How to choose a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) in India: checks, costs and red flags

To choose a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider you need to answer one question first: do you want the provider to pay Meta for your messages and invoice you, or will you pay Meta yourself? That decides which kind of provider you need. Everything else in this guide is a set of checks you can run in an afternoon: confirm the provider with Meta, compare its prices with Meta's rate card, make sure the WhatsApp account stays in your name, and read the exit terms.

This guide is for Indian businesses and agencies picking a provider for the WhatsApp Business API. It does not rank providers, and Broadchat is not a BSP; the last sections explain where white-label platforms such as Broadchat fit.

What BSP, Solution Partner and Tech Provider mean today

"BSP" (Business Solution Provider) is the term most people search for, and you will still see it on provider websites. Meta's developer documentation now describes partners as businesses that offer WhatsApp services on behalf of their clients, and sorts them into types:

Two details matter for buyers. First, Meta says clients onboarded by a Tech Provider must add their own payment method after onboarding, and Meta bills them directly for API usage while the Tech Provider bills only for its software. Second, a Tech Provider and a Solution Partner can serve you together through a Multi-Partner Solution: you use one company's software and the other company's credit line. So "is this company a BSP?" is less useful than "who will bill me for Meta's charges, and whose software will I use?"

The full definition with an example is in our glossary entry on the WhatsApp Business Solution Provider.

Step 1: decide what you need from the provider

Before you talk to anyone, write a one-page brief. It stops sales calls from deciding for you.

Step 2: check the provider with Meta

Many websites say "official BSP" or "Meta partner". You can check part of that claim yourself on Meta's Find a partner page for WhatsApp:

1. Open business.facebook.com/messaging/partner-showcase and log in with Facebook if asked.
2. Scroll to Find a trusted WhatsApp partner.
3. Type the provider's name in Search partners (the box also accepts a category or feature).
4. Optionally fill the filters: How do you plan to use WhatsApp for Business?, What additional features are you looking for?, Expected message volume per day and My business is mainly based in (pick India), then click Get recommendations.
5. Or scroll to Browse trusted partners and open a card with Explore partner to read its profile.

Then ask the provider three direct questions and keep the email:

• "Which Meta partner type are you: Solution Partner, Tech Provider or Tech Partner?" A clear answer is a good sign. A vague "we are an official partner of WhatsApp" is not an answer.
• "Who pays Meta for my messages: your credit line, another company's credit line, or my own payment method?" If it is another company's line, ask for that company's name.
• "Will my WhatsApp account be created in my own Meta business portfolio?" The only acceptable answer is yes.

You can also check after signup: if Meta asks you to add your own payment method once onboarding is complete, the set-up is the Tech Provider route, whatever the sales deck said.

Step 3: compare prices against Meta's rate card

Every provider's message price sits on top of Meta's own charge. Meta bills per delivered template message by category and the recipient's country. For India, Meta's rate card lists ₹0.8631 per delivered marketing message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST) and ₹0.115 per delivered utility or authentication message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST). Since 1 Oct 2026, service messages (free-form replies inside the 24-hour window) are free up to 1,000 per business phone number per month and charged after that, and utility templates are charged even inside an open window.

Ask each provider to fill the same table, then compare:

A provider may add a markup to Meta's charge, pass it through at cost and charge a higher platform fee, or bundle both. All three are legitimate; what is not acceptable is a price you cannot compare. Our post on WhatsApp API provider markup works through a month of messages under each model, and WhatsApp API pricing explains Meta's side.

