This WhatsApp Business API glossary lists, in alphabetical order, definitions of the key terms used on Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform. Each entry explains the concept in a few lines, based on Meta’s official documentation, and points to a related guide that covers the topic in depth, from templates and the customer service window to pricing, messaging limits, and verification.
Reviewed on September 28, 2026. Sources: WhatsApp Business Platform documentation (Meta) and official pricing page.
Index of terms
Account ban AI agent Authentication (category) BRL billing (Brazil) Bulk messaging Business portfolio Business verification Buttons (interactive messages) Click-to-WhatsApp ads Cloud API Coexistence Customer service window (24 hours) Display name Embedded Signup Free entry point (FEP, 72 hours) Free service message allowance Human handoff Marketing (category) Messaging limits Meta Business Agent Official Business Account (blue badge) On-Premises API Opt-in Opt-out Quality rating Service messages Solution Partner (BSP) Tech Provider Template (message template) Template category Unofficial API Utility (category) Volume tiers Webhook WhatsApp Business (app) WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) WhatsApp Business API (official API) WhatsApp Business Platform WhatsApp Flows
A
Account ban
An account ban is the loss of a number’s access to WhatsApp for violating the Terms or policies. An account can be restricted (temporarily), temporarily banned, which often points to use of an unofficial app, or permanently banned. Businesses can request a review to appeal the decision. Further reading: banned WhatsApp numbers.
AI agent
An AI agent is software built on a language model that talks with customers and uses tools to take action in other systems, such as checking a calendar or updating a CRM. On WhatsApp, Meta’s policy allows automation as long as customers have a quick, clear way to reach a human. Further reading: AI agent connected to your CRM.
Authentication (category)
Authentication is the template category used to verify a user’s identity with a one-time passcode. The text is fixed, with an optional warning not to share the code and an optional expiration time. Buttons can be copy code or one-tap autofill. Further reading: WhatsApp templates.
B
BRL billing (Brazil)
BRL billing is the option to pay for API usage in Brazilian reais, invoiced by Facebook Brasil, for accounts with Brazil as their billing country. These accounts must move their WABAs to BRL by June 30, 2027. Further reading: official API pricing.
Bulk messaging
Bulk messaging is sending the same message to many contacts. On the official API, it uses approved templates, goes only to people who opted in, and is subject to messaging limits, quality rating, and Meta’s cap on marketing messages per user. Further reading: bulk messaging on WhatsApp.
Business portfolio
A business portfolio, formerly Business Manager, is the business’s Meta account that holds its WABAs, phone numbers, and permissions. It is required to use the official API, and verifying it unlocks higher limits, more numbers, and the option to request an Official Business Account. Further reading: WhatsApp Business verification.
Business verification
Business verification is Meta’s confirmation of the business portfolio’s legal details using official documents. It unlocks the jump to a 2,000 messaging limit, more numbers and templates, and it is required for the blue badge and for sending WhatsApp Flows. Further reading: WhatsApp Business verification.
Buttons (interactive messages)
Buttons are clickable elements in WhatsApp templates and interactive messages. A template can have up to 10 buttons, including quick reply, URL, phone number, and copy code, each with a label of up to 25 characters. While the customer service window is open, the business can also send reply buttons and list messages. Further reading: WhatsApp templates.
C
Click-to-WhatsApp ads
Click-to-WhatsApp ads are a Meta ad format that opens a WhatsApp conversation with the business. When the business replies within 24 hours, a 72-hour free entry point (FEP) window opens, and all messages in it are free, including templates. Further reading: click-to-WhatsApp ads.
Cloud API
The Cloud API is the version of the WhatsApp API hosted by Meta. It lets businesses send messages and make calls programmatically, including text, media, interactive messages, and groups. Since the On-Premises API was retired, it is the only way to connect numbers to the platform. Further reading: WhatsApp Cloud API.
Coexistence
Coexistence is the mode that connects a WhatsApp Business app number to the Cloud API without changing numbers. The business sends at scale through the API and keeps chatting in the app, with the last 180 days of history synced. It can only be turned on through a partner. Further reading: WhatsApp coexistence.
