WhatsApp Business API: 50 questions Indian businesses ask, each answered in under 60 words

These are the 50 questions Indian businesses ask most about the WhatsApp Business API, grouped by topic. Each answer is under 60 words, uses Meta’s rates and rules as they stood on 7 October 2026, and links to the article that covers it in depth. Any term you don’t recognise is in the glossary.

Basics

The WhatsApp Business API is Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform, and it has no app of its own.

What is WhatsApp Business API?

The WhatsApp Business API is what most people call Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform. Its Cloud API, hosted by Meta, sends and receives WhatsApp messages for software that you or a provider run. It has no inbox or screen of its own, and Meta charges per delivered message. Full guide: WhatsApp Business API in India.

What is WhatsApp Cloud API?

The Cloud API is the part of the WhatsApp Business Platform that sends and receives messages, and it can make and take calls too. Meta hosts it, so you install nothing. Your own developers or a provider supply the screens your team types into. More in the API guide.

What is the difference between WhatsApp Business app and WhatsApp Business API?

The app is free and runs on one phone plus up to four linked devices, with broadcast lists of 256 contacts who saved your number. The API lets a whole team reply through a provider’s shared inbox and send approved templates to anyone who opted in, paid per delivered message. See app vs API.

When should I switch from WhatsApp Business app to API?

Switch when more people need to reply than the app allows, when you can’t tell who answered which enquiry, or when customers who never saved your number need to hear from you. If one or two people reply and customers save your number, stay on the app. App vs API lists the signs.

What is the 24-hour window in WhatsApp Business API?

The customer service window is the 24 hours after a customer’s last message to you. Inside it you can send free-form replies. Once it closes, only a Meta-approved template can be sent. It opens again each time the customer writes. Customer support on WhatsApp shows how to work inside it.

What is a WhatsApp Business API provider?

A provider gives you the software that runs on Meta’s API, such as an inbox, campaigns and automation, and connects it to your number through Meta’s Embedded Signup. The WhatsApp account holding your number is owned by your business; check it sits in your own business portfolio. Twelve questions to ask a provider.

Cost

Meta charges per delivered message, and the rate depends on the type of message. Every rate below is for Indian (+91) numbers, before GST, on Meta’s 1 October 2026 rate card.

Is WhatsApp Business API free?

No. Meta lists no monthly fee for the Cloud API, but it charges per delivered message: ₹0.8631 for marketing and ₹0.115 for utility, authentication or service messages to Indian numbers, before GST. Since 1 October 2026, each business number gets 1,000 free service replies a month. See the API guide.

What is WhatsApp Business API pricing in India?

On Meta’s rate card of 1 October 2026, a delivered message to an Indian number costs ₹0.8631 for a marketing template and ₹0.115 for a utility or authentication template, before GST. Service replies cost ₹0.115 each after 1,000 free per business number every month. See three worked monthly bills.

How much does a WhatsApp marketing message cost in India?

₹0.8631 per delivered marketing template to an Indian number, before GST, on Meta’s 1 October 2026 rate card. That is about 7.5 times the ₹0.115 utility rate. Marketing has no free allowance and no volume discount at any size. WhatsApp marketing in India covers what to send.

Are replies free on WhatsApp Business API?

Only the first 1,000 a month per business phone number. Since 1 October 2026, Meta charges ₹0.115 per delivered free-form reply to Indian numbers after that, before GST. The allowance doesn’t roll over. Reactions stay free and don’t count towards it. The news brief explains the change.

Is there a monthly fee for WhatsApp Business API?

Meta’s pricing page lists no monthly fee for the Cloud API; it bills per delivered message. A provider’s software plan is a separate monthly charge, and for most businesses it is bigger than Meta’s bill until marketing volume grows. The API guide works through an example month.

Are messages from Click to WhatsApp ads free?

Yes, for a limited time. When someone messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on the phone app and you reply within 24 hours, a free window opens for up to 7 days from your reply. Every message type is free inside it. Until 28 September 2026 it was 72 hours. See the free window.

