The WhatsApp Business API, explained simply

The WhatsApp Business API — officially the WhatsApp Business Platform — is Meta’s way for medium and large businesses to use WhatsApp at scale. Unlike the WhatsApp Business app, there is no phone app: you connect your number to software like Wapify, and your whole team uses it from a browser.

It lets you reply to customers from a shared inbox, send notifications and offers to thousands of opted-in customers, run chatbots that answer 24×7, and connect WhatsApp to your CRM, website, store or app.

WhatsApp Business Platform / Cloud API

Meta’s official API for businesses. Messages go through Meta’s servers; no phone needs to stay online.

Meta business portfolio

Your business in Meta Business Manager. It owns your WhatsApp accounts, ad accounts and pages.

WABA (WhatsApp Business Account)

The account inside your portfolio that holds your phone numbers, templates and payment method.

Tech provider / BSP

A company approved by Meta to connect businesses to the API and give them software — like us.

Display name

The business name customers see. Meta reviews it; it must match your business.

Template

A pre-approved message format you need to start a conversation or message after 24 hours.

Customer service window

The 24 hours after a customer’s last message, when you can reply with any message, free.

Quality rating

Green, yellow or red — based on how customers react (blocks, reports) to your recent messages.

Messaging limit

How many different customers you can start conversations with in a rolling 24 hours.

Opt-in

The customer’s permission to receive WhatsApp messages from you. Required before you message them first.

Meta charges per message, based on the message’s category and the customer’s country. The charge is billed by Meta to the payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account — separate from your Wapify plan.

Meta updates its rates and rules from time to time; the current rate card is on Meta’s developer website.

A template is a message format you create once and Meta approves — usually within minutes, sometimes up to a day. You need a template to start a conversation, to message a customer after the 24-hour window, and for every campaign.

• Header — Optional text, image, video or document
• Body — The main text, with variables like {{1}} for name or order number
• Footer — Optional short line, like “Reply STOP to opt out”
• Buttons — Quick replies, visit website or call phone number

Tips for approval: pick the right category, give sample values for every variable, avoid all-caps and misleading text, and don’t start or end the body with a variable.

Meta limits how many different customers you can start conversations with in a rolling 24 hours. Replies to customers who messaged you first don’t count. New accounts start with a small limit; it increases automatically in steps (for example 1,000 → 10,000 → 100,000 → unlimited) as you keep sending to more customers with a good quality rating and complete business verification.

Quality depends on how customers react: blocks and reports lower it. Our team monitors the quality rating of every number on Wapify, so we can help you slow down or fix templates before Meta restricts your number.

Business verification in Meta Business Manager proves your business is real (using documents such as GST certificate, incorporation certificate or utility bill). It unlocks higher messaging limits and is required for the verified badge.

The verified badge (green/blue tick) is given by Meta to authentic, notable businesses — usually brands with press coverage and an active presence. It is not guaranteed; Meta decides. You can request it once your business is verified and your display name is approved.

• A phone number that can receive an SMS or voice call for the OTP, and is not active on the WhatsApp app
• A Facebook account to log in to Meta’s Embedded Signup
• A Meta business portfolio (you can create one during signup)
• Your business name, website and address
• A display name that matches your business
• A payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account for Meta’s message charges
• Business verification in Meta Business Manager — optional at first, needed for higher limits and the green tick

With Wapify, you sign up, click Connect WhatsApp, log in with Facebook, choose your business, verify your number with an OTP — and you’re live. Our team can help if you get stuck.

• Message only customers who opted in — on your website, checkout, form or in a WhatsApp chat
• Make it easy to stop: honour STOP and opt-out requests (we stop campaigns to them automatically)
• Keep templates useful and expected — avoid sending too many promotions
• Follow the WhatsApp Business and Commerce policies (no restricted goods or services)
• Watch your quality rating and slow down campaigns if it turns yellow