How to open a WhatsApp Business account, and what it costs

Two questions come up for every business that starts talking to customers on WhatsApp: how do you open a business account, and what will it actually cost, and the answer to both depends on the option you choose. Opening an account in the WhatsApp Business app is free and takes a few minutes, while the WhatsApp Business API is connected through a provider and Meta charges for some of the messages. This guide walks through opening an account on each option step by step, explains which messages cost money and which don't, lists the current rates by category, and shows how a store can estimate its monthly bill before sending a single message.

How much does WhatsApp Business cost?

The app is completely free. There is no subscription, no charge for messages and no time limit.

The API has two cost components:

• Meta's charge for template messages. Every template belongs to a category, marketing, utility or authentication, and each category has its own rate, which also varies by the recipient's country.
• The provider's subscription. The provider is the system your team replies from, and its price is separate from Meta's charges.

What costs nothing: free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message, and utility templates sent while that window is open. So a business that mostly answers customers who write in pays Meta very little, while a business that sends lots of promotions pays mainly for marketing templates.

Example: the service window in practice

Say a customer writes on Tuesday at 10 a.m. asking whether a dress comes in a medium:

• Until 10 a.m. Wednesday: you can reply, send photos and send an order confirmation as a utility template without paying Meta.
• If she writes again: the window restarts from her new message.
• After the window closes: a message from the store becomes a paid template.

If you haven't chosen between the options yet, the full comparison is in our article on what WhatsApp Business is.

How to open a WhatsApp Business account

Here is how to open an account in the app, from installation to a profile ready for customers:

1. 1

   Choose the business number

   Decide which mobile or landline number the business will use. A number can be active in only one app at a time, so a number meant for customers works better than your personal one.

2. 2

   Install WhatsApp Business

   Download the WhatsApp Business app from your phone's app store, accept the terms and enter the business number.

3. 3

   Verify the number

   Enter the code sent by SMS. For a landline, wait for the voice call option to become available, choose it and type in the code read out on the call.

4. 4

   Fill in the business profile

   Add the business name, category, a short description, address, opening hours, email and website, and upload your logo as the profile photo.

5. 5

   Set up messaging tools

   Write a greeting message for new customers, an away message for when you are closed, and quick replies for the questions that keep coming back.

6. 6

   Add a catalog and link a computer

   Upload your main products to the catalog, and link your computer as a linked device through WhatsApp Web or the desktop app.

Three decisions before you install

Three small decisions save trouble later:

• Which number: if the number is already on regular WhatsApp, the business app offers to move it, and on the same phone your chats move too. That is convenient but mixes personal and customer conversations. A separate number, even the business landline, keeps them apart and is easier to connect to the API later.
• Which name: customers see the profile name, so use the store or brand name they know rather than the owner's. If you move to the API later, Meta reviews the display name, and a name that matches the real business goes through more easily.
• Who replies: if more than one person will answer, link the computers on day one and agree who covers which hours.

Opening a WhatsApp Business API account

There is no app to download for the API. You connect from inside the provider's system, through a Meta sign-up flow called Embedded Signup.

What to prepare

• A Facebook account with access to the business's Meta business portfolio. If there is no portfolio yet, you create one during the flow.
• A phone number. Either a number already live in the WhatsApp Business app, or a new number that can receive a code by SMS or voice call.
• A payment method for the account in Meta's WhatsApp Manager, so you can send templates.

Connecting the number in StoreChart

1. In the WhatsApp settings, pick the store. For a number already live in the app, choose "Connect via Meta"; for a new number, choose "Connect a new number".
2. In Meta's window, log in with Facebook and choose or create a business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business account.
3. Confirm an existing number from the WhatsApp Business app on the phone, following the prompts in the window. Verify a new number with a code, choosing a voice call for a landline.
4. Back in StoreChart, if you connected a number from the app, choose whether to sync its chat history, up to 180 days back.
5. Add a payment method in WhatsApp Manager. Without one, Meta blocks template sends, and StoreChart shows a message explaining what is missing.
6. Create your first template and submit it for Meta's approval.

A number connected from the app keeps working on the phone too, so you don't have to choose between them. More details are on the WhatsApp integration page.

Verifying your business with Meta

Under Meta's current policy, a business can start messaging before it is verified, but with a low limit on how many customers it can contact first each day. To raise that limit, verify the business in your Meta business portfolio settings with:

• The legal name of the business.
• Its address.
• Documents showing the business exists.

Start early, because the review takes time.

WhatsApp Business API pricing per message

Meta charges each template message by its category. These are the rates StoreChart uses for cost estimates, as checked against Meta's rate card on March 22, 2026:

The actual rate depends on the recipient's country and changes from time to time, so check Meta's official pricing page before a large campaign. In StoreChart, the estimated rate appears next to the category on every template, while you are still building it. Read more about building templates and tracking their approval on the WhatsApp message templates page.

Example: 400 orders a month

Say a store gets 400 orders a month. Its messages that month look like this:

• 800 utility messages: an order confirmation and a shipping update per order.
• About a quarter free: they go out while the customer has written in the last 24 hours.
• Roughly 600 charged at the utility rate.
• 1,500 promotional messages: one promotion to customers who opted in, all at the marketing rate.
• A few hundred replies to customer questions, free.

The bill is 600 times the utility rate plus 1,500 times the marketing rate. At the rates in the table, the promotion is most of it. That makes segmentation the strongest cost lever: sending to the 1,500 relevant customers instead of the whole list.

We cover segmenting and messaging customer groups on the WhatsApp broadcasts page.

Mistakes when opening a business account

• Opening on your personal number. It is the fastest route, but after a few months customer and family chats are tangled together. If you already did it, connecting to the API with a shared inbox is a chance to move customer work somewhere separate.
• Deleting the app before connecting to the API. Deleting the app to "free up" the number loses its chat history. When you connect an existing number through StoreChart, the app stays active and the history comes across in the sync.
• Sending a promotion before you have consent. A customer list collected in store or online without permission to message on WhatsApp is not a broadcast list. Collect explicit consent, for example with a checkbox at checkout.
• Putting off the payment method. Without a payment method in WhatsApp Manager, order confirmations and shipping updates won't send, even with approved templates. Set it up the day you connect the number.

What else affects the cost?

Beyond the rate itself, four things decide what you actually pay:

• The category a template ends up in. Meta can change a template's category, for example when a utility template includes promotional content. Keep utility templates free of offers and discounts so they aren't charged as marketing.
• Consent and quality. Messaging customers who never asked leads to blocks, a low quality rating and a restricted number, which costs more than any rate.
• How many numbers you connect. The number of lines you can connect to StoreChart depends on your plan, as listed on the pricing page.
• Automation instead of manual sends. A bot or AI agent answering questions inside the service window adds no message cost. Read about the types in our WhatsApp bot guide.

For the broader picture, including the rules and how online stores use it, head back to the complete guide to WhatsApp Business.