Customer service window (24 hours)
The customer service window is the 24-hour period that starts when a customer messages or calls the business. Each new message from the customer restarts the timer. While the window is open, the business can send free-form messages. Once it closes, only approved templates can be sent. Further reading: the official WhatsApp API: complete guide.
D
Display name
The display name is the business name customers see on WhatsApp. It must relate to the business, follow Meta’s formatting guidelines, and be approved before it goes live. It can be changed up to 10 times every 30 days. Further reading: WhatsApp Business verification.
E
Embedded Signup
Embedded Signup is Meta’s onboarding flow that opens on a partner’s website, creates the business’s WhatsApp assets, such as the WABA and phone number, and grants access to the partner’s app. It is also how coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app is turned on. Further reading: WhatsApp coexistence.
F
Free entry point (FEP, 72 hours)
The free entry point (FEP) is a 72-hour window that opens when the business replies within 24 hours to a customer who came from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call-to-action. During those 72 hours, all messages are free, including templates. Further reading: click-to-WhatsApp ads.
Free service message allowance
The free service message allowance is a monthly quota of 1,000 free delivered service messages per business phone number, starting October 1, 2026. One-to-one and group messages share the allowance, and unused messages do not roll over. Without a payment method on file, service messages stop being delivered once the quota is used. Further reading: official API pricing.
H
Human handoff
Human handoff is passing a conversation from a bot or AI agent to a human agent. WhatsApp Business policy allows automation but requires quick, clear, and direct ways for customers to reach a person. Further reading: human agents and AI.
M
Marketing (category)
Marketing is the template category used for awareness, sales, retargeting, or customer relationships, such as promotions and abandoned cart reminders. In Brazil, it has the highest rate of all categories. Meta also caps how many marketing messages each person receives across all businesses. Further reading: WhatsApp templates.
Messaging limits
Messaging limits set the maximum number of unique recipients a business can contact in 24 hours outside the customer service window. The tiers are 250, 2,000, 10,000, 100,000, and unlimited. Since October 2025, the limit applies at the business portfolio level. Further reading: bulk messaging on WhatsApp.
Meta Business Agent
Meta Business Agent is Meta’s own AI agent for handling customer conversations for businesses on WhatsApp. Since August 1, 2026, it is billed by the volume of tokens processed, separately from the per-message rate. Further reading: Meta Business Agent.
O
Official Business Account (blue badge)
An Official Business Account (OBA) is the status that shows a blue badge on the business profile in the API. It requires a verified business portfolio, two-step verification, an approved display name, and at least 30 days on the platform. If a request is denied, the business must wait 30 days before trying again. Further reading: WhatsApp Business verification.
On-Premises API
The On-Premises API was the version of the WhatsApp API that businesses hosted on their own servers. It has been retired: since July 1, 2024, new numbers can only join through the Cloud API, and on October 23, 2025, the last version expired and messages stopped being delivered. Further reading: WhatsApp Cloud API.
Opt-in
Opt-in is a customer’s permission to receive WhatsApp messages from a business. WhatsApp policy requires that the person provided their number and agreed to receive messages, with the business name made clear. Under Brazil’s LGPD, the business carries the burden of proving consent. Further reading: WhatsApp opt-in.
Opt-out
An opt-out is a customer’s request to stop receiving messages from a business. WhatsApp policy requires businesses to honor it, whether the request is made on WhatsApp or elsewhere. Users can also turn off offers from a business in the app, and new marketing messages to them will fail. Further reading: WhatsApp opt-in.
Q
Quality rating
Quality rating is Meta’s assessment (high, medium, or low) of the messages sent by a number or template, based on signals from the last 7 days, such as blocks and reports. A low rating can pause templates for a few hours and, if it keeps happening, disable them. Further reading: WhatsApp quality rating.
S
Service messages
A service message is any free-form (non-template) message a business sends while the customer service window is open. From October 1, 2026, Meta charges these messages at the market’s utility and authentication rate, with no volume tiers, after each number’s monthly free allowance. Further reading: official API pricing.
Solution Partner (BSP)
A Solution Partner, formerly known as a Business Solution Provider (BSP), is a Meta partner that offers end-to-end service on the WhatsApp API: messaging, billing, integration, and support. It is a Meta Business Partner and can extend its own line of credit to clients and bill them for API usage. Further reading: the official WhatsApp API: complete guide.