How do I pay Meta for WhatsApp messages in India?

Through a payment method on your Meta account, in rupees. Indian businesses billed by Meta must move every messaging account to INR by 31 December 2026, and from 1 January 2027 non-INR accounts stop delivering. Prepaid UPI top-up is an option, chosen once at setup. See the rupee billing deadline.

Getting access

You need a Meta business portfolio, a phone number you own, and either a developer or a provider to connect them.

How to get WhatsApp Business API?

Create a Meta business portfolio, pick a number you own that can receive an SMS or voice call, then connect it yourself through a Meta app or through a provider’s Embedded Signup. After that, set a display name, add a payment method and submit your first templates. Seven steps in the API guide.

Can I use my existing WhatsApp number for WhatsApp Business API?

Yes, but a number already on WhatsApp can’t be registered until its WhatsApp account is deleted, and Meta says the existing messaging history is lost when you do that. The alternative is Meta’s coexistence route, available only through providers that support it. The 14-day moving plan starts with this decision.

Can I use WhatsApp Business app and API on the same number?

Yes, through Meta’s coexistence option, set up via a provider’s Embedded Signup. It needs Business app version 2.24.17 or later and can sync contacts and the last six months of chats. Broadcast lists become read-only and group chats aren’t synced. Not every provider supports it. More in app vs API.

Is business verification required for WhatsApp Business API?

Not to start sending. But Business Verification is the usual way to raise your messaging limit from 250 to 2,000 people a day, and you need it for the blue Official Business Account badge. Start it in the first week, because it can’t be hurried later. The API guide lists every step.

How to get green tick on WhatsApp Business?

The green tick is now a blue badge. A number on the API gets it as an Official Business Account, which needs Business Verification, at least 30 days on the Platform, two-step verification and an approved display name. You request it in WhatsApp Manager, and Meta can still refuse. See which badge you can get.

How much does the WhatsApp green tick cost?

Meta’s Official Business Account page lists no fee for the badge on API numbers. Business app numbers need a paid subscription: Meta Verified for Business, or a Meta One business plan, announced on 15 September 2026 from $14.99 a month. We found no rupee price for either on Meta’s pages. The badge guide compares the routes.

How long does it take to move from WhatsApp Business app to API?

Plan for about 14 days. Decide what happens to the number first, start business verification on day 2, import only contacts whose opt-in you can show, and keep the first campaign under 250 people. The 14-day plan sets out each day.

Templates

A template is a message Meta approves in advance, and its category sets the price.

What is a WhatsApp message template?

A WhatsApp message template is a message Meta approves before you can send it. You need one to start a conversation, or to message anyone whose last message to you is more than 24 hours old. Variables in double braces are filled in at send time. Copy from 30 template examples.

What are the WhatsApp template categories?

Three: marketing, utility and authentication. Marketing covers offers and anything promotional. Utility covers updates about something the customer did or asked for. Authentication is for one-time passwords. To Indian numbers, marketing costs ₹0.8631 and the other two ₹0.115 per delivered message, before GST. See how Meta decides the category.

How long does WhatsApp template approval take?

Meta says template review takes up to 24 hours, and most format fixes are approved well inside that. Appeals are also decided within about 24 hours. Create festive templates a week or two early, because Meta can pace a new template’s first sends. Rejection reasons and fixes has more.

Why was my WhatsApp template rejected?

Usually for format: unmatched braces, variables out of order, a body that starts or ends with a variable, special characters inside a variable, or too many variables for the length. Duplicates and policy breaches are rejected too. A rejected template can be edited and resubmitted any number of times. Fix each reason.

Why did my utility template get approved as marketing?

Since 9 April 2025, Meta approves a template it judges to be marketing as marketing, instead of rejecting it. Any promotional line, such as a discount code in a shipping update, makes the whole template marketing at ₹0.8631 instead of ₹0.115. You can request a review within 60 days. See how Meta decides.

