The WhatsApp Calling API lets a business answer voice calls from customers inside WhatsApp and, once a customer agrees, call them back on the same number they use for messages. Chat and voice are all accessible from one thread, so when a question is easier to talk through, your customer can call you straight from the conversation. Calls from customers cost you nothing; you pay only for the calls you place. Each call you make needs the customer’s permission first, and calls connect to your own voice software.
Key Takeaways
- Customers can call your business from their WhatsApp chat with you, and your business pays nothing for these calls.
- Calls you place are billed in six-second pulses at the rate for the customer’s country.
- You can take calls wherever the Cloud API is available, and place them from any business number except those with a United States, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam, or Nigeria country code.
- You need a customer’s permission before you call them. They can grant it for 7 days or permanently, and revoke it anytime.
- Calls connect to your own internet-based voice system (WebRTC or SIP), so line up that piece, in-house or with a partner, before you switch calling on.
What Is the WhatsApp Calling API?
With the WhatsApp Calling API, your business can talk to customers on the same WhatsApp number they already message, with every chat and call kept in one conversation. The Calling API is part of Meta’s WhatsApp Cloud API, the cloud-hosted version of the WhatsApp Business API that businesses connect to their own software. It lets businesses receive calls from WhatsApp users and place calls to them over Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which carries voice over an internet connection.[1]
The API covers two paths: user-initiated calls, which a customer starts by tapping to call your business, and business-initiated calls, which your business places to a customer who has given permission. On both paths, customers can switch between chat and voice, keep chatting during a call, and find the full text and voice history in one thread. For the customer, calling is free.
360Dialog, an Official Meta Solution Partner