Glossary
What is the WhatsApp Groups API and who can use it?
Meta's API for business-run WhatsApp groups: open to Official Business Accounts since Feb 2026, up to 8 participants, invite links only, charged messages, not on coexistence numbers.
By Broadchat teamPublished 2 min read
Definition
Groups API: The Groups API is a WhatsApp Cloud API feature that lets a business create and manage small WhatsApp groups and send messages into them from software. Meta launched it on 6 Oct 2025 and opened it to all Official Business Accounts on 3 Feb 2026. Each group holds up to 8 participants, people join only through an invite link, and group messages are charged.
Also called: WhatsApp Business groups, Cloud API groups
How the WhatsApp Groups API works
A business with an Official Business Account creates a group through the Cloud API, gets an invite link and shares it with the customers it wants inside. Nobody is added silently: each person joins by tapping the link. The business then posts into the group from its system and receives members' messages through its webhook.
The limits Meta documents:
- Up to 8 participants per group.
- Up to 10,000 groups per business phone number.
- Join by invite link only.
- Messages are charged; see WhatsApp API pricing for how Meta bills.
- Not available on numbers connected through coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app.
What it is not
Eight people per group makes it clear this is not a way to reach a large audience at once. For one message to thousands of opted-in customers, use a broadcast of an approved template. Groups fit small, ongoing conversations where several people on the customer side need to see the same thread.
Example uses
| Business | Group | Who is inside |
|---|---|---|
| Wedding planner in Udaipur | One group per wedding | The couple, two parents, the planner's coordinator |
| Interior designer | One group per flat | Owner, spouse, site supervisor |
| Coaching institute | One group per batch of a small mentoring cohort | Up to 8 students |
| Sunrise Clinic | Care group for a patient | Patient and family members who handle appointments |
Take the interior designer: Arjun's studio used to add clients to groups from a staff member's personal phone, so history left with the employee. With the Groups API, the group belongs to the business number, any staff member answers from the company system, and the record stays with the studio.
Groups API and Broadchat
The Groups API is a Meta capability. It is not a Broadchat panel feature today, so Broadchat panels do not create or manage WhatsApp groups. One-to-one conversations, campaigns and chatbots are what Broadchat runs on the Cloud API; see what the WhatsApp Business API is for how those fit together.
Sources
- Groups (WhatsApp Business Platform) — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
- WhatsApp Business Platform changelog — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
Broadchat team · Product and partner success team
The people who build and support Broadchat, the white-label WhatsApp Business API platform. We write from what we see while onboarding partners and their clients on the official WhatsApp Cloud API, and we check every article against Meta's current documentation.
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Frequently asked questions
Can any business use the Groups API?
Meta opened it to all Official Business Accounts on 3 Feb 2026. A number without the Official Business Account status cannot use it.
Can I add customers to a group without asking them?
No. People join only by tapping an invite link that you share with them, so every member chooses to be there.
Does the Groups API work on a number that also uses the WhatsApp Business app?
No. Meta does not make the Groups API available on coexistence numbers. Groups you created in the app keep working there as normal app groups.