The official WhatsApp Business API for India

What the WhatsApp Business API is

The WhatsApp Business API is how a business uses WhatsApp from software rather than from one phone. Meta, which owns WhatsApp, calls it the WhatsApp Business Platform, and its hosted version is the Cloud API. Your number is registered with Meta, and a platform such as VartaAPI sends and receives messages on it for you, for a whole team at once.

“Official” matters. Some tools send bulk messages by driving an ordinary WhatsApp account, which WhatsApp’s rules forbid and which can get the number blocked. On the official API you send through Meta’s own connection, to people who have agreed to hear from you.

The WhatsApp Business app and the API

If you answer a handful of chats a day on your own, the free app is enough. The API starts to pay for itself when a team shares one number, when you run campaigns, or when you want replies automated.

How messages work on the API

Two rules shape everything. First, when a customer writes to you, a 24-hour window opens and you can reply freely inside it. Second, to message someone first, or after the window closes, you send a template: a message written in advance and approved by Meta. Templates fall into three kinds, which Meta prices differently:

• Marketing: offers, announcements, anything that starts a conversation to sell.
• Utility: order updates, invoices, appointment reminders.
• Authentication: one-time passcodes.

You may only message people who have agreed to hear from you. VartaAPI skips anyone who has opted out, so a campaign never goes to them.

What you need to get it

• A Meta business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business Account. VartaAPI walks you through creating them inside Meta’s own sign-up screen.
• A phone number you own that can receive a verification code by SMS or voice call. A number with a person’s WhatsApp already on it needs care: see the questions below.
• A display name for the business, which Meta reviews.
• Business verification with Meta. It lifts your sending limit.

The number stays on your own Meta account and you hold its two-step PIN, so you can move it to another provider whenever you like without asking us.

How many people you can message

Meta limits how many different customers a business can start conversations with in a rolling 24 hours. A new account starts at 250. Verifying your business, or sending enough high-quality template messages, lifts it to 2,000, and it then rises on its own through 10,000 and 100,000 to unlimited while your messages stay well received. The dashboard shows your number’s quality rating so you can see where you stand.

What it costs in India

Two bills. Meta charges for each delivered message, in rupees, on the card attached to your own WhatsApp account; the first 1,000 replies a month inside the 24-hour window are free. Your provider then charges for its software. VartaAPI’s plans run from ₹0 to ₹4,999 a month, and we add nothing to Meta’s rate.

What VartaAPI gives you on top of the API

The API on its own is a connection. VartaAPI is the software that makes it usable, from one number:

• A shared team inbox, so everyone answers from the same number.
• Broadcast campaigns from approved templates, with delivered, read and replied counts.
• A no-code chatbot builder for the replies you give every day.
• A sales pipeline with follow-up tasks, from the Comet plan up.
• A REST API and webhooks for sending from your own software.

How to start

1. Create a free VartaAPI account. No card is needed.
2. Connect your number through Meta’s sign-up screen and choose its display name.
3. Pick a template, change the words, and submit it for Meta’s approval.
4. Invite your team, send your first campaign, or switch on a chatbot flow.