WhatsApp Business, explained
What WhatsApp Business is, how it works and when it gets too small
Quick answer
WhatsApp Business is Meta's free app for businesses to talk to customers. It works like regular WhatsApp, but with a business number and extra tools: a profile with address and hours, a product catalog, automatic welcome and away messages, labels to organize conversations and quick replies.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent
If you are about to open the business's first WhatsApp, or already use it and don't know whether you are using it right, this page explains what the app does, what costs money, what doesn't, and the sign that it has become too small for your volume.
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Summary in 7 facts
- If you are about to open the business's first WhatsApp, or already use it and don't know whether you are using it right, this page explains what the app does, what costs money, what doesn't, and the sign that it has become too small for your volume.
- WhatsApp Business is Meta's free app for businesses to talk to customers.
- It works like regular WhatsApp, but with a business number and extra tools: a profile with address and hours, a product catalog, automatic welcome and away messages, labels to organize conversations and quick replies.
- WhatsApp Business Web is the same address as regular WhatsApp, web.whatsapp.com.
- "WhatsApp for business", "corporate WhatsApp" and "professional WhatsApp" are not separate products: they are names people give to one of these.
- The steps follow what Meta shows people who are just starting.
- Almost everything is in the Tools tab of the app, and the names can change a little between Android and iPhone.
By the numbers
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| 03 Plans | 03 Paid plans inside the app They are Meta subscriptions nobody is required to buy: Meta Verified and Meta One, which arrived in Brazil in September 2026. |
| 04 Platform | 04 WhatsApp Business Platform: the official API It is not an app. |
| R$ 59 | In Meta's announcement, the Meta One plans for businesses start at R$ 59 (Essential), R$ 199 (Advanced), R$ 599 (Expert) and R$ 1,999 (Maximum) per month. |
| 1,000 customers | Sending to 1,000 customers comes to R$ 321.70. |
| 24 hours | CertuAI builds an AI team that answers on your number 24 hours a day, using the business Brain: the place where your services, prices, hours and rules live, along with what you would rather nobody answer. |
| US$ 75 per month | Plans start from US$ 75 per month. |
WhatsApp Business Web: how to open it on a computer
You don't need to install anything. WhatsApp Business Web is the same address as regular WhatsApp, web.whatsapp.com. There is no separate website for businesses.
You open the address in your computer's browser. On your phone, you open WhatsApp Business, go to the option to link a device and point the camera at the code on the screen. The business's conversations then appear on the computer. There is also a WhatsApp desktop app, which is optional.
Two things to know. Meta's AI can only be set up, paused or deleted in the phone app, never in the browser. And the connected computer is still the same number, with the same conversations as the phone: it helps you type faster, it does not create a second customer service line. How many devices you can connect, how to use it on two phones and what doesn't work on the computer are in WhatsApp Business Web: on a computer and on several devices.
What are the versions of WhatsApp for business?
There are three ways for a business to use WhatsApp, plus regular WhatsApp, where almost everyone starts. "WhatsApp for business", "corporate WhatsApp" and "professional WhatsApp" are not separate products: they are names people give to one of these.
Regular WhatsApp: the personal one
It is the app for chatting with family and friends. It has no business profile, catalog or automatic message. You can sell through it, but nothing there helps you organize customers.
WhatsApp Business: the free app
Made for small businesses. It has a business profile, catalog, greeting and away messages, labels and quick replies. It is free, runs on your phone and can also be opened on a computer.
Paid plans inside the app
They are Meta subscriptions nobody is required to buy: Meta Verified and Meta One, which arrived in Brazil in September 2026. They bring a verification badge, more connected devices and more replies from Meta's AI. It is what many people search for as WhatsApp Business Premium.
WhatsApp Business Platform: the official API
It is not an app. It is the connection Meta offers so a system can send and receive messages on the business number, for businesses with several people answering or an AI replying. Meta charges per message, and the partner that connects the number charges for the software.
How to start on WhatsApp Business for free, step by step
The steps follow what Meta shows people who are just starting. Almost everything is in the Tools tab of the app, and the names can change a little between Android and iPhone.
Download the app and confirm the number
Download WhatsApp Business from your phone's app store and enter the business number. Meta sends a code by text message or by phone call. If the number was already on regular WhatsApp, you can bring over the account data.
Fill in the business profile
Name, category and logo are the minimum. Then add a short description, business hours and the website. It is what the customer sees when they tap the business name.