What is the character limit for a WhatsApp template?

The body can run to 1,024 characters. Header text and the footer are limited to 60 characters each, and button text to 25. A template can carry up to 10 buttons in total. These limits come from Meta’s template components page. The 30 template examples stay within them.

Limits and blocks

A new account can start conversations with 250 different people in a rolling 24 hours, and a separate cap applies to each person you message.

What is the WhatsApp message limit per day?

On the API, a new business portfolio can message 250 different people outside the 24-hour window in a rolling 24 hours. The levels above that are 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited. Replies to people who wrote to you don’t count, and every number in the portfolio shares one limit. See messaging limits.

How to increase WhatsApp messaging limit?

Complete Business Verification to move from 250 to 2,000. After that, Meta raises the limit one level at a time, within 6 hours, once your messages are high quality and you’ve used at least half your current limit in the last 7 days. Adding a number adds no capacity. Details in messaging limits.

What is WhatsApp error 131049?

Error 131049 means WhatsApp held back a marketing template because that person reached their marketing limit, counted across every business that messages them. Meta publishes no fixed number for the cap. Wait at least 24 hours before trying that person again. Failed messages aren’t billed. Read what 131049 means.

Is there a limit on WhatsApp broadcast messages?

A broadcast list holds up to 256 contacts, and you can make as many lists as you like. WhatsApp’s help centre also describes a monthly limit of up to 35 free broadcast messages in some countries. It doesn’t say whether India or the Business app is covered. The 35-a-month limit sets out what’s known.

Why does WhatsApp ban business numbers?

WhatsApp’s Terms of Service prohibit bulk messaging, auto-messaging and auto-dialing from the ordinary app, and unofficial apps break the terms too. WhatsApp says it uses machine learning and reports from users to detect and ban accounts that send unwanted automated messages. Bulk messages without a ban explains the allowed route.

Can a banned WhatsApp Business number be unbanned?

Sometimes. WhatsApp’s ban notice in the Business app offers a review, and WhatsApp says most reviews are completed within 24 hours. If there is no option to request one, the ban is final. Third-party services can’t remove a ban, whatever they charge. See what a ban looks like.

Marketing and broadcasts

The allowed way to message thousands of people is approved templates on the API, sent to people who opted in.

How to send bulk messages on WhatsApp without getting banned?

Send Meta-approved marketing templates through the WhatsApp Business API, only to people who opted in, within your daily messaging limit. One message to 5,000 Indian numbers costs about ₹4,316 before GST at ₹0.8631 per delivered message. Bulk-sender tools that automate the ordinary app break WhatsApp’s terms. Full method: bulk messages without a ban.

Is a free bulk WhatsApp sender safe to use?

No. Most free bulk senders use no WhatsApp API. They drive the ordinary app or WhatsApp Web, and WhatsApp’s terms prohibit bulk and automated messaging there. WhatsApp says unofficial tools can lead to a temporary or permanent ban, and the tool’s seller loses nothing when it happens. Read why senders get numbers banned.

Can I send a WhatsApp broadcast to people who have not saved my number?

Not with an app broadcast list, which reaches only contacts who saved your number. The routes that reach everyone else are paid: business broadcasts in the Business app, where available, or approved templates on the API to people who opted in. Compare them in broadcast vs group vs campaign.

What is the difference between a WhatsApp broadcast and a group?

A group is one shared conversation of up to 1,024 members, where everyone sees every reply and member phone numbers can’t be hidden. A broadcast list sends one message to up to 256 contacts as private chats. Both cost nothing to send. See broadcast vs group vs campaign.

How to create a broadcast list on WhatsApp?

On Android, open the Chats tab, tap More options (the three dots), tap New broadcast, select your contacts and tap the tick. A list holds up to 256 contacts and can’t be created on a linked device. Only people who saved your number receive it. For iPhone, see creating a broadcast list.

Do I need permission to send WhatsApp marketing messages?

