WhatsApp Business API India
The WhatsApp Business API for Indian businesses, explained and ready to use
The WhatsApp Business API is Meta’s official way for a business to message customers on WhatsApp at scale: approved templates to opted-in customers, many agents on one number, chatbots, and links to your store or CRM. In India it suits any business that has outgrown one phone running the Business app. Broadchat connects your number to the official Cloud API through Meta’s Embedded Signup and gives your team the panel to use it.
- Official Cloud API, no unofficial tools
- Connect a number through Meta’s Embedded Signup
- Keep your number on the Business app (coexistence, India)
- No servers or code to manage
Features
What you get with WhatsApp Business API
Guided number connection
Log in with Facebook, pick or create your business portfolio and WhatsApp Business account, verify your number with a code and you are live. No developer setup needed.
Message templates
Create marketing, utility and authentication templates with media headers, variables and buttons, submit them to Meta and keep their status and category in sync from the panel.
Campaigns at scale
Send approved templates to CRM contacts, tags, segments or uploaded lists, now, on a schedule or on repeat, with per-recipient delivered, read and replied reports.
Shared team inbox
Reply inside the 24-hour customer service window from one inbox, with assignment to agents or departments, canned replies and a window timer on every chat.
Chatbots and AI
Automate common questions with a visual flow builder, keyword and ad triggers, AI routing and instruction-based AI agents, with hand-off to a person at any step.
Developer API
Send messages and trigger campaigns from your own systems with a REST API and per-channel tokens, and receive incoming messages and statuses on webhooks.
Built on the official WhatsApp Business Platform
Every message goes through Meta’s Cloud API. Your number lives in your own business portfolio, you see the same quality rating and messaging limit Meta shows, and you get the features Meta keeps adding, without unofficial tools that put the number at risk.
- Numbers connect through Meta’s Embedded Signup
- Channel card shows number status, quality rating and messaging limit, live from Meta
- Display name and business verification handled in your own Meta business portfolio
- Works with numbers in any country Meta supports
An API for developers, a panel for everyone else
Marketing, sales and support teams work in the panel. Developers plug the same channel into CRMs, order systems and apps.
- REST API for sending messages and templates
- API-triggered campaigns with their own token
- Webhooks for incoming messages and delivery statuses
- Per-channel access tokens and a Graph-compatible proxy API
- Personalised images and PDFs generated per recipient
The basics
What the WhatsApp Business API is, and who it is for in India
WhatsApp has two products for businesses. The WhatsApp Business app is a free phone app for one owner and a few linked devices. The WhatsApp Business Platform, usually called the WhatsApp Business API, is Meta’s interface for software. Since 23 Oct 2025 it is offered only as the Cloud API, hosted by Meta; you use it through a platform such as Broadchat or through your own code.
Three rules shape everything you do on the API, so learn them first:
- Templates to start a conversation. To message someone first, or more than 24 hours after their last message, you send an approved message template in one of three categories: marketing, utility or authentication.
- The 24-hour customer service window. Each time a customer messages or calls you, a 24-hour window opens in which you can reply freely with text, media, buttons and lists. Outside it, only templates are delivered (error 131047).
- Messaging limits. Meta caps how many different people your business portfolio can reach with templates in a rolling 24 hours, starting at 250. The messaging limit grows with verification and good quality.
Who it is for
The API makes sense when WhatsApp has become a real sales or support channel and one phone can no longer keep up. Typical Indian examples:
- A D2C brand on Shopify or WooCommerce that confirms cash-on-delivery orders and sends shipping updates.
- A clinic or diagnostic centre that sends appointment reminders and reports, with a receptionist and two doctors replying.
- A coaching institute that sends fee reminders and class schedules to parents who opted in at admission.
- A real-estate team running Click-to-WhatsApp ads and routing leads to five sales people.
Who it is not for
If you are a small shop answering a few dozen chats a day from one phone, and you rarely message customers first, the free Business app is usually enough. The API has per-message costs and needs approved templates, opt-in and a little setup. Our comparison of the WhatsApp Business app vs API helps you decide, and what the WhatsApp Business API is covers the platform in more depth.
