WhatsApp Business for SMEs: pricing, API and team use

Published on 22/07/2026 · By Blaise Calinaud, Eazyclick. Meta pricing and rules refer to the official documentation.

Your customers already message you on WhatsApp: to ask for a quote, reschedule an appointment or check whether an order is ready. The question is no longer whether to be there, but how: with the free app, or with the API, used by your team and linked to your customer records. This guide answers the questions small businesses and sole traders ask, with up-to-date Meta rules and pricing.

What is the difference between WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business?

WhatsApp Business is the version of WhatsApp designed for businesses. It adds a business profile (address, opening hours, website, catalogue), quick replies, greeting and away messages, and labels to organise conversations. Your customers keep using their usual WhatsApp: nothing changes for them.

In practice, keep your business number separate from your personal number: customers stop messaging your private phone on Sunday evenings, and the number stays with the business when a team member leaves.

Is WhatsApp Business free?

The WhatsApp Business app is free on both Android and iPhone. The paid option is the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API): Meta charges for certain messages initiated by businesses, known as template messages. Replying to a customer who contacts you remains free within 24 hours of their last message.

WhatsApp describes the app as free to download on Android and iPhone (WhatsApp Help Centre: about WhatsApp Business). API billing rules are explained below.

WhatsApp Business app or API: which should you choose?

Choose the app if one or two of you reply from a phone, handling a few dozen conversations a day. Choose the API, through software, once several people reply from the same number, you want to link messages to customer records, or you need to send confirmations and reminders automatically.

The differences that matter:

• Who replies? The app connects to a limited number of devices (phone, computer, tablet), and everyone sees everything without knowing who handles what. With the API and shared inbox software, each conversation is assigned to someone and given a status (open, pending, resolved).
• Where does the history go? In the app, it stays on the phone. With the API connected to a CRM, every exchange becomes part of the customer's record.
• Automated messages. The app offers greeting and away messages. The API lets your software trigger an appointment confirmation, a reminder the day before or a “your order is ready” message at the right time.
• The cost. The app is free. The API charges for certain messages (see below), on top of the subscription for the software using it.
• The number. A number can move from the app to the API. With some providers, Meta also lets you keep the same number in the app and on the API (“coexistence”), with limitations: groups, calls and some app features are not carried over (Meta documentation on coexistence).

How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?

Since 1 July 2025, Meta has charged for the WhatsApp API per message: only delivered template messages are charged, at a rate depending on their category (marketing, utility, authentication) and the recipient's country. Free-form replies within 24 hours of a customer's message are free, as are utility messages sent within that window.

What Meta's pricing documentation says:

• Service messages: when a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens; all non-template messages you send within that window are free.
• Utility template messages (confirmations, reminders, order updates): free if sent during an open service window, charged outside it.
• Marketing template messages (promotions, sales follow-ups): always charged.
• Click-to-WhatsApp ads: if the customer arrives through one of these ads, the free window extends to 72 hours.

Country rates, including Belgium, are published in the same documentation and change over time: check them before budgeting for a campaign. For a small business mainly replying to customers and sending confirmations, the Meta bill usually stays modest; marketing campaigns are what push it up.

Can a team use WhatsApp Business?

Yes, but with limitations. The app can be opened on a few devices linked to the same number, without assigning conversations or tracking who replied. For a proper shared inbox (assignments, statuses, internal notes, customer history), you need the API with team messaging software or a CRM that integrates it.

A sign you have outgrown the app: two people reply to the same customer without realising, or a message goes unanswered because “each thought the other was handling it”.

What are the drawbacks of WhatsApp Business?

The app's limitations are mainly organisational: few devices, no assignments, history locked on the phone and no connection to customer records. The API removes these limits, but needs software, initial setup (Meta business verification and message template approval) and a budget for paid messages.

Two rules to know, whichever tool you use:

• Consent. Only message people who have given you their number and agreed to be contacted on WhatsApp. Belgian direct marketing rules also apply to this messaging service (Data Protection Authority, direct marketing).
• Quality. Meta monitors blocks and reports: unwanted bulk messaging can restrict or even suspend your number.

What can a small business do with WhatsApp Business?

Small businesses mainly use WhatsApp to reply quickly: price enquiries, availability, photos of a problem needing repair. Next come automated messages that save phone calls: appointment confirmations and reminders, “your order is ready”, follow-ups after a purchase and reminders about unanswered quotes.

Some uses we see among our customers:

• Trades and construction: the customer sends a photo of their leak or façade, and the quote goes out in the same thread.
• Hair, beauty and health: confirmation at booking and a reminder the day before to reduce missed appointments (see the Bookings & appointments module).
• Retail: “your order is ready” for in-store collection, and answers to product questions.
• Services: one number for the whole team, with conversations linked to the right file, just like after-sales support.

How do you connect WhatsApp to your CRM?

To connect WhatsApp to a CRM, you need the WhatsApp Business API: it lets software receive and send messages. The software then recognises the customer by their phone number and files each conversation in their record, alongside their enquiries, quotes and appointments.

That is exactly what Eazyclick's WhatsApp messaging does:

• a WhatsApp inbox shared by the whole team, with assignments and statuses (open, pending, resolved);
• every conversation linked to the customer record in CRM Pro, identified by phone number;
• replies with text, photos or documents;
• confirmations and reminders sent using approved template messages, even outside the 24-hour window;
• an allowance of confirmation messages included in the subscription, with a monthly counter.

The module costs €290 to set up, then €59/month over 12 months or €49/month over 24 months excl. VAT, priced per website. Setup includes connecting to WhatsApp Business, the trickiest step, which your project manager handles with you. To understand the CRM's role, read our CRM guide.