business profile, labels, quick replies and simple greeting and away messages, but it is still operated by a person holding a phone (plus a few linked devices).
• WhatsApp Business Platform (the "API") has no app of its own. Your number is connected to software, such as Broadchat, which sends and receives messages through Meta's servers. That software can be used by a whole team at once, automate conversations and integrate with other systems.

Today the platform runs on the Cloud API, which Meta hosts for you. The older self-hosted On-Premises API was retired in October 2025, so any new project should be built on the Cloud API.

What you need to get access

Getting a number onto the platform is mostly paperwork, not engineering. You will need:

1. A Meta business portfolio (formerly Business Manager). You can create one during signup with your Facebook login.
2. A phone number that can receive an SMS or voice call for verification. It can be a mobile or landline number, but it cannot be active in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app at the same time unless you use Meta's coexistence option where it is available.
3. A display name that matches your business and follows Meta's display name rules. Meta reviews it after the number is connected.
4. A platform provider whose software you will use. Providers are connected to Meta through their own Meta app and let you onboard through Meta's Embedded Signup window.

Completing business verification in Meta Business Settings is optional at the start, but it unlocks higher messaging limits and is required for some features, so it is worth doing early.

Templates and the 24-hour customer service window

The single most important rule of the platform is who is allowed to start a conversation:

• When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens. Inside it you can reply with any normal message: free text, images, documents, buttons or lists.
• Outside that window, or to start a conversation yourself, you must use a message template: a pre-written message that Meta has reviewed and approved. Templates can include variables such as a name or order number.

Templates are grouped into marketing, utility and authentication categories, and the category affects both approval and price. Our guide to message templates covers the details.

Messaging limits and quality

To protect users from spam, Meta limits how many different customers a business can send template messages to in a rolling 24-hour period. New and unverified businesses usually start at 250 unique customers a day. As you send messages that people want, Meta raises the limit through higher tiers.

Each number also has a quality rating based on recent feedback from recipients, such as blocks and reports. Low quality can hold back limit increases, pause individual templates or, in serious cases, restrict the number. See how quality rating and messaging limits work for a practical checklist.

What it costs

There are usually two separate costs:

• Meta's messaging charges. Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered template message, with a rate that depends on the template category and the recipient's country. Since 1 October 2026, replies inside the customer service window (service messages) are free up to 1,000 per phone number each month and charged after that, and utility templates are charged even inside an open window. For India, Meta’s rate card effective 1 Oct 2026 lists ₹0.8631 per delivered marketing message and ₹0.115 per utility or authentication message, excluding GST. Meta can change rates each quarter, so always check Meta's official pricing page.
• The platform subscription for the software you use to send, automate and manage conversations.

Our WhatsApp API pricing explainer walks through the model with India in mind, including how prepaid messaging wallets work.

What you can build with it

Once a number is connected, the platform supports far more than one-to-one chat:

• Broadcast campaigns to opted-in contacts, with delivery and read reports per recipient.
• Chatbots that answer common questions, collect details and hand over to a person when needed.
• A shared team inbox where several agents work the same number.
• Notifications for orders, bookings, payments and reminders triggered from your store or other systems.
• Commerce: product catalogues, carts and payment links inside the chat.

How Broadchat connects your number

Broadchat is built on the official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API). In the panel you open Channels, click Add New Channel and follow Meta's Embedded Signup window: log in with Facebook, choose or create your business portfolio and WhatsApp Business Account, add your number and verify it with a code. The whole process usually takes a few minutes. Our help article Connect your WhatsApp number shows each step.

From there you can create templates (synced with Meta), send campaigns, build chatbots with the visual builder and invite your team to the inbox. Agencies can also offer all of this to their own clients under their own brand through the partner program.