Getting access
How to get the WhatsApp Business API in India
There is no separate application to Meta. You get access by connecting a number to your Meta business portfolio through Embedded Signup, which usually takes under an hour once your documents are ready.
What to prepare first
Most delays come from one missing or mismatched item. Have these ready before you open the signup window:
| Item | Why Meta needs it | Indian specifics |
|---|---|---|
| Meta business portfolio | Owns the WhatsApp account and the number | You may already have one from Facebook or Instagram ads. Make sure you are a full-control admin and the legal name is right. |
| Registration documents | Business verification of the legal name and address | Certificate of incorporation, GST registration certificate, Udyam registration or a Shops and Establishments licence |
| Website | Shows the business is real and matches the documents | HTTPS, with the legal name in the footer, e.g. “Rangoli Home is a brand of Shreeji Lifestyle Pvt Ltd” |
| Phone number | Becomes your WhatsApp identity | Mobile, landline or toll-free that can receive an SMS or voice call; short codes are not supported |
| Display name | The name customers see, reviewed by Meta | Your brand as on your website (“Sunrise Clinic Jaipur”), not generic words or offers |
| Payment method | Pays Meta’s message charges | INR billing and UPI prepaid top-ups are available for India; or prepay your provider’s wallet |
Our Meta business verification guide explains how Indian documents map to the types Meta accepts, and WhatsApp display name rules shows names that pass and fail.
The steps
- Choose how you will use the API. Most businesses use a provider platform. Developers can build on the Cloud API directly. Whoever you choose, the number should sit in your business portfolio, so you can switch later.
- Pick the number. A new number is simplest. An existing Business app number can move to the API, or, in India, stay on the app through coexistence (WhatsApp Business app version 2.24.17 or later).
- Connect through Embedded Signup. In Broadchat, go to Channels → All Channels → + Add New Channel. Meta’s Embedded Signup window opens: log in with Facebook, choose or create the business portfolio, create the WhatsApp account, enter the number and display name, and type the code Meta sends.
- Set up billing. Recharge the channel’s messaging wallet in the panel. If Meta bills you directly, eligible India-billed accounts must move to INR billing by 31 Dec 2026.
- Start business verification the same day. It is one of the routes to the 2,000 messaging limit and raises the phone numbers you can register from 2 to up to 20.
- Create your first templates. Start with a utility template you will really use, such as an order confirmation, with realistic sample values. Meta says review can take up to 24 hours.
- Send to yourself, then to a small opted-in group. Watch the quality rating on the channel card before any marketing campaign.
For every screen and a realistic timeline, follow how to get the WhatsApp Business API in India and the step-by-step setup guide. If the signup window does not open, allow pop-ups for the panel and check you are a full-control admin of the right portfolio.
Costs
What the WhatsApp Business API costs in India
There are two parts: Meta’s charge for each delivered message, and the platform you use to send them.
Part 1: Meta’s per-message charges
Since 1 Jul 2025 Meta charges per delivered message, by category and by the recipient’s country. Messages customers send you are free. For India, Meta’s rate card effective 1 Oct 2026 lists (excl. GST):
| Category | Used for | Meta rate to India |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, festive campaigns, re-engagement | ₹0.8631 per delivered message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST) |
| Utility | Order, booking, payment and account updates the customer started | ₹0.115 per delivered message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST), also inside an open window |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes | ₹0.115 per delivered message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST) |
| Service | Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window | First 1,000 per number per month free, then ₹0.115 each (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST) |
Three rules matter for the bill:
- Service messages are no longer free without limit. Since 1 Oct 2026 each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month; the allowance does not roll over.
- Utility templates are charged even inside an open window from 1 Oct 2026. They were free there from July 2025 to September 2026.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads open a free window. When a customer messages you from one and you reply within 24 hours, messages in that chat are free for up to 7 days. See free entry points.
Meta changes rates only on 1 Jan, 1 Apr, 1 Jul and 1 Oct, so check the current card on Meta’s pricing page before you budget. What changed in October is in WhatsApp pricing changes from 1 October 2026.