Set up the catalog
Add your products or services with a photo, name and price. Customers can browse without having to ask, and you send the catalog link in the conversation, on Instagram or on Facebook.
Turn on the greeting message
It goes out automatically to anyone who writes to the business for the first time. Say the business name and what the person can ask for there, in two or three lines.
Turn on the away message
It replies on its own outside the hours you choose and says when you are back. It only lets people know: it always sends the same text, whatever the question.
Create labels
Create labels like New customer, Awaiting payment and Paid. With them you filter conversations and quickly find who still needs a reply.
Save quick replies
Turn what you type every day into shortcuts: prices, address, payment methods. In the conversation, you send the ready-made reply in a few taps.
What each tool in the free app does, and where it stops
It is the same list as the steps, seen from the side of the limit. The right-hand column is where the owner starts to miss something.
| Tool | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Business profile | Shows the business name, description, hours and website | Doesn't answer anything: the customer still has to ask |
| Catalog | Shows products and services with a photo and price | Doesn't answer questions about the product or check whether it is in stock right now |
| Greeting message | Greets people who write for the first time | Always sends the same text, for any question |
| Away message | Lets people know you are outside business hours | Lets them know, but doesn't answer about prices, scheduling or orders |
| Labels | Separates conversations by status | Someone has to mark them one by one, by hand |
| Quick replies | Stores the texts you always send | Someone still has to read the question and choose the reply |
| Regular broadcast list | Sends the same message to several customers | Only reaches people who saved your number |
| Connected computer | Lets you reply from the browser | Meta advertises up to ten devices and agents only on the paid plan |
| Meta's AI (Meta Business Agent) | Answers customers with what it learned about the business, where it has been released | It is free up to a limit Meta doesn't disclose, and it can replace the greeting and away messages |
Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.
Does WhatsApp Business cost money?
No. The WhatsApp Business app is free to download and to use: messages, profile, catalog, labels and automatic messages cost nothing. Meta itself repeats this on the Meta One page: the subscriptions are optional and the free app stays free. Three things around it are paid, and that is where the confusion comes from.
The business broadcast, sending to many people that reaches even those who haven't saved your number, costs R$ 0.3217 (Brazilian reais) per message delivered in Brazil, before taxes. The regular broadcast list is still free.
Meta's paid plans inside the app, Meta Verified and Meta One, are optional.
The WhatsApp Business Platform, the official API, is a different product, and on it Meta charges per message. Starting October 1, 2026, it also charges for the replies a business sends in the 24 hours after the customer's message: R$ 0.035 each in Brazil, after the 1,000 free ones each month on each number. People who use only the app are outside this charge. What changes is in WhatsApp will charge per message in October 2026.
And people who write to a business never pay anything, in any of these cases.
Free app, paid plans and Platform: the side-by-side comparison
The table brings together what Meta publishes about each version. Where Meta doesn't give the number, the table says so instead of guessing.
| What changes | Free app | Paid plans in the app | Platform (official API) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Meta One from R$ 59 per month, in Meta's September 15, 2026 announcement. The amount for your account appears on the subscription screen | Per message, charged by Meta, plus the subscription of the partner that connects the number |
| Who answers | You or your team, on the phone and on the computer | You, your team and Meta's AI, with more replies per month | A system: people on a dashboard, an AI, or both |
| How many people answer | One phone and the devices connected to it | Up to ten devices and agents on Meta Verified, according to Meta | As many as the partner's system accepts |
| Automation | Greeting, away message and quick replies, with fixed text | The same, plus replies from Meta's AI | Whatever the partner builds: AI, reminders, connections to other systems |
| Message to many people | Regular list at no charge, and business broadcast at R$ 0.3217 per message delivered | The same, and some plans include broadcast credits | Per Meta-approved template, at R$ 0.3217 per advertising message delivered |
| Number | One number per account, confirmed by code | Each subscription covers one number | The same business number, connected by a partner |
| Limit | The regular list only reaches people who saved your number | Meta doesn't say how many AI replies each plan adds up to | Starts at 250 people per day in conversations the business starts, and rises as the business is verified |
| Is there an app? | Yes, it is the app itself | Yes, the same app | No. The screen is the partner's |
Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns.
Sources: Meta One page and app features, on whatsappbusiness.com, read on September 25, 2026; price table and messaging limits in Meta's documentation, and business broadcast pricing in WhatsApp's Help Center, read on September 24, 2026. Amounts before taxes.
