A BSP sits between Meta and the business. It handles the technical onboarding, hosts or proxies the API, and provides support, so the business does not have to integrate with WhatsApp directly.
Many BSPs add software on top of the raw API: campaign builders, a shared team inbox, chatbots, analytics, and integrations with platforms like Shopify. This is the product most merchants actually interact with.
Since the launch of the Cloud API, businesses can also connect to WhatsApp without a traditional BSP, but a provider still adds value through tooling, billing, and managing message templates and quality.