Part 2: the platform fee
The inbox, campaigns, chatbots and CRM come from your platform, which charges a subscription. On Broadchat that plan comes from the partner who provides your panel, so the price depends on the partner, the modules and the billing cycle. Your messaging rates also come from your provider and may include a markup over Meta’s base rate, so always compare the per-message rate shown in your panel, not only the plan price. How provider markups on Meta fees work explains what to ask.
Worked example (illustrative)
Rangoli Home, a home-decor brand in Jaipur, plans one month on one number at Meta’s base rates (rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, excl. GST). The volumes are made up to show the arithmetic:
| Messages | Count | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Diwali offer to opted-in customers (marketing) | 4,000 | ₹3,452.40 |
| Order confirmations and shipping updates (utility) | 3,000 | ₹345.00 |
| Support replies in the window (service), first 1,000 free | 2,200 | ₹138.00 |
| Meta charges for the month | ₹3,935.40 |
Add the platform plan, any markup in the panel rates and GST. Marketing is about 88% of this bill, which is why sending it only to engaged, opted-in segments matters most. Run your own numbers in the WhatsApp pricing calculator, read the cost-per-message guide for India, or see WhatsApp API pricing explained and how to reduce WhatsApp API costs.
Two India billing details
- INR billing. Meta has offered INR billing since 1 Jan 2026. Eligible India-billed accounts must switch by 31 Dec 2026; from 1 Jan 2027 messages from non-INR accounts in scope won’t be delivered.
- UPI prepaid. Meta offers prepaid billing in India with UPI top-ups. If that balance runs out, sends fail with error 131042. On Broadchat, messages are not sent while a channel wallet balance is too low; you recharge it from the panel.
Features
What you can do with the WhatsApp Business API on Broadchat
The API is plumbing. These are the tools built on it that your team uses every day.
Broadcast campaigns
Send approved templates to contacts, tags, segments or a CSV upload. Send now, schedule, or repeat daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. Retarget by recipient status (for example, everyone who received but did not read), split one audience across several numbers and templates with a Rocket campaign, or trigger an API campaign from your own system. Sending is paced to your number’s messaging limit and throughput, and reports show delivered, read and replied per recipient. More on WhatsApp broadcast campaigns and broadcast best practices.
Chatbots, AI and the team inbox
The flow builder has 12 triggers, including keyword match, Click-to-WhatsApp ad, order created, payment received and missed call. Steps ask questions with validation, save answers to contact fields, check working hours and hand the chat to an agent or department in the shared inbox, where canned replies and the 24-hour window timer sit on every chat. See the chatbot builder and the shared team inbox setup guide.
CRM
Contacts with tags, custom fields (Super Fields), rule-based segments, Kanban boards for deals or admissions, and CSV import and export. See WhatsApp CRM.
Automation, commerce and payments
- Workflows with webhooks and data stores, plus native Google Sheets, Zoho Books, Razorpay and Shopify steps.
- Stores from Shopify, WooCommerce or a WhatsApp catalogue, with order and abandoned-cart messages.
- WhatsApp payments in India through Razorpay or PayU, and PhonePe payment links.
- Mini-apps built on WhatsApp Flows: forms and bookings inside the chat.
- A website chat widget whose chats arrive in the same inbox.
The panel runs in 23 languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Bengali. Instagram and Messenger inboxes are rolling out. The full list is on the features page.
Limits
Messaging limits, quality rating and other limits to plan for
The messaging limit counts unique people you reach with templates outside a customer service window in a rolling 24 hours. Since 8 Oct 2025 it is set per business portfolio and shared by all its numbers, and the old 1K tier is gone:
| Messaging limit (unique people per rolling 24 hours) | How you get there |
|---|---|
| 250 | Every new business portfolio |
| 2,000 | Business verification, partner-led verification, or 2,000 delivered high-quality template messages within 30 days; Meta still reviews |
| 10,000 | Automatic: with high quality and at least half your current limit used over the last 7 days, the portfolio moves up one tier, usually within 6 hours |
| 100,000 | |
| Unlimited |
Replies to customers who wrote to you do not count against the limit. Business verification gets you to 2,000, not further: anyone promising 10,000 or 100,000 on day one is promising something Meta decides. Details are in WhatsApp messaging limits and tiers and how quality rating affects your limit.