Yes. WhatsApp’s Business Messaging Policy lets you contact only people who gave you their number and opted in. Meta requires the opt-in to say the person is agreeing to messages and to name your business. Record the date, the source and the exact wording for each one. See opt-in wording and records.

What is WhatsApp marketing?

WhatsApp marketing on the Business Platform means sending Meta-approved marketing templates to people who opted in. To an Indian number each delivered message costs ₹0.8631 before GST. Send to segments, not to everyone: a smaller list costs less and gets fewer blocks. The WhatsApp marketing guide covers list-building and campaigns.

Chatbots and AI

A WhatsApp chatbot is either a menu of buttons or an AI agent that writes answers, and its replies are billed like a person’s.

What is a WhatsApp chatbot?

A WhatsApp chatbot answers customers automatically on your business number. A rule-based bot sends buttons and lists and follows a path you draw. An AI chatbot, usually called an AI agent, writes its own answer from the pages and documents you give it. Both need a handover to a person. See WhatsApp chatbot for business.

Is a WhatsApp chatbot free?

Rarely in full. “Free WhatsApp chatbot” usually means a provider’s free tier, and Meta’s charges still apply on the API. Every bot reply is a service message, charged at ₹0.115 to Indian numbers after 1,000 free per number a month, before GST. AI usage is often a third line. See what a chatbot costs.

How to create a WhatsApp chatbot without coding?

List the 20 questions customers ask most. Put fixed answers into a button flow, send open questions to an AI agent, and keep money and complaints with people. Then set the handover, test with real questions and switch it on for part of the day first. Seven steps, no code.

What is Meta Business AI on WhatsApp?

Meta’s Business AI is an assistant inside the WhatsApp Business app, launched for Indian small businesses on 14 May 2026. It answers questions, captures leads and books appointments, and the owner can take over any chat. Meta’s India announcement states no price. Compare it in Business AI vs an AI agent.

Can a WhatsApp chatbot message customers first?

Not with a free-form message. A bot can reply only within 24 hours of the customer’s last message. After that, or to start a conversation, it has to send a Meta-approved template, billed by category like any other. WhatsApp automation for business covers which messages to automate first.

Teams and tools

On the API a whole team works from one number, and the tools around it decide who answers what.

Can multiple users use one WhatsApp Business number?

Yes. The free Business app allows up to four linked devices plus one phone, and Meta’s paid multi-agent option goes up to 10 devices. A team inbox on the API has no device cap: each person logs in as themselves and chats are assigned to people and teams. See WhatsApp for multiple users.

What is a WhatsApp shared inbox?

A shared inbox, also called a team inbox, is software on the WhatsApp Business API that lets a whole team reply from one business number. Each chat is assigned to one named owner, and internal discussion stays in private notes instead of replies. Setting up a shared inbox covers assignment rules and handovers.

What is a WhatsApp CRM?

A WhatsApp CRM keeps each customer’s WhatsApp conversations on their contact record, with the tags, notes, owner and history a team needs to act on them. Look for assignment, custom fields, self-updating segments, and import and export. The WhatsApp CRM guide has a checklist for choosing one.

Can I integrate WhatsApp with my existing CRM?

Yes, if both tools can exchange data. Look for webhooks and HTTP calls in both directions, and decide which system owns the contact before you sync anything. Check too that you can export contacts, notes and opt-in records. The WhatsApp CRM guide explains how to connect one.

Can a business call customers on WhatsApp?

Yes, once the customer has allowed calls. Calls customers make to your WhatsApp Business number are free. Calls your business makes are billed by Meta in six-second pulses, and your number needs a messaging limit of at least 2,000 and a valid payment method first. See WhatsApp Calling for Indian businesses.

How to integrate WhatsApp with Shopify?

You need a number on the WhatsApp Business API, because the free Business app can’t send automated order updates from Shopify. Then connect three things: orders shown beside the chat, store events that send messages, and products or payment links sent from the conversation. Start with order updates. See Shopify WhatsApp integration.