Does WhatsApp Business Premium still exist?
Under that name, it doesn't appear on the Meta pages we checked on September 25, 2026. What exists today inside the app is two paid plans.
Meta Verified gives a verification badge, protection against people impersonating your business, priority support, a web page with an easy-to-remember address and up to ten devices and agents on the same account, per the app features page. Meta One, which arrived in Brazil on September 15, 2026, brings the best of Meta Verified and adds more replies from Meta's AI. Each subscription covers one number.
In Meta's announcement, the Meta One plans for businesses start at R$ 59 (Essential), R$ 199 (Advanced), R$ 599 (Expert) and R$ 1,999 (Maximum) per month. Meta says the plan, price and benefits change by region and by account, and that what applies to you appears when you start subscribing.
Is it worth subscribing? For the badge or more devices on the same number, the plan does the job. A customer record and an automatic message for people who went quiet don't appear in any app plan we read.
Do you need a SIM card to use WhatsApp Business?
You need a number that can receive the confirmation code. At sign-up, Meta sends a code by text message or by phone call, and you type it into the app, as shown in Meta's step-by-step. After that, messages go over your phone's internet or wifi.
A landline works. Since the code can also arrive by phone call, you can register the store's or practice's landline: on the phone where the app is installed, enter the landline number and request the code by call. The customer talks to the number they already know from the storefront.
A virtual number may work, with one caution. It has to receive the text message or the call with the code, so ask the seller before you pay. And choose a number that stays in your name: it is where the code arrives if you ever need to confirm the account again.
Two WhatsApp Business accounts on the same phone. The simplest way is regular WhatsApp on one number and WhatsApp Business on the other: they are two separate apps. For two business numbers on the same device, open Settings in WhatsApp Business and see whether your app shows the option to add another account. If it doesn't, use a second device.
Is the WhatsApp Business broadcast list paid now?
Only one of them. The app has two ways to send the same message to many people. The regular broadcast list has no charge, but only reaches people who saved your number in their contacts. The business broadcast also reaches people who didn't save it, shows how many read and how many replied, and is paid: R$ 0.3217 (Brazilian reais) per message delivered to a Brazilian number, before taxes. Sending to 1,000 customers comes to R$ 321.70.
Charging began in Brazil in October 2025, and today's amount is from Meta's price table in reais that has been in effect since July 1, 2026. You only pay for the delivered message, and the app shows the total cost before sending. On the Platform, sending to many people is by approved template and costs the same per advertising message. The math and the spending limit are in are WhatsApp Business broadcast lists paid now?
Meta's AI is answering my customers. How do I turn it off?
Delete the AI agent from the phone app. That AI is the Meta Business Agent, which Meta is rolling out in WhatsApp Business to selected businesses. It appears in the Tools tab under one of these names: AI agent, Your AI agent or Meta Business Agent.
On Android: Tools › Meta Business Agent › Reply settings › Disconnect AI › Disconnect and delete AI. On iPhone the path is the same, but the button is called Delete your AI agent. It can't be done through WhatsApp Web. The steps are from the WhatsApp Help Center.
Pausing is not turning off. While paused, the AI stops answering new conversations, but it keeps learning from them. While it is on, Meta receives the conversations to improve its own AI, and the Help Center warns that the greeting, the away message and broadcast lists may stop working. The AI assistant that appears in the search bar is a different one: it doesn't answer customers and has no official off button. The step-by-step for Meta's three AIs is in how to turn off WhatsApp Business AI.
To be fair to it: Meta's AI also learns from what your business shows it, such as the catalog, website and old conversations. The difference is in what comes around it. On the Help Center pages about the app, read on September 24, 2026, it asks for the customer's details, but it doesn't appear to create a record or a task, or to reach back out to people who went quiet. The AI agent platforms that do this, with prices and sources, are in the top 5 AI agents for WhatsApp.
When does the free app get too small?
The app is enough as long as one person can read and answer everything quickly. If you answer in minutes and have never lost a sale to delay, stay with it: switching would only cost you money. These are the signs that your volume has outgrown it.
More than one person answering. When two or three people share the same number, you get the message that was read and nobody answered, and the customer who gets two different replies.
A customer waiting outside business hours. The away message says you aren't there, but the question stays unanswered until you are back. Whoever wanted to know the price at that moment still doesn't know.
