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Overview of the WhatsApp Business Platform with Twilio

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WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in many parts of the world. With the WhatsApp Business Platform with Twilio, you can reach more than 1.5 billion WhatsApp users. You can send notifications, have two-way conversations, or build chatbots. If you’re trying to reach – and better converse with – users in LATAM, EMEA, and APAC, then you need to consider using WhatsApp.

What is the WhatsApp Business Platform?

WhatsApp has 3 messaging products:

WhatsApp Consumer app, with over 2 billion users globally;
WhatsApp Business app, generally used by small businesses and micro businesses; and
WhatsApp Business Platform, previously known as the WhatsApp Business API

Twilio offers access to the WhatsApp Business Platform. Developers can use WhatsApp with all of Twilio’s products, including the Programmable Messaging API, Conversations API, Twilio Flex and Studio. For more information, please see WhatsApp Business Accounts with Twilio.

WhatsApp Opt-In Requirements

WhatsApp requires that your application implement explicit user opt-ins to deliver messages over WhatsApp. You may gather this opt-in information either via a web page or a mobile app, such as during your application’s sign-up flow, in your application’s account settings, via SMS, etc. WhatsApp also requires businesses to respect opt-out requests from end users to maintain high number quality.

Please note that sending messages to end users without an opt-in may result in users blocking your business and may ultimately lead to the suspension of your WhatsApp Business account.

Connect your Meta Business Manager Account

WhatsApp uses your Meta Business Manager account to identify your business and associate your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) with it. To scale with WhatsApp, you will also need to verify your Meta Business Manager account. You can create or connect your Meta Business Manager account through Twilio’s Self-Signup process in the Console.

If you are an ISV, you will need to provide Twilio with your Meta Business Manager ID before you or your end clients begin onboarding. If you do not already have a Meta Business Manager account, follow Facebook’s instructions to create one. Your Meta Business Manager ID can be found in the “Business Info” section under Business Settings.

Manage and Configure Your WhatsApp-enabled Twilio Numbers

You can register new numbers for WhatsApp directly in the Twilio Console by following our Self-Signup Guide for WhatsApp. If you are an ISV following our Guided Signup process, you will need to request to have WhatsApp numbers registered by Twilio’s Operations team. As part of the onboarding process, either you or Twilio’s Operations team will create a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) and associate it with your Twilio Account Sid. Only one WABA is allowed per Twilio Account at this time.

Please note that as of January 2023, WhatsApp has imposed new limitations on phone numbers and WABAs:

Phone Number limits applied across all WABAs per single Meta Business Manager

Businesses that don’t have a verified Meta Business Manager are allowed a max of 2 phone numbers per Meta Business Manager across all WABAs.
Businesses with a verified Meta Business Manager account can have up to 20 phone numbers. An exception for up to 50 phone numbers can be requested by opening a support ticket. Higher limits may be made available with a second appeal and a valid use case justification, at WhatsApp’s discretion.

WABA limits:
- Businesses with a verified Meta Business Manager can have a max of 20 WABAs across their Meta Business Manager.
- Businesses that have an Official Business Account (OBA) are allowed up to 1000 WABAs.

Please note that most businesses that onboarded prior to January 2023, and those with higher limits previously, are exempt from these limitations. WhatsApp reserves the right to restrict the numbers and WABAs for any reasons and if they see any evidence of scams or severe spam on an account, at their discretion.

Once your number has been enabled for WhatsApp, it can be used as a WhatsApp Sender. Clicking on a specific Sender takes you to its specific Configuration page. This includes the Endpoint configuration section, where you can specify what action Twilio should take when it receives a WhatsApp message at this number. You can configure this sender as part of a Messaging Service or with an individual webhook URL.

You can also update all your profile details here.

Responding to Incoming Messages with TwiML

WhatsApp incoming messages are fully supported by TwiML, allowing you to seamlessly use your existing SMS app with WhatsApp. For more information, check out Documentation on How to Use TwiML.

Sending a Freeform WhatsApp Message Using the API

Within a WhatsApp session, you can send freeform messages using the Programmable Messaging API. Freeform messages may include text or media.

Freeform WhatsApp messages that include web links will display a web page snippet preview when received on the WhatsApp client.

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Send a freeform message within the 24-hour session

Send an outbound freeform WhatsApp Message

Send a freeform message within the 24-hour session

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Send a freeform media message within the 24-hour session

Send a freeform WhatsApp message with media

Send a freeform media message within the 24-hour session

Monitor the Status of your WhatsApp Outbound Message

To receive real-time status updates for outbound messages, you can choose to set a Status Callback URL. Twilio sends a request to this URL each time your message status changes to one of the following: queued, failed, sent, delivered, read.

You can set the Status Callback URL in the Console, or when you send an individual outbound message, by including the StatusCallback parameter. You can set this in different parts of the Twilio Console depending on your messaging set-up:

Set the status callback URL for the WhatsApp Sandbox
Set the status callback for an individual WhatsApp Sender
Set the status callback for a Messaging Service (under the Integration settings for a specific Messaging Service)

When you set the Status Callback URL, Twilio sends a POST request to that URL, including the MessageSid (the Message’s Unique identifier) along with the other standard request parameters as well as MessageStatus and ErrorCode.

The parameters Twilio sends to your callback URL include all standard request parameters, as well as some unique messaging parameters. You can see the full list of parameters in the API Reference for the Message Resource.

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