# How do you register a WhatsApp Business API number?

> To register a number for the WhatsApp Business API you need a Meta business portfolio, a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) inside it and a phone number you own that can receive an SMS or a voice call. You add the number to the WABA with a display name, verify it with the code Meta sends, set a two-step verification PIN and register it on the Cloud API. BroadNet, an official Meta Business Solution Provider, runs these steps with its customers.

- Canonical URL: https://www.broadnet.me/answers/how-to-register-whatsapp-business-number
- Language: en
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-20
- Publisher: BroadNet (https://www.broadnet.me)

## What is a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)?

A WABA is the account inside a Meta business portfolio that holds your WhatsApp phone numbers, message templates and billing settings. One portfolio can hold several WABAs — one per brand or region, for example — and each WABA can hold several numbers. When you work with a Business Solution Provider, the WABA remains yours: the provider is given access to manage it, and it can be migrated to another provider later.

## Which phone numbers can be registered?

A number you own, with a country code and an area code, that can receive an SMS or a voice call for the verification code; short codes are not supported, and landline or toll-free numbers work when they can take the voice call. A number already active on WhatsApp must have that account deleted first. The exception is a number on the WhatsApp Business app, which can be onboarded in coexistence mode so the app and the API share it, at a fixed throughput of 20 messages per second.

## What are the registration steps?

Confirm or create the Meta business portfolio, create the WABA, add the phone number with a display name that matches your brand, request the verification code by SMS or voice call and enter it, set a six-digit two-step verification PIN, then register the number for the Cloud API. Meta reviews the display name before customers see it. Meta business verification is a separate step, but it is worth completing early because it raises your limits.

## How many customers can a new WhatsApp number message?

Meta's messaging limits cap how many unique customers a business can message outside a customer service window in a rolling 24 hours, and the limit is shared by every number in the business portfolio. According to Meta's documentation a new portfolio starts at 250, moves to 2,000 after business verification or sustained high-quality sending, then rises through 10,000 and 100,000 to unlimited while quality stays high and usage grows. A new portfolio can also register only two numbers until it is verified. Limits change, so BroadNet confirms the current tiers during onboarding.

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