T
Tech Provider
A Tech Provider is a technology provider that offers access to the WhatsApp API without its own line of credit. The client adds its own payment method and pays Meta directly for usage, and the provider charges only for its services. A Tech Provider that becomes a Meta Business Partner is called a Tech Partner. Further reading: the official WhatsApp API: complete guide.
Template (message template)
A template is a message format pre-approved by Meta and the only type of message a business can send outside the customer service window. It has a required body and can include a header, footer, variables, and buttons. It is charged by category. Further reading: WhatsApp templates.
Template category
Template category is the classification Meta assigns to each message template: marketing, utility, or authentication. The category sets the rate charged per delivered message. Meta checks the content, so a template that mixes an order update with a promotion is treated as marketing. Further reading: WhatsApp templates.
U
Unofficial API
An unofficial API is any third-party tool that automates WhatsApp without Meta’s authorization, usually by imitating WhatsApp Web. WhatsApp’s Terms prohibit this. The account can be restricted, suspended, or banned, and the business may be blocked from creating a new one. Further reading: unofficial WhatsApp APIs.
Utility (category)
Utility is the template category for follow-ups on a user’s action or request, such as order confirmations and tracking, payment or appointment reminders, and service alerts. It cannot include offers or promotions, or it becomes marketing. Further reading: WhatsApp templates.
V
Volume tiers
Volume tiers are rate levels based on the number of delivered messages, applied to the utility and authentication categories. Volume is counted at the business portfolio level, by market and category, and resets every month. Service messages have no volume tiers. Further reading: official API pricing.
W
Webhook
A webhook is the business’s server URL where Meta sends real-time events: incoming messages, delivery statuses, and account alerts. It needs a valid TLS certificate and must respond with 200. If it doesn’t respond, Meta retries for up to 7 days. Further reading: WhatsApp Cloud API.
WhatsApp Business (app)
WhatsApp Business is Meta’s free app for small businesses, with one number per account and manual use on a phone. It was not built for teams with many agents or for system integrations, which require the official API.
WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)
A WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) is the account that holds a business’s phone numbers and templates on the official API. It sits inside the business portfolio, and it is where Meta records charges for message usage. Further reading: the official WhatsApp API: complete guide.
WhatsApp Business API (official API)
The WhatsApp Business API is the access Meta authorizes for businesses to send and receive messages at scale through system integrations, as part of the WhatsApp Business Platform. Today this access runs on the Cloud API, either directly with Meta or through a partner. Further reading: the official WhatsApp API: complete guide.
WhatsApp Business Platform
The WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta’s set of APIs that lets businesses talk with customers at scale. It includes the Cloud API, the Business Management API, the Marketing Messages API, and webhooks, and it runs on the Graph API. Further reading: the official WhatsApp API: complete guide.
WhatsApp Flows
WhatsApp Flows are multi-screen interactive forms inside the chat, used to book appointments, generate leads, or collect feedback. They can pull real-time data from an endpoint and require a verified business. They don’t work on WhatsApp Web. Further reading: WhatsApp Flows.
Frequently asked questions
WhatsApp Business is a free app for small businesses, with one number per account and manual use on a phone. The official WhatsApp Business API supports multiple numbers, many agents and bots, integrations with CRMs and other systems, and sending templates at scale. With coexistence, a business can use the app and the API on the same number.
WABA stands for WhatsApp Business Account, the business’s account on the official API. It holds the business’s phone numbers and templates, sits inside its Meta business portfolio, and is where charges for message usage are recorded.
It is the period that starts when a customer messages or calls the business, and it restarts with each new message from that customer. While the window is open, the business can send free-form messages. After it closes, the business can only send templates approved by Meta.
Meta charges per delivered message, with rates set by category (marketing, utility, authentication, or service) and by the recipient’s country. From October 1, 2026, Meta charges service messages too, with a free allowance of 1,000 per number per month. To estimate costs, use our WhatsApp API cost calculator (in Portuguese, with Brazilian rates) or check Meta’s official pricing page.
To see how these concepts fit together in practice, read our complete guide to the official WhatsApp API (in Portuguese). To estimate what your operation will spend on messages, use the WhatsApp API cost calculator (in Portuguese).