What do you need to use the official WhatsApp API?

The requirements, one by one

• A Meta business portfolio. It's the company account where Meta groups your Facebook Page, Instagram, ad accounts and WhatsApp account. It's required: when you connect the number you must pick a portfolio or create one in the same step.
• A Facebook profile (or a managed Meta account) to access Meta Business Suite. Each person can create up to 2 portfolios, and the name must match your business's public name.
• A phone number you own, with a country code, that can receive an SMS or a call to verify it. Short codes aren't supported.
• A display name for your WhatsApp, which Meta reviews (rules below).
• A payment method in Meta Business Suite for the messages Meta charges for.

Do you have to verify your business?

Not to get started. An unverified portfolio can use the API, with limits. Verification is how Meta confirms your business legally exists, and it's the most direct way to lift those limits.

The limit only counts messages you start. Replying to people who message you has no limit. Without verifying you can also reach 2,000 by delivering 2,000 high-quality templates in 30 days. Verifying your business doesn't give you the blue badge: that's a separate approval.

Which documents Meta asks for

• Your business's legal name, address and phone number, written exactly as in your official documents.
• A website that loads over HTTPS.
• If Meta can't find your record, an official document: certificate of incorporation, business registration or license, a government-issued tax document (not self-filed) or a business bank statement.
• A utility bill can confirm the address and phone, but not the legal name.
• A confirmation code by email, phone, SMS, WhatsApp or your domain.

Meta takes up to 14 business days to decide. If you change your business details later, you have to verify again. A sole trader registered with the local authorities can be verified; an unregistered individual can't.

Your number: coexistence or API only

With coexistence you keep using the WhatsApp Business app on your phone while the number is connected to the API. You need app version 2.24.17 or later. When connecting you can bring up to 6 months of one-to-one chats and your contacts, as long as you do it within the first 24 hours; group chats don't sync.

If the number is on regular WhatsApp (not Business), move it to the WhatsApp Business app first. If you'd rather use the number on the API only, you must delete that number's WhatsApp account and the history is lost.

• The app's broadcast lists can't be created anymore and existing ones become read-only: campaigns go through the API.
• Disappearing messages, view-once messages and live location are turned off in one-to-one chats.
• Linked devices are unlinked; you can link them again, except WhatsApp for Windows and WearOS.
• Messages you send from the app stay free; messages sent through the API are charged by Meta.
• Open the app regularly: if the main phone goes unused for about 14 days, the connection drops.

The display name

• It must clearly relate to your business's legal name or to the brand shown on your website.
• It can't be a generic term or place, include «Official» or «Verified», or mention Meta or WhatsApp.
• No promotional language and no website or email format.
• You can change it up to 10 times every 30 days.

What Meta charges and what changes on October 1, 2026

Meta doesn't charge a monthly fee for the API: it charges per delivered message, with a different rate depending on your customer's country and the message type. Messages your customers send you are always free.

• Marketing templates (promotions, offers): the expensive category.
• Utility templates (confirmations, updates, receipts) and authentication templates (codes): the cheap category.
• From October 1, 2026, free-form replies within 24 hours (service messages) are charged at each country's utility rate. Each number gets 1,000 free per month; they don't roll over and don't cover templates.
• From October 1, 2026, utility templates sent within the 24-hour window are also charged; until now they were free.
• Two rates go up: marketing in Mexico and utility in Peru.
• Conversations started from a click-to-WhatsApp ad still get a free window, which since September 28, 2026 can last up to 7 days (previously 72 hours). The ad is paid separately.

Meta base rates in USD per delivered message, before volume discounts. «—»: Meta currently doesn't deliver marketing templates to US numbers. Service messages are free until September 30; from October 1 they're charged at the utility rate, with no volume discounts. Meta bills in local currency in several countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Important: Meta will stop delivering service messages beyond the 1,000 free ones for accounts without a payment method on file by September 30, 2026.

Rules worth knowing before you migrate

• You can only message people who gave you their number and agreed to receive your messages. If someone opts out, you must respect it.
• If a bot handles your chats, there must be a clear way to reach a person.
• Meta classifies every template as marketing, utility or authentication. A mixed template counts as marketing, and Meta can recategorize it.
• WhatsApp may not deliver marketing to people who don't read it, and currently doesn't deliver marketing templates to US numbers.
• Blocks and reports from customers lower your number's quality and can limit your sending.

Why WhatsApp bans numbers and how to avoid it

How we handle it at AivaChat

AivaChat connects to the official API through Meta's login, and you can keep the WhatsApp Business app on your phone.

Platform USD 49/month · implementation from USD 500

Official API FAQ