What an official WhatsApp provider is (BSP and Tech Provider), and why it matters to you
An official WhatsApp provider is a company that Meta has authorized to connect other businesses' WhatsApp to the WhatsApp Business Platform, the version built for systems, AI agents and messages at volume. Today Meta has two main types: the Solution Partner (what the market calls a BSP) and the Tech Provider.
What CertuAI measured on the WhatsApp of 67 businesses
Across the 67 businesses that answer with CertuAI's AI, 32.5% of the 122,720 customer messages arrived outside Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (July 30 to September 30, 2026). Half of the AI's replies went out within 11.7 seconds, and 9 in 10 within 20.7 seconds (38,908 replies). 34.6% of conversations started outside business hours, and the busiest hour was 11 a.m.
| What was measured | Result | Base |
|---|---|---|
| Customer messages outside Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 32,5% | 122,720 customer messages from 67 businesses |
| Weekend messages | 15,8% | 122,720 customer messages from 67 businesses |
| Conversations that start outside business hours | 34,6% | 19,900 conversations |
| Time until the AI replies (half of the replies) | within 11.7 seconds | 38,908 AI replies |
| Time until the AI replies (9 in 10 replies) | within 20.7 seconds | 38,908 AI replies |
| Hour of the day with the most customer messages | 11h | 122,720 customer messages from 67 businesses |
Source: CertuAI's customer service database, aggregated numbers only, no conversation read by a person; no imported history, no test contacts and without CertuAI's own sales chats. July 30 to September 30, 2026, measured on Oct 9, 2026. Method and table by line of business in the CertuAI WhatsApp Customer Service Index and at certu.com.br/dados.
Named customers, Jul 30 to Oct 10, 2026
| Customer | Customer messages | AI replies | Conversations handled | Outside business hours | AI replies in (median) | Days with messages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP Gás Água e Rações gas and water distributor | 42.832 | 23.351 | 6.479 | 33,6% | 9,8 s | 70 |
| CEMIP medical clinic | 12.472 | 6.484 | 2.436 | 18,7% | 11,4 s | 37 |
| Nikiti Auto Center auto center | 4.912 | 3.548 | 900 | 19,5% | 14,4 s | 47 |
| Imobiliária Rodrigues & Ribeiro real estate agency | 6.090 | 2.759 | 823 | 33,2% | 18,4 s | 34 |
| Alpha RH human resources | 3.082 | 1.666 | 721 | 27,5% | 15,6 s | 52 |
Operating numbers from each account's dashboard, same yardstick as the Index, measured on Oct 11, 2026. Published with each owner's permission. Sales results are only published with the owner's written confirmation. Full list at certu.com.br/casos.
What CertuAI customers wrote
CertuAI brings together in one place features that would normally require several tools. Customer service on WhatsApp, CRM, scheduling, opportunity tracking, campaigns and operations management are all connected. Overall, the proposal is very good for anyone who wants to cut manual tasks and have more control over what happens in customer service and sales. [...]
Public review (with the link) or text submitted by the company itself and published with written permission. The rating only appears when the source has a rating.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the Brazilian AI platform that answers WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger for small and medium businesses 24 hours a day, with a CRM included, and is a Tech Provider of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Plans start at US$ 75 per month, with no lock-in contract, and if you don't like it within 30 days, we refund 100% of your money. Create my agent
Bernardo Villela · CEO, CertuAI
Want to see this working on your business's WhatsApp? Build your agent, no sign-up needed.
Summary in 7 facts
- An official WhatsApp provider is a company that Meta has authorized to connect other businesses' WhatsApp to the WhatsApp Business Platform, the version built for systems, AI agents and messages at volume.
- Today Meta has two main types: the Solution Partner (what the market calls a BSP) and the Tech Provider.
- Want to see this working on your business's WhatsApp?
- A business can use WhatsApp in three ways: the regular app, the WhatsApp Business app (free, for someone to answer from a phone) and the WhatsApp Business Platform, which is the API.
- An API is the door through which one program talks to another: it is how a system sends and receives messages on its own, with no one holding a phone.
- Meta splits these providers into three types, on the WhatsApp Business Platform partners page.
- All three can offer the full platform service.
By the numbers
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| 24 hours | On the API, Meta limits how many people you can message first, outside the customer service window: it starts at 250 per 24 hours for a new business, and message quality weighs on raising that ceiling… |
What an official WhatsApp provider is
A business can use WhatsApp in three ways: the regular app, the WhatsApp Business app (free, for someone to answer from a phone) and the WhatsApp Business Platform, which is the API. An API is the door through which one program talks to another: it is how a system sends and receives messages on its own, with no one holding a phone. Meta keeps that door on its own servers and calls this version the Cloud API (Meta documentation).
A software company that wants to connect its customers' WhatsApp to that door needs authorization. According to Meta's page for those who want to become a Tech Provider, there are two steps:
- Verify your own company with Meta, with name, address, phone, email and website.