Other limits worth knowing
- Quality rating (high, medium, low) reflects blocks and reports. Low quality holds back upgrades and can pause templates. See quality rating.
- Per-user marketing limits. WhatsApp limits how many marketing templates one person receives, based on their engagement. A blocked send fails with 131049; wait 24 hours before retrying.
- Throughput. 80 messages per second per number by default, rising automatically up to 1,000 for eligible numbers. Coexistence numbers are fixed at 20.
- Pair rate. Roughly one message every 6 seconds to the same person; going faster returns 131056.
When a send fails, the code tells you why. Our WhatsApp API error codes hub lists the common ones with fixes.
Official vs unofficial
Official WhatsApp API vs unofficial bulk senders
“WhatsApp API” is also used to sell tools that automate an ordinary WhatsApp account through WhatsApp Web, a browser extension or a modified app. They are not the WhatsApp Business Platform, and WhatsApp’s terms prohibit bulk messaging and automation outside its business products.
| Official (Cloud API) | Unofficial tools | |
|---|---|---|
| How the number connects | Meta’s Embedded Signup with a Facebook login, inside your business portfolio | A WhatsApp Web QR code on the tool’s site, or a modified app |
| Messages to new contacts | Approved templates only | Any text |
| Opt-in | Required by policy | Usually ignored |
| Volume | Messaging limits starting at 250 and growing with quality | No formal limit until the number is banned |
| Cost | Meta’s per-message charges plus a platform fee | Tool fee only |
| Warning signs before trouble | Quality rating, paused templates, limit changes | Often a sudden ban, with chats lost |
The official route is not ban-proof either: spammy content and messages to people who never opted in will lower quality and can restrict a number. But it gives you a channel you own and warning signs in time to fix things. Read official vs unofficial WhatsApp API for the policy text and a migration plan.
Examples
How Indian businesses use the WhatsApp Business API
Sample templates with their categories. Names and values are illustrative.
COD confirmation for a D2C brand (utility)
Rangoli Home sends this when a cash-on-delivery order is placed, with Confirm order and Cancel buttons. A chatbot step reads the button reply and updates the order, so fewer unwanted parcels go out. See COD order confirmation.
Hi {{1}}, thanks for your order {{2}} of ₹{{3}} with cash on delivery. Please confirm so we can ship it today.
Appointment reminders for a clinic (utility)
Sunrise Clinic sends a reminder the evening before, with Confirm and Reschedule buttons. Reschedule replies go to the front desk in the shared inbox. See appointment reminders.
Hello {{1}}, this is a reminder of your appointment with Dr {{2}} on {{3}} at {{4}}. Reply with a button below.
A coaching institute in Kota uses the same pattern for fee reminders with a payment link, sent to parents who opted in on the admission form.
Leads from Click-to-WhatsApp ads (service, then marketing)
Meera’s real-estate team in Pune runs Click-to-WhatsApp ads. The ad trigger starts a bot that asks budget, locality and move-in date, then assigns the lead to a sales person. Because the chat began from an ad and the team replied within 24 hours, messages in it are free for up to 7 days. See lead qualification and Click-to-WhatsApp ads setup for India.
More playbooks: ecommerce, clinics, real estate, NBFCs and OTP authentication.
Comparison
WhatsApp Business app vs Cloud API vs Broadchat
Building directly on the Cloud API and using it through Broadchat are the same API underneath. The difference is who builds and runs the software.