Step 4: check onboarding and number ownership

Onboarding is where most lock-in starts. Check these points before you connect anything:

• Embedded Signup. Official onboarding runs in Meta's Embedded Signup window after a Facebook login, where you choose or create your business portfolio and WhatsApp account. A provider that only shows a QR code on its own site and never asks for a Facebook login is not connecting you to the Business Platform; see official vs unofficial WhatsApp API.
• Your portfolio, your account. The WhatsApp account and the number should live in your own business portfolio, with you as admin. If the provider creates them in its own portfolio, leaving later becomes its decision, not yours.
• Coexistence. In India you can keep using the WhatsApp Business app on a number that is also connected to the Cloud API, if the provider supports coexistence onboarding. Ask, because not every provider offers it.
• Moving from another provider. For accounts on Meta's new account model, number migration between partners is replaced by sharing your WhatsApp account with the new partner. Our guide to migrating a WhatsApp number to a new provider covers both routes.
• Onboarding speed. Meta caps how many new business customers a provider can onboard through Embedded Signup per rolling 7 days (10 by default, 200 after verification and review steps, more for Meta Business Partners). An agency planning to onboard many clients in its first week should ask about this.

Step 5: test support, data handling and security

Meta makes the decisions on template review, display names, quality and restrictions. A provider cannot override them, but a good one tells you quickly what happened and what to do. Test this before you sign:

• Send a pre-sales question at 7 pm on a weekday and note how long the reply takes and in which language.
• Ask what happens when a number's quality drops or a template is paused: do you get an alert, and who explains the fix?
• Ask for the escalation path when a business portfolio is restricted.

On data: ask where chats, contacts and media are stored, who on the provider's team can read them, whether staff access is logged, and how you export everything. Ask whether the panel supports two-factor login and per-agent roles. For regulated sectors such as healthcare or lending, ask for the provider's data-processing terms in writing.

Step 6: read the exit terms before you sign

Choose a provider as if you will leave it one day. The contract or terms should answer:

1. Notice period and whether you can cancel monthly.
2. Refund of unused messaging wallet balance, and in what time.
3. Export of contacts, tags, chat history and templates in a standard format such as CSV.
4. Handover of your WhatsApp account: who removes the provider's access, and how fast.
5. Templates: approved templates belong to your WhatsApp account; check they stay there.

If any answer is "not possible", treat it as a cost and price it in.

Red flags

Our reseller panel checklist has a longer list for agencies evaluating a platform to resell.

How resellers and white-label platforms fit

Many businesses in India never deal with a Solution Partner directly. They buy from an agency or reseller, which sells a white-label platform under its own brand, which in turn connects to Meta through a Tech Provider app and, for billing, a Solution Partner's credit line or the client's own payment method. The chain looks like this:

A reseller is not a BSP and does not need to be. What matters is that each layer is honest about what it is and that your WhatsApp account still sits in your own portfolio. If the agency closes, you should be able to share your account with another provider and carry on.

Broadchat sits in the white-label platform layer. It is built on the official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), numbers connect through Meta's Embedded Signup, and it is not a BSP, Solution Partner or Meta Business Partner and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta. Agencies resell it under their own brand, domain and prices through the white-label partner program.

Providers on Meta's partner page (as of 31 Oct 2026)

For orientation only, these were among the partners shown under Browse trusted partners on Meta's WhatsApp Find a partner page when we checked it on 31 Oct 2026, with the service label Meta showed on each card. The list is in the order Meta displayed it, is not complete, is not a ranking and is not a recommendation; the page does not say which partner type each company is, so ask them.

Run the same six steps on any of them, or on a provider not listed here.

How to become a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider yourself

If you are a software company rather than a buyer, the path depends on the partner type:

• Tech Provider. Meta's steps are: verify your business with Meta, then pass App Review for your app, including videos that show your app sending a message and creating a template, and get advanced access to the whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management permissions. Since 3 Oct 2025 access verification is no longer required for this.
• Solution Partner. This requires becoming a Meta Business Partner with a credit line. Meta's own documentation calls it a lengthy process and suggests becoming a Tech Provider instead if you do not need a credit line or to invoice clients for API usage.

Most agencies do not need either. Building and maintaining WhatsApp software, passing App Review and handling Meta billing is a product company's job. If your goal is to sell WhatsApp to local businesses under your own brand, a white-label platform gets you there without your own Meta app; see how to start a WhatsApp reseller business and becoming a WhatsApp API reseller in India.