# WhatsApp Business API

The WhatsApp Business API is the programmatic interface of the WhatsApp Business Platform: software, not a phone app, sends and receives WhatsApp messages for a business. Today it means the Cloud API hosted by Meta, billed per delivered message.

Source: https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/whatsapp-business-api  
Last updated: 2026-10-08

This page gives the short definition. The [WhatsApp Business API guide](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-api-guide) covers access, costs and setup step by step, and the [WhatsApp Business API for Shopify](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-business-api) page shows how a store connects to it with Kanal.

The API has no app or interface of its own. A business reaches it through the Cloud API hosted by Meta, either directly with its own developers or through a partner (often called a Business Solution Provider) that adds a dashboard, automations and analytics. The older On-Premises API, which companies hosted themselves, stopped working on October 23, 2025.

Two rules shape everything built on it. Outside the 24-hour customer service window, a business can only send pre-approved message templates. And Meta charges per delivered message, at a rate that depends on the message category (marketing, utility, authentication or service) and on the country code of the recipient. Messages sent by customers are never charged.

## Kanal features

- [WhatsApp Business API](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-business-api): WhatsApp Business API, live in days not weeks

## Go deeper: articles

- [WhatsApp Business API: What It Is, Costs and Setup (2026)](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-api-guide): The WhatsApp Business API explained: Cloud API, templates, webhooks, per-message costs, messaging limits and the three ways to get access.
- [WhatsApp Cloud API vs On-Premises: What the 2025 Sunset Means](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-cloud-api-vs-on-premise): Meta shut down the WhatsApp On-Premises API on October 23, 2025. What Cloud API offers, how it is priced and how to move a number still stuck on it.
- [Best WhatsApp Business API Providers 2026 (14 BSPs, Prices)](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-api-providers-compared): 14 WhatsApp BSPs compared with prices read October 24, 2026 (Twilio $0.005 a message, 360dialog €49 a number), Meta fee markup and Shopify fit.
- [WhatsApp Business Pricing 2026: Cost per Message by Country](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-pricing-guide): WhatsApp Business pricing, October 2026: the app is free, the API bills each message: $0.0635 per UK marketing message, $0.0034 per US order update.

## Related terms

- [Business solution provider (BSP)](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/business-solution-provider)
- [WhatsApp Business Platform](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/whatsapp-business-platform)
- [WABA (WhatsApp Business Account)](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/waba)