A fixed message that doesn't understand a question. The greeting and the away message always send the same text. The customer asks if there is an opening tomorrow and gets the same welcome as always.
What was agreed lives in someone's head. The label helps, but what was promised to each customer sits in the phone's history. If whoever handled it goes on vacation, the matter stalls.
What if you want an AI answering with what your business knows?
That is what CertuAI does. CertuAI builds an AI team that answers on your number 24 hours a day, using the business Brain: the place where your services, prices, hours and rules live, along with what you would rather nobody answer. When a question goes beyond what it learned, it hands the conversation to you.
Each conversation becomes a contact in the organized list of your customers, your team handles them together on the same dashboard, and people who stopped replying get a new message without you doing anything. The number stays yours, and CertuAI is a Tech Provider of Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform.
Plans start from US$ 75 per month. See how it works in customer service automation on WhatsApp or compare the CertuAI plans.
Frequently asked questions
What is WhatsApp Business?
It is Meta's free app for businesses to serve customers on WhatsApp. It works like regular WhatsApp, with a business number, business profile, catalog, automatic greeting and away messages, labels and quick replies.
How does WhatsApp Business work?
You download the app, confirm the business number with a code, set up the profile and catalog and turn on the automatic messages. The customer writes as they would to any contact and sees the business profile.
What is WhatsApp Business for?
To separate the business WhatsApp from your personal one, show products and hours, let people know when you are away and organize conversations by label. It works well as long as one person can answer everything quickly.
Does WhatsApp Business cost money?
No, the app is free. What is paid, and optional, is the Meta Verified and Meta One plans and the business broadcast, at R$ 0.3217 (Brazilian reais) per message delivered in Brazil. The WhatsApp Business Platform is a different product and charges per message.
Does WhatsApp Business need a SIM card? Does a landline or virtual number work?
You need a number that can receive the confirmation code by text message or by phone call. A landline works if you request the code by call, and a virtual number works if it receives the code. After that, messages go over the internet.
What is WhatsApp Business Premium?
It is what many people still call the app's paid features, but the name does not appear on the Meta pages we checked. Today the paid plans are Meta Verified and Meta One, which starts at R$ 59 (Brazilian reais) per month in Meta's announcement.
Are WhatsApp for business, corporate WhatsApp and professional WhatsApp the same thing?
They are names people use, not Meta products. They almost always mean the WhatsApp Business app. When people talk about several people answering the same number on a dashboard, it is the WhatsApp Business Platform.
What is the WhatsApp Business Platform, the official API?
It is the connection Meta offers so a system can send and receive messages on the business number. There is no app: the screen is the one from the partner that connects the number. Meta charges per message and the partner charges for the software.
How do you turn off WhatsApp Business AI?
On your phone: Tools, Meta Business Agent, Reply settings, Disconnect AI and Disconnect and delete AI. On iPhone, the button is called Delete your AI agent. Pausing is not enough, because while paused it keeps learning.
How do you have two WhatsApp Business accounts on the same phone?
Check in Settings, in WhatsApp Business, whether your app shows the option to add another account. If it doesn't, use regular WhatsApp on one number and WhatsApp Business on the other, or a second device.
Is the WhatsApp Business broadcast list paid now?
Only the business broadcast, which also reaches people who haven't saved your number: R$ 0.3217 (Brazilian reais) per message delivered in Brazil, before taxes. The regular list is still free.
How do you use WhatsApp Business on a computer?
Open web.whatsapp.com in your browser, the same address as regular WhatsApp. On your phone, go to the option to link a device and point the camera at the code on the screen. You don't need to install anything.
Where to go next?
Start with the free app. Switch when a queue shows up.
If WhatsApp Business handles your volume, it is the best choice and costs nothing. When customers start waiting, build an agent with your business's information and talk to it as if you were a customer before connecting any number.
The app is free. If one day you want an AI answering on your number, CertuAI starts from US$ 75 per month.
Create my agentIn short
WhatsApp Business is Meta's free app for businesses to talk to customers. It works like regular WhatsApp, but with a business number and extra tools: a profile with address and hours, a product catalog, automatic welcome and away messages, labels to organize conversations and quick replies.
About CertuAI: CertuAI is the AI that answers a small business's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger 24/7, with a built-in CRM, and is a Tech Provider on Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform. Paid plans start at US$ 75 a month, with no lock-in. Create my agent