WhatsApp Business FAQ: pricing, API, AI, campaigns and GDPR.

The WhatsApp Business app suits a small team on one phone. The WhatsApp Business platform (the “API”) is for businesses that want several advisers on the same number, automatic replies, an AI assistant, campaigns with Meta-approved templates and a connection to their CRM. It is accessed through a provider such as Walexia. See Walexia’s features.

Yes, in most cases. A number already used in the WhatsApp Business app (version 2.24.17 or later) can be connected to the platform without deleting the account: contacts and the history of one-to-one conversations from the last 6 months can be carried over. A number used on personal WhatsApp must first be released. See the prerequisites (in French).

Yes: this is called “coexistence”. The app remains usable, with a few limits: groups, calls, the catalogue, labels and away messages in the app do not go through the platform, and throughput is set at 20 messages per second for that number.

Yes. The verification code then arrives by voice call instead of SMS.

As many as you need, for example one per dealership, agency or workshop. All the numbers in the same Meta portfolio share the same messaging limit, and head office keeps an overview.

The blue tick shows an official business account. You must comply with WhatsApp’s messaging policy, have been on the platform for at least 30 days, have a verified business portfolio, turn on two-step verification and have an approved display name. The request is made in WhatsApp Manager; if it is refused, you can apply again after 30 days. See Verification and the blue tick (in French).

On the market, the budget has two parts: the platform and Meta’s fees. Meta charges for templates according to their category and the recipient’s country and, since 1 October 2026, for exchanges within the 24-hour window. At Walexia, Meta fees are included in the price of the engaged conversation: you pay a setup, a monthly plan and your conversations, with no Meta fees on top. See pricing and our article on the price of the WhatsApp Business API in 2026 (in French).

Since 1 July 2025, Meta has charged per message, no longer per conversation, according to the template category (marketing, utility, authentication) and the recipient’s country. Rates change every quarter: the official rate card is in Meta’s developer documentation. With Walexia, these fees are included in the price of the engaged conversation.

Marketing (offers, sales follow-ups), utility (confirmation, order tracking, appointment reminder) and authentication (login codes). Then there are service messages: the non-template replies sent within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.

In three parts: a setup at the start, a monthly plan (Run) and engaged conversations, billed per conversation rather than per message, Meta fees included. Every project is tailored: the components, the options and the configurator that prepares your priced proposal are on the Pricing page.

When a customer writes to you, a 24-hour window opens: you can reply as you wish. After that, or to write first, you need a Meta-approved message template.

A text prepared in advance (with variables such as the first name or a date), submitted to Meta and classified in a category. It is used to write first or after the 24-hour window: follow-up, appointment reminder, offer. See our WhatsApp Business templates.

Most often: an unverifiable promise, a shortened link, a variable used in place of the business name, or a category that does not match the content (an offer declared as “utility”, for example). See Initial configuration (in French).

Only to people who have agreed to receive messages from your business on WhatsApp, with Meta-approved templates. WhatsApp may also limit the number of marketing messages the same person receives, and these messages are not delivered to US numbers. See WhatsApp campaigns.

The limit counts the different people contacted outside the service window over a rolling 24 hours: 250 at the start, 2,000 after business verification, then 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited, automatically, if quality stays high. It applies to the whole Meta portfolio, not to a single number.

The consent must clearly state that the person agrees to receive messages from your business, naming it. Any channel works (form, SMS, tick box in store) if it complies with these rules and the law. Keep the date, the channel and the wording of the consent, for example in your CRM. See WhatsApp Business API best practice (in French).

Unsubscribing must be simple and respected immediately: a word such as “STOP” or a button in the message. People can also block or report a business; persistently low quality leads to messaging limits.

Yes, if it focuses on the business’s activity: questions about your products, qualification, appointments, follow-up. Since 15 January 2026, WhatsApp only prohibits AI providers from offering general-purpose assistants on it. See Walexia’s WhatsApp AI agent.

A traditional chatbot follows a tree of questions and buttons. An AI agent also understands answers written in the person’s own words (“more in the spring, if we sell our flat”), draws out the useful information and adapts the next question, within the framework you have defined. See chatbot or human agent on WhatsApp (in French).

No. The AI handles the first exchanges and frequent questions, qualifies the request, then passes it to an adviser with a summary, according to the rules you define. Your teams keep the relationship.

Always. The assistant introduces itself as such and passes the conversation to an adviser as soon as the customer asks or the situation requires it.

No. With the workflow builder, the agent is assembled block by block (questions, conditions, follow-ups, sending to the CRM) and tested in a phone preview before going live.

Any channel that opens a WhatsApp conversation with your business in a single tap, often with a first message already written: the customer only has to tap “Send”. Facebook and Instagram ads are the best-known form, but an SMS, an RCS, an MMS, an email, a salesperson’s signature, a QR code, a banner or your website play the same role. See our Click to WhatsApp playbook (in French).

Yes. A conversation opened from a Meta ad carries the ad’s reference; on other channels, each link or QR code has its own pre-filled message. Walexia records the source with the request, so you can track leads and results by channel and by campaign. See WhatsApp marketing.

With a link to your WhatsApp number (a wa.me address), optionally followed by a first message already written; a QR code is simply that link, printed. Every touchpoint (SMS, RCS, email, signature, website, shop window, business card, vehicle) can open the same conversation this way, with its source. Create yours with the WhatsApp link generator.

Yes. The integrations catalogue lists HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Bitrix24 and LeadSquared, among others, as well as an API and webhooks. The connection method and the data synchronised are confirmed during the demo, depending on your tool.

Yes, as well as with Pabbly Connect and Zoho Flow: a new lead, an appointment or a change of status triggers a scenario in your tools, which opens the connection to thousands of applications without development.

WhatsApp users can display a username instead of their number. Meta then sends an identifier specific to your business, and sometimes no longer the number: your CRM and your integrations must be able to link a conversation to this identifier.

Yes, if its use is properly framed: a legal basis for each processing operation, information for the people concerned, defined retention periods and a processing agreement (article 28 of the GDPR) with your provider. For questions specific to your business, write to us: we will answer with the appropriate documents.

No. WhatsApp requires the person’s prior consent before you write to them first, whether they are an individual or a professional. Purchased or rented lists do not provide this consent.

French law allows prospecting of professionals by email on the basis of legitimate interest, if the message relates to their job. WhatsApp goes further: the person’s consent is required in all cases. The safest approach is to let the prospect write first, for example from an ad or a QR code.

We advise against it. For a practice or a health centre, WhatsApp is used for appointments, reminders and practical questions, with no medical data. See WhatsApp for healthcare practices.

Connecting the number takes about half an hour if the prerequisites are ready. Meta’s business verification, useful for sending more messages, takes longer. The scenarios are then set up around your organisation. See Connecting your number (in French).

A phone number, a Meta business portfolio (Business Manager) and administrator access, then your first message templates. The full list is in the prerequisites (in French).

Yes. Our team is based in France, and Walexia is also deployed internationally: in Spain, in Portugal and wherever Meta’s WhatsApp Business platform is available. The AI can reply in your customers’ language; the languages are defined with you. In the United Arab Emirates, Walexia is distributed by The MotorHub, its official distributor.

No. The connection is made in a Meta window: Walexia only receives the permissions you approve.

Yes: the demo is built on your business, your channels and your questions. Book a demo.