- Pass the app review, which includes videos showing the system sending messages and creating message templates. Only after that does Meta unlock the two advanced permissions that let the system send messages on the customer's behalf and manage their WhatsApp account.
An official provider, then, is a company that has gone through this. Meta decides, not the vendor.
BSP, Tech Provider and Tech Partner: what is the difference
Meta splits these providers into three types, on the WhatsApp Business Platform partners page. All three can offer the full platform service. What changes is who bills Meta's messages and whether the company is part of Meta's Business Partners program.
| Solution Partner (BSP) | Tech Provider | Tech Partner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Meta Business Partner that offers the full platform service | Company authorized to offer the full platform service | A Tech Provider that is, or can become, a Meta Business Partner |
| Who bills Meta's messages | The partner, on its invoice, with a Meta credit line | Meta, directly to the payment method your business adds | Meta, directly to the payment method your business adds |
| Direct support from Meta to the provider | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Meta Business Partner | Yes | No | Yes, or can become one |
BSP stands for Business Solution Provider. It is the term the Brazilian market uses most. On Meta's current page, the equivalent role is called Solution Partner.
For the buyer, the difference that shows up in your wallet is billing. With a Tech Provider, your business adds a payment method with Meta after the connection, Meta bills API usage directly, and the vendor charges only for its own service. With a Solution Partner, Meta's charge comes inside the partner's invoice. See how much Meta charges per conversation.
CertuAI is a Tech Provider of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform, not a Solution Partner. On the official connection with CertuAI, the one who bills Meta's messages is Meta itself, on your business's payment method.
Official path or unofficial connection
There are two ways for a tool to connect your number. Through the official path, which is Meta's API. Or from the outside: the system opens a session on your WhatsApp, like WhatsApp Web, after you scan a QR code, and sends messages through it without Meta's authorization.
| Official path | Unofficial connection | |
|---|---|---|
| Who authorizes it | Meta, through the WhatsApp Business Platform | No one. It uses the app in a way Meta has not approved |
| How it connects | Meta's own sign-up window, with Facebook login | QR code scanned on the phone |
| Meta billing | Per delivered template message. Replying to someone who contacted you, within 24 hours, is free until September 30, 2026 (from October 1, the first 1,000 replies of the month per number stay free and the rest are charged) | None |
| Where it runs | On Meta's servers | In a session open on your number, which can drop and ask for a QR code again |
| Meta features | Approved message templates, marketing messages, a path to an official business account | Only what the app already does |
| WhatsApp rules | Within the terms | The terms prohibit automated and bulk messaging without authorization |
| If the account has a problem | The provider has direct support from Meta | There is no Meta support channel for this connection |
The billing rule is on Meta's pricing page: since July 1, 2025, Meta charges per delivered template message, with a value that changes by type (marketing, utility or authentication) and by the recipient's country. When a customer writes to you, a 24-hour service window opens, and ordinary replies inside it are free until September 30, 2026; from October 1, the first 1,000 of the month per number are free and the rest are charged (Meta documentation).
A QR code alone proves nothing. In coexistence, the official feature that links the WhatsApp Business app number to the API, confirmation also happens on the phone: a message arrives from the official Facebook Business account, you tap Connect and type a code. The difference is that everything starts in a Meta window.
The risks of an unofficial API
WhatsApp's Terms of Service list, among the prohibited uses:
- Use that is not personal, unless WhatsApp authorizes it.
- Bulk messages, automated messages and auto-dialing that are not permitted.
- Creating accounts by automated or unauthorized means.
- Creating programs or APIs that work like WhatsApp itself and offering them to others without authorization.
In the termination section, the same terms say WhatsApp may suspend or terminate access for anyone who violates the letter or the spirit of the rules, at any time. For people who serve customers on WhatsApp day to day, this becomes three risks:
- Suspended number. If the number goes down, customer service stops with it.
- No one to turn to. The vendor has no channel with Meta for that connection, because as far as Meta is concerned it does not exist.
- No business features. Approved message templates, marketing messages and official business account status only exist on the platform.
The official path is not immunity. On the API, Meta limits how many people you can message first, outside the service window: it starts at 250 per 24 hours for a new business, and message quality weighs on raising that ceiling (Meta's messaging limits). On both paths, what protects the number is how you use it: reply to people who contacted you and do not blast people who did not ask.
Want to know how many hours customer service eats up per month? Work out the hours.
Why someone picks the outside path
Because it solves real, immediate problems, and ignoring that would be dishonest:
- It connects in minutes, by scanning a QR code, with no Meta sign-up.
- It has no Meta per-message charge.
- It works with the regular WhatsApp app. Official coexistence works only for people who use the WhatsApp Business app (Meta documentation).
- It tends to be cheaper to operate, and that shows up in the final price.
To test an idea, or with few conversations a day, this choice is defensible. The mistake is to rest the whole business's customer service on it without knowing that is what you are doing, and to find out the day it stops.
