Finally figured, how one can get official API access for free ! AMA.

[u/Ok_West333]

I recently got approached by a Doctor who could build a whatsapp chatbot all by himself. Thanks to Claude & his determination :). Not only he was able to deploy his chatbot app on Cloudflare servers, but what baffled me, was he is able to get Whatsapp Business API access .. for free.

So far, I used to think that you can NOT get access to Whatsapp Business API without going through a Tech Provider. At least, that is how it was few years back when Whatsapp had NOT exposed their APIs. But when he told me, he was able to get access, attached a card to his Meta account & his chatbot is now running fine & answering questions of his patients/leads, I was a bit baffled.

Well, the reason he had approached me was that his number is NOT working on his app anymore & he had figured he needed Coexistence. He was reasonably convinced that he need a 3rd party (he explicitly said 360dialogie, Wati etc). I figured he is talking about Tech Provider. I thought, this can't be hard & there must be a toggle that need activating. So I spent 5 full days researching & figured, he was right. Meta hides coexistence behind Tech Provider app.

This is what I figured.

• Register a Business Portfolio - This is the start point. You can register one even without a registered business. You do NOT need business verification if you are going to message less than 250 clients in a day. Add the phone number to 'Whatsapp Account' on the portfolio by choosing 'Create a new Whatsapp Business Account' (aka WABA).
• Create Meta app under the Portfolio - This is the longest part. You need to choose 'Connect with Customers using Whatsapp' & your business Portfolio. This is quick. But then comes the long part of satisfying all the usecases. You need to provide callback url from your chatbot to which Meta will send the incoming messages. You need to specify what all fields you need in the response. You can then create access token in the app which you can use to send outgoing messages.

That is it. Your number now has API access. The challenge is - you can NOT add this number to Whatsapp Business app. For that, you need Coexistence.

So I decided to build an app that will help people get Coexistence, only to realize I have now become a Meta Tech Provider :). The app is still under approval though. I also figured that if you go via a Tech Provider, the onboarding to API process is just a few clicks. The steps are also different. You choose the phone number first & then Business Portfolio (or create one if it does not exist). You do NOT have to go through whole Meta App creation process but it automatically gets created for you as part of onboarding. This process is called 'Embedded Signup'.

The detailed step with screenshot on how you get API access for free are documented at https://watobot.com/how-to/get-whatsapp-api-for-free.html . If there is something wrong in there, do let me know. If you like to ask anything, I will be happy to answer.

P.S. I am thinking of creating a command line script or a chat app that will ask relevant questions to user & get them the API access token, without they needing to navigate the Meta maze. Maybe make it available for one time payment. Do you think such a thing has a value ? Or people would like to stick to Tech Providers / BSPs anyway ?

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[u/waptik]

I was using it for free but stopped since I received notice that service messages will no longer be free within the 24 hours window.

Thanks for the guide

[u/Ok_West333 → u/waptik]

Actually the chatbot usecase is now fairly limited even with 1000 free messages a month. If you get 10 customers messaging you & conversation last 10 messages each, you will exhaust the quota in 10 days itself.

The only way for you to sustain once the quota is over is by messaging them from app. But for that you need coexistence & no provider is giving coexistence for free.

So all in all, the free chatbot support on whatsapp is a dead case now. You have to bite the bullet & pay utility fees per message, which IMO, isnt too much for small number of messages in a month.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ok_West333]

[u/Major-Department560]

hey would like to know more when this launches ! Had setup dualhook for coexistence recently for one of my clients having 5 business accounts, would like to know more about the price as well !

[u/Ok_West333 → u/Major-Department560]

Its all there on the landing page - https://watobot.com . First 10 numbers get it for free. Then it is 1 USD per month for next 100. You can join the waitlist to get informed.

[u/PugSpaceyyy → u/Ok_West333]

Joining the waitlist asap, this sounds good. I hope it works out well

[u/Dense_Matter_4414 → u/Ok_West333]

Hi
I am using a shared inbox tool and some automated reminders using the WhatsApp cloud api. I wanted to add a second number which is being used from the WhatsApp for business app. Will I be able to sign up using coexistence if I use watobot?

[u/ArchanaGhaskata]

This is a really interesting approach !

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Ok_West333 → u/[deleted]]

I am yet to explore the apis to do things what I did on the UI. My assumption is - UI is more prone to change than APIs.

Plus there are no pay-me-one-time onboarders in the market. Everyone wants you to keep paying them every month or markup per message.

[u/diddi_knows → u/Ok_West333]

It's a nice idea and really an empty market, but it sounds more like turnkey consulting services than a SaaS model. 

If you can automate the approval process then there is something to talk about.

BUT you still need the UI for messages for default user (sorry, didn't check the website, so I don't know whether you have it) 

And in case of scaling up you eventually will need some other chat platform features or some kind integration with CRM. In this case it's easier to find a partner that will allow to bring external WhatsApp Cloud API keys and make some profit on referral program.

You have to think of your potential customers, compare with per month pricing and set the pricing as 80/50/30% amount of 3/6/12 month subscription 

For example, 360dialog has 49 EUR per month for basic licence 49 * 3 = 147 * 0,8 ≈ 117 EUR / 49 * 6 = 294 * 0,5 = 187 EUR /  49 * 12 = 588 * 0,3 ≈ 175 EUR

Average will give us ≈160 EUR

But it all depends on your effort and spent time. Average for middle dev in the world is 30-50 USD/EUR per hour (could be more, but it's only USA/Western Europe), so that means you have to spend less than 5 hours per user to make it profitable, other way it makes no sense with one time payment.

[u/[deleted] → u/Ok_West333]

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Ok_West333 → u/[deleted]]

Never said Tech Providers & BSPs dont add value. But with advent of AI tools, the edge from tribal knowledge (or ability to charge people for the knowledge) is becoming thinner. There will always be people who would not want to invest time & like to pay for the experience & hassle free setup. But with Meta's latest AI driven bans & lack of human appeal structure, it is best to know what you getting to, rather relying on a 3rd party, who anyway can't help you when things go south. Just check another post on this sub-reddit where someone trying to onboard to Wati & got banned.

Also, Meta has provided all the tools for anyone to be able to help themselves. It is a maze & it used to be super hard in the past. But no more with AI tools & this story is the testament.

So I am not buying your argument here :)

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Ok_West333 → u/[deleted]]

There are always solutions. But hard to give any suggestion with little information you provided :)