Keep the WhatsApp Business App, Add an AI Agent
Connect the number you already use in the WhatsApp Business app to Meta's official API, keep replying from your phone, and let an AI agent answer the rest.
Last reviewed: Sep 27, 2026
Reviewed by: Waslo Team
Key takeaways
- Your WhatsApp Business app number can now also run on Meta's official API, so you keep the app and the number your customers already know.
- Reply from the app whenever you like: your message lands in the Waslo thread and the AI agent steps back for that customer.
- Recent chats and contacts come across when you connect, and Waslo shows what Meta charges for the agent's messages from inside your dashboard.
Until now a business on WhatsApp had to choose: keep the WhatsApp Business app on the phone, or move the number to Meta's API so software could answer. Moving meant losing the app. Meta now lets the same number run on both, and Waslo supports it. You keep the app and the number your customers already save in their contacts, and an AI agent answers the conversations you don't get to.
Three ways to put WhatsApp on Waslo
| Waslo QR | Official QR (Business app) | WhatsApp Cloud API | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep the phone app | Yes | Yes | No |
| Runs on Meta's official API | No | Yes | Yes |
| Meta charges per message | No | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Getting started in two minutes | Businesses that live in the Business app | A dedicated number and templates at volume |
The Waslo QR links like WhatsApp Web and has no Meta charges. The official QR keeps your Business app and adds Meta's official API. The Cloud API puts a number on the API only. One number connects one way at a time, so the agent never answers a customer twice.
How connecting works
- Update the WhatsApp Business app to version 2.24.17 or newer.
- In Waslo, open Integrations → WhatsApp Official API and click Connect my WhatsApp Business app. The onboarding wizard offers the same button.
- In Meta's window, choose your existing WhatsApp Business app and scan the code it shows with the app.
- The number appears in Waslo with a Business app badge.
Right after that, Waslo asks Meta for your contacts and up to 180 days of chat history. Old chats arrive in your inbox as history, so the agent has context the next time a returning customer writes. Nothing is sent to anyone and nothing is charged for that import.
You reply, the agent steps back
The point of keeping the app is that you can still answer personally. When you do, the reply shows up in the Waslo thread and the agent pauses for that customer, the same way it pauses when you reply from the Waslo inbox. You resume it with one click when you're done. The app's automatic greeting and away messages are recognised and don't pause anything.
The same rule now covers every place you might type outside Waslo: your phone on a Waslo QR number, Meta Business Suite and the Messenger app, the Instagram app, and Outlook. Read how handoff works.
What Meta charges, and where to see it
From October 1, 2026 Meta charges every reply the agent sends through its API, per delivered message, at its rate for the customer's country. Messages you type in the app stay free, and so does the 72-hour window that opens when a customer reaches you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad. Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business account directly; Waslo doesn't resell or mark those messages up.
To keep the numbers visible, the WhatsApp charges from Meta card on the Billing page mirrors what Meta charged, by message type and by customer country, updated every 30 minutes. See Meta's prices opens Meta's rate table for every country, so you can check a price before a campaign. Keep a payment method on your WhatsApp Business account: without one, Meta stops delivering the agent's replies.
Alerts, reminders and follow-ups from the same number
A day after a customer's last message, Meta lets an official number send only a template it approved. Waslo ships three ready-made ones you submit with one click from the number's card: alerts to your team, the 24-hour appointment reminder, and follow-ups to leads who went quiet. Once Meta approves them, the number sends all three on its own. Alerts and reminders are charged at Meta's utility rate; follow-ups at its marketing rate, which Waslo shows before you submit.
What stays in the app
Groups, disappearing messages, view-once messages and broadcast lists stay in the WhatsApp Business app and aren't handled by the agent. Meta caps a number shared this way at 20 messages per second, far above what a small business sends.
Which one should you pick?
If you're testing an AI agent for the first time, start with the Waslo QR: it takes two minutes and has no Meta charges. If your team already runs the business from the WhatsApp Business app and you want Meta's official API without giving the app up, connect the official QR. If you need a separate number built for templates and broadcasts, use the Cloud API. You can switch later; the customer stays the same lead in Waslo. See the connection guide.
