WhatsApp Business API
"WhatsApp Business API is Meta's programmatic interface (the WhatsApp Business Platform) that lets businesses send and receive WhatsApp messages through software, which is what makes chatbots, shared inboxes and template broadcasts possible."
What is a WhatsApp Business API?
WhatsApp Business API is Meta's programmatic interface (the WhatsApp Business Platform) that lets businesses send and receive WhatsApp messages through software, which is what makes chatbots, shared inboxes and template broadcasts possible. Related product: WhatsApp Business Suite.
Reviewed by Atul Diwedi, Co-Founder · Last reviewed
Deep Dive
The WhatsApp Business API, now called the WhatsApp Business Platform, is accessed directly through Meta's Cloud API or through a Business Solution Provider (BSP). It is different from the free WhatsApp Business app, which is a phone app for one person and cannot run a chatbot or a multi-agent inbox.
What it enables. Automated replies from an AI agent, a shared inbox for a team, approved message templates sent at scale, rich messages (buttons, lists, catalogues), and integrations with CRMs and commerce systems.
The rules that come with it. Customers must opt in before you message them. A customer's message opens a 24-hour service window in which replies are free-form; after it closes you need an approved template. Templates are classified as marketing, utility or authentication and billed by Meta per message by category and country. A number's quality rating, driven by blocks and reports, sets its daily messaging limit.
Getting access. You need a Meta Business Portfolio with business verification, a phone number that can receive a verification code, and either the Cloud API or a BSP connection. Botcadence connects to both and supports coexistence so a number already on the Business app keeps working while automation is added.
Costs. Meta bills template messages to your Meta account; your platform subscription is separate. Replies inside the 24-hour window carry no Meta charge. See the WhatsApp Business API pricing guide and the WhatsApp chatbot page.
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Common Questions
WhatsApp Business API FAQs
The app is a free phone app for one person with greeting and away messages only. The API (Business Platform) is for software: chatbots, team inboxes and template broadcasts, accessed through Meta's Cloud API or a BSP.
Meta bills template messages per message by category and destination country; replies inside the 24-hour customer-service window are free. Your chatbot platform's plan is separate.
No. An existing number can be migrated to the platform, or kept on the Business app with coexistence mode while Botcadence adds automation.