Do I need a provider?

No. A technical team can build directly on the Cloud API. A provider is useful when you want an inbox, workflows, broadcasts, controls, and support without owning that software layer.

How much does Cloud API cost?

Meta does not charge a platform subscription for raw Cloud API access. Delivered template messages are priced by recipient country and category. Provider software, users, add-ons, taxes, and rate-card terms are separate.

Does Waaru include AI or MCP?

Yes. Waaru includes AI conversation agents, Company Brain context, mid-flow recovery, self-learning from approved human resolutions, bring-your-own-model support, and native MCP access. AI is optional; deterministic Logic Flows and the human inbox continue to work without a model.

Can I keep an existing number?

Some eligible numbers and WABAs can be migrated, but the exact path depends on current registration, ownership, provider, sender state, templates, and Meta requirements. Validate the account before promising a cutover.

Can a provider remove a number restriction?

No. Only Meta can remove a Meta restriction. A provider can help stop traffic, preserve evidence, improve controls, and direct the business to Meta's official review path.

Current platform

Flows, AI agents, and MCP access during free early access.

Use deterministic workflows for controlled steps and governed AI agents for unstructured conversation and approved tool use.

WhatsApp Business Platform

Operate the official Cloud API with a workflow and inbox layer.

Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API provides the messaging channel. Waaru adds Logic Flows, AI agents, MCP tools, broadcasts, templates, contacts, a shared inbox, human handoff, and safety controls for teams that do not want to build that operating layer themselves.

In one line

Cloud API is Meta's hosted programmatic channel. A platform can add onboarding and operating software, but sender eligibility, templates, consent, quality, message pricing, and Meta policies still apply.

Cloud API guide substantively reviewed 22 August 2026.

Maintained by the Waaru product team. Read our editorial and product-claim review method.

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OfficialMeta WhatsApp Business Platform

27Deterministic Logic Flow node types

200Maximum nodes in a V2 flow

FreeCurrent early-access MVP

The problem

The API endpoint is only one part of the operating system.

A production WhatsApp channel also needs webhook durability, sender and tenant isolation, templates, consent, opt-out, quality controls, workflow state, team ownership, retries, and incident handling.

Business-initiated messages depend on approved templates and eligibility.
Free-form outbound replies must respect the customer-service window.
Broadcasts need opt-out, quality, idempotency, and rate controls.
Inbound replies and failures need a visible human owner.

What Meta provides and what a platform adds.

Meta provides the Cloud API, business assets, senders, templates, webhooks, media, quality state, and messaging policy. Waaru provides the current product interface for contacts, templates, deterministic workflows, broadcasts, and a shared inbox. It does not replace Meta's rules or account decisions.

How onboarding works.

An eligible business connects or creates its Meta business assets and WhatsApp Business Account, registers a sender, grants permissions, configures webhooks, and tests inbound and outbound traffic. Business verification, display-name review, template approval, and production limits are separate states and can affect timing.

How message pricing should be budgeted.

Separate Meta's delivered template-message charges from the software platform cost. Rates depend on category and recipient country. Capture Meta's current downloadable rate card and the provider's written terms on the same date. Waaru is free during the current MVP and keeps Meta message charges separate from the platform fee.

What the current deterministic workflow layer does.

The V2 Logic Flow contract registers 27 node types and supports versioned publishing with limits of 200 nodes and 400 edges. A workflow can send structured messages, collect replies, branch, wait, call approved interfaces, use WhatsApp Flow forms, and hand a conversation to a person. It is not an AI agent.

How to evaluate migration.

Confirm ownership and state for the Meta business portfolio, WABA, sender, templates, contacts, consent evidence, chat exports, quality, and provider permissions. Build a rollback and validation checklist before changing production webhooks or traffic.

What not to automate blindly.

Do not guess consent, widen opt-out scope, send outside an eligible service window, ignore quality state, or use an unverified connector for a payment or booking decision. Where state is unsafe or unknown, the current product is designed to fail closed.

FAQ

Questions worth answering.

It is Meta's programmatic WhatsApp Business Platform, now commonly used through the hosted Cloud API. It lets authorised software send and receive business messages subject to Meta's account, template, quality, pricing, and policy rules.

Research notes

Evidence checked for this page.

Meta documents WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API architecture and operation.
Meta for Developers · Accessed 8 August 2026
Meta publishes WhatsApp Business Platform pricing and country rate cards.
Meta for Developers · Accessed 8 August 2026
WhatsApp's business messaging policy governs business conduct and user control.
WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy · Accessed 8 August 2026

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