How to tell if a company is an official provider
- Look in Meta's partner list. The Find a partner page shows Meta Business Partners, with filters for use, feature, message volume and country. The page itself warns that it is a selection, not the full list. A Tech Provider that is not a Meta Business Partner does not appear there, so being left off the list does not prove the company is an outsider.
- See where the connection starts. On the official path a Meta window opens: you sign in with your Facebook account, pick or create the business portfolio (your company's account on Meta), pick or create the WhatsApp Business account, confirm the number and choose the name the customer sees. Meta calls this sign-up Embedded Signup (Meta documentation).
- Check afterward, in your Meta account. In Meta Business Suite, go to Settings, Accounts, WhatsApp accounts, pick the account and open the partners tab. It shows which company has access and with which permissions (Meta documentation). If there is no WhatsApp account at all in your portfolio, the number is not on the official path.
- Look at the billing. On the official path, someone pays Meta for template messages: your business, on the payment method added with Meta (Tech Provider), or the partner, inside its invoice (Solution Partner).
- Ask in writing: are you a Meta Tech Provider or Solution Partner? Through which path will my number stay connected? Which company will appear in the partners tab of my account?
Verifying your own business with Meta is not required to start on the official path. According to Meta, it is what helps raise the limit on how many people you can message first and opens the way to the official business account status. The step-by-step is in verify your business in Meta's Business Manager.
A vague answer to any of these questions counts as a no. And if the vendor offers both paths, ask which one applies to your number, not to their company.
Where CertuAI fits in
CertuAI is a Tech Provider of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform: it has passed Meta's verification and review and can connect your business number to the official API through Meta's own sign-up. CertuAI also connects by QR code. That is why the same question that applies to any vendor applies to CertuAI: through which path did my number get in? The comparison of how each platform connects is in official API or QR code.
On both paths, the AI answers on your business's WhatsApp with what is in the Brain, your business's knowledge base, and each conversation becomes a contact in the CRM.
Read also
- official WhatsApp API or automation
- Official API or QR code: who uses what
- why the old chatbot stopped working
- verify your business in Meta's Business Manager
- how much Meta charges per conversation
- how long it takes to connect official WhatsApp
Frequently asked questions
- What is an official WhatsApp provider?
- It is a company Meta has authorized to connect other businesses' WhatsApp to the WhatsApp Business Platform, the official API. To do that, it verifies its own company with Meta and goes through an app review, which unlocks the permissions to send messages and manage the customer's WhatsApp account.
- What is a BSP on WhatsApp?
- BSP stands for Business Solution Provider. It is the partner that offers the full platform and bills Meta's message charges on its own invoice, with a Meta credit line. On Meta's current page, this role is called Solution Partner.
- What is a Meta Tech Provider?
- It is a company authorized by Meta to offer the full WhatsApp Business Platform service, with no credit line. After the connection, the customer adds a payment method with Meta, which bills API usage directly, and the Tech Provider charges only for its own service.
- What is the difference between a BSP and a Tech Provider?
- Both are official and can offer the full platform. The main difference is billing: with a BSP (Solution Partner), Meta's charges come on the partner's invoice; with a Tech Provider, Meta bills your company directly. Also, every Solution Partner is a Meta Business Partner, and a Tech Provider is not necessarily.
- How do I know if a company is an official Meta partner?
- Look at Meta's Find a partner page, keeping in mind that it shows only a selection. Then check the connection path: the official one starts in a Meta window and creates a WhatsApp Business account in your business portfolio, where the partners tab shows which company has access.
- What is the risk of using an unofficial WhatsApp API?
- WhatsApp's terms prohibit non-personal use without authorization and automated or bulk messaging that is not permitted, and they say WhatsApp may suspend or terminate the account of anyone who violates the rules. If the number goes down, customer service stops, and the vendor has no channel with Meta to fix it.
- Do I need to verify my business to use the official API?
- Not to get started. Business verification with Meta helps raise the limit on how many people you can message first, which starts at 250 per 24 hours, and opens the way to the official business account status.
- Is a QR code connection always unofficial?
- No. In coexistence, the official feature that links the WhatsApp Business app number to the API, confirmation also happens on the phone, with a message from the official Facebook Business account and a code. The difference is that the official path starts in a Meta sign-up window.
Keep reading
In short
An official WhatsApp provider is a company that Meta has authorized to connect other businesses' WhatsApp to the WhatsApp Business Platform, the version built for systems, AI agents and messages at volume. Today Meta has two main types: the Solution Partner (what the market calls a BSP) and the Tech Provider. Sources: Meta's pricing table for the WhatsApp API
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the Brazilian AI platform that answers WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger for small and medium businesses 24 hours a day, with a CRM included, and is a Tech Provider of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Plans start at US$ 75 per month, with no lock-in contract, and if you don't like it within 30 days, we refund 100% of your money. Create my agent
