WhatsApp Business API explained
WhatsApp Business API is Meta's enterprise messaging product — a programmatic interface for businesses with more than a few hundred customer conversations per day. Unlike the free WhatsApp Business app, it has no user interface: you integrate it into your CRM, support desk or in-house systems through a Meta-approved Business Solution Provider (BSP).
Summarised from What is WhatsApp Business API?
How it works
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Onboard through a BSP
Meta does not sell the API directly to end customers. A BSP onboards your WhatsApp Business Account, hosts the API endpoint your code calls, manages Green Tick verification and bills you for the messages you send.
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Get your templates approved
Any business-initiated message must use a pre-approved template, categorised as Marketing, Utility or Authentication and reviewed by Meta. Variables, buttons and media let one approved template serve many messages.
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Work with the 24-hour window
When a customer messages your business number, you can reply freely with Service messages for the next 24 hours. After the window closes, you must use an approved template to re-initiate.
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Pay per delivered message
Since 1 July 2025 Meta bills each delivered template by category and country; replies inside the 24-hour window are billed per message from 1 October 2026, after a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month. Your BSP passes Meta's cost through plus a platform fee.
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Key terms
Each term has its own answer page with the full explanation.
- What is WhatsApp Business API?WhatsApp Business API is Meta's enterprise messaging product — a programmatic interface for businesses with more than a few hundred customer conversations per day.
- What is a WhatsApp BSP?A WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) is a Meta-approved partner that hosts enterprise access to the WhatsApp Business API.
- What is a WhatsApp template message?A WhatsApp template message is a pre-approved, reusable message format that businesses must use to initiate a conversation or message a user outside the 24-hour service window.
- The WhatsApp 24-hour window explainedWhen a customer messages your WhatsApp Business number, you can reply freely with Service-category messages for the next 24 hours; from 1 October 2026 Meta bills service replies per message after a free tier of 1,000…
- What is conversation pricing for WhatsApp?Conversation pricing was Meta's billing model for the WhatsApp Business API until 1 July 2025: you paid per 24-hour conversation window with a user.
- What is the WhatsApp green tick (verified badge)?The WhatsApp green tick is the official verified badge Meta grants to a business's WhatsApp account, shown next to the business name to confirm it is authentic and notable.
- How do you use WhatsApp for customer support?WhatsApp Business API turns WhatsApp into a scalable support channel: customers message your verified business number, and within the 24-hour service window your agents (and bots) can reply freely with text, images,…
- SMS vs WhatsApp for business — which should you use?Use SMS when you need universal reach and instant delivery with no app or opt-in dependency — OTPs, transaction alerts, and any message that must reach every phone.
- RCS vs WhatsApp — comparedBoth are branded, interactive business messaging that beat plain SMS on engagement — but they are architecturally opposite.
Guides and further reading
- ArticleWhatsApp Business Platform: the complete 2026 guide to templates, pricing and use cases
- ArticleThe WhatsApp 24-hour window — what every messaging engineer should know
- ArticleWhatsApp Business Platform policy compliance: template categories, quality rating, and messaging limits
- ArticleWhatsApp Business templates: the economics conversation enterprises keep getting wrong
- ArticleSMS vs WhatsApp vs RCS in 2026: the business-messaging channel decision guide
- ReferenceWhatsApp Business Platform: Cloud API and templates
- ToolWhatsApp Template Validator
Frequently asked questions
What is a WhatsApp BSP?
A WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) is a Meta-approved partner that hosts enterprise access to the WhatsApp Business API. Businesses can also connect directly through Meta's Cloud API, but most work through a BSP for onboarding, template approval, verification, billing and support. BroadNet is an official Meta BSP.
Read the full answerWhat is a WhatsApp template message?
A WhatsApp template message is a pre-approved, reusable message format that businesses must use to initiate a conversation or message a user outside the 24-hour service window. Templates are submitted to Meta for review, categorized as Utility, Authentication, or Marketing, and can include variables, buttons, and media — they are how you proactively reach customers on WhatsApp in a permission-based way.
Read the full answerWhat is conversation pricing for WhatsApp?
Conversation pricing was Meta's billing model for the WhatsApp Business API until 1 July 2025: you paid per 24-hour conversation window with a user. Since then Meta bills per delivered template message — Marketing, Utility or Authentication — by category and country. From 1 October 2026 Meta bills replies inside the 24-hour customer service window per message, at the same rate as utility and authentication messages in that market: service replies after a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month, utility templates from the first message.
Read the full answerWhat is the WhatsApp green tick (verified badge)?
The WhatsApp green tick is the official verified badge Meta grants to a business's WhatsApp account, shown next to the business name to confirm it is authentic and notable. It raises customer trust and reduces impersonation, and is granted by Meta based on the brand's notability and policy compliance — applied for through your Business Solution Provider, not bought.
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