The difference at a glance
| Business app | Business Platform (API) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An app on your phone | A connection your software uses |
| Who replies | You, from your phone and linked devices | Your whole team, from an inbox, plus AI |
| Automation | Greeting and away messages, and Meta's own AI agent | Any AI agent or system you connect |
| Messaging many people | Broadcast lists | Approved templates to people who opted in |
| Cost | Free app | Meta charges per message; 1,000 replies a month free per number |
| Set-up | Download and register | Connect through a provider, ideally with business verification |
WhatsApp: the Business app · Meta: Business Platform pricing
When the app is enough
- You, or one person, answer every chat yourself.
- You get a handful of messages a day and answer them within hours.
- Greeting and away messages cover what needs automating.
- You don't need your chats in the same place as your website chat or your bookings.
When you need the API
- More than one person answers, and you don't want to share a phone.
- You want an AI agent to answer from your website and documents, book appointments or open requests.
- You want to message many customers at once with approved templates, with delivery and reply tracking.
- You want WhatsApp chats in one inbox with your website chat and other channels.
- You want customers to call your business on WhatsApp and have AI answer. Meta: Calling API
Meta charges per message on the API. Since 1 October 2026 each number gets 1,000 free replies a month inside open chats, then they're charged; templates are charged by category and country. Our WhatsApp API cost calculator works out a monthly figure.
Keeping the app: using both on one number
Meta lets a business connect the number it already uses in the WhatsApp Business app to the API and keep using the app, called coexistence. Chats stay in sync both ways. According to Meta's documentation:
- Up to 180 days of one-to-one chat history can be brought across when you connect, not group chats.
- Messages you send from the app stay free; messages sent through the API are charged at API rates.
- On the shared number, groups, voice and video calls, broadcast lists, labels, quick replies, and greeting and away messages aren't supported, and other linked devices are disconnected.
- Throughput is fixed at 20 messages a second, which only matters for very large sends.
Meta: onboarding WhatsApp Business app users
Because calls aren't supported on a shared number, a business that wants AI to answer WhatsApp calls needs a number on the API alone.
Moving to the API
- Step 1
Choose a provider
A platform that connects to Meta for you through Meta's own sign-up, so you don't build anything.
- Step 2
Connect your number
A new number, or your app number with coexistence if you want to keep the app.
- Step 3
Add a payment method
On your WhatsApp account in Meta, so charged messages keep being delivered.
- Step 4
Verify your business
With Meta, to raise how many people you can message a day from 250 to 2,000 and up.
- Step 5
Write your templates
For anything you send after the 24-hour window, reviewed by Meta, usually within a day.
Our guide to adding an AI agent to WhatsApp Business covers each step, including Meta's 2026 rules on AI.
In HeyKiko
HeyKiko connects your number to the API through Meta's sign-up inside HeyKiko, either a number on its own or your app number with coexistence. Kiko answers from your knowledge, your team replies from the shared inbox, and your WhatsApp chats sit next to your website and Telegram chats. Meta bills your WhatsApp account for messages directly.
See the WhatsApp AI chatbot, or try it free for 14 days.
Sources
Checked on 5 November 2026. We make HeyKiko, which this guide uses as its example; Meta’s rules apply to every tool.