| WhatsApp Business app | Cloud API, built yourself | Cloud API through Broadchat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set-up | Install on a phone | Meta app, webhooks, hosting and your own code | Embedded Signup from the panel, no code |
| Team | A few people on linked devices | Whatever you build | Shared inbox, assignment, departments, roles |
| Messaging first | Broadcast lists that reach only contacts who saved your number | Approved templates to opted-in contacts, within your messaging limit | Same rules, with scheduled, repeating and retargeted campaigns and reports |
| Automation | Greeting and away messages, quick replies | Whatever you build | Flow builder, AI steps, workflows and triggers |
| CRM and integrations | Labels; very limited | Whatever you build | Contacts, tags, segments, boards; REST API, webhooks, Sheets, Shopify, WooCommerce |
| Keep using the phone app | Yes | Coexistence needs onboarding through a provider’s Embedded Signup | Yes, in India, through coexistence |
| Cost | Free app | Meta’s per-message charges plus engineering and hosting | Meta’s per-message charges through a prepaid wallet, plus a platform plan from your provider |
| Best for | One owner, a few dozen chats a day | Software companies with engineers to spare | Businesses and agencies that want the API without building it |
With coexistence, contacts and up to six months of chat history sync, messages sent from the app stay free, and you should open the app at least every 14 days or so. Broadcast lists in the app are switched off. See WhatsApp coexistence explained.
Further reading
Guides to read next
- How to get the WhatsApp Business API in India: documents, steps and a realistic timeline.
- WhatsApp messaging limits and tiers: how to grow from 250 to unlimited.
- WhatsApp message templates guide and why templates get rejected.
- WhatsApp opt-in best practices: what consent has to say.
- WhatsApp API error codes: what each failure means and how to fix it.
- Glossary: business portfolio, WhatsApp Business account, Tech Provider, business verification, service message.
हिंदी में पढ़ें: WhatsApp Business API क्या है, भारत में WhatsApp Business API कैसे लें, प्रति मैसेज खर्च और सभी हिंदी पेज.
Run an agency? You can offer all of this to your clients under your own brand through the white-label partner program.
FAQ
WhatsApp Business API: frequently asked questions
What is the WhatsApp Business API?
It is Meta’s platform for businesses to message customers on WhatsApp through software. Unlike the WhatsApp Business app, it supports many agents on one number, chatbots, integrations and template messages at scale. Today it is offered as the Cloud API, hosted by Meta, and you use it through a provider platform or your own code.
Is Broadchat an official WhatsApp API provider?
Broadchat is built on the official WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API). Numbers are connected through Meta’s Embedded Signup and messages are sent through Meta’s API. Broadchat is an independent platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta.
How do I get the WhatsApp Business API in India?
There is no separate application. Open your provider’s panel, start Meta’s Embedded Signup, log in with Facebook, choose or create your business portfolio, add your number and display name, and verify the number with a code. In Broadchat this starts from Channels → All Channels → + Add New Channel. Then start business verification and submit your first templates.
How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost in India?
Meta charges per delivered message. Meta’s rate card effective 1 Oct 2026 lists ₹0.8631 per delivered marketing message to India and ₹0.115 per utility or authentication message, excluding GST. Each number gets 1,000 free service replies a month, then ₹0.115 each. You also pay your platform’s plan, and your provider’s rates may include a markup.
Can I use my existing WhatsApp number?
Usually yes. In India a WhatsApp Business app number can stay on the app and be connected to the API at the same time through Meta’s coexistence option (app version 2.24.17 or later). Otherwise you delete the account on the app and register the number on the API; app chat history does not move.
How many messages can I send per day?
Meta limits how many unique people you can reach with templates in a rolling 24 hours. New business portfolios start at 250. Verification or good-quality volume can take you to 2,000, and with high quality Meta upgrades you automatically to 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited. Replies to customers who wrote to you do not count.
Is business verification mandatory?
You can connect a number and start messaging at the 250 tier without it. Verification is one of the ways to reach 2,000, lets you register up to 20 numbers instead of 2, raises the template limit and is needed for an Official Business Account, so most businesses start it on day one.
How do I get the green tick?
Badges are granted by Meta, not by any software provider. An Official Business Account needs business verification, two-step verification, an approved display name and at least 30 days on the platform, and Meta also looks at notability. Meta Verified is a separate paid option in some markets, including India.
Also available for:MalaysiaSingaporeUnited Arab EmiratesQatarKenyaSouth AfricaNigeriaSri Lanka
Get on the WhatsApp Business API
Talk to us about your use case, or become a partner and offer the API to your own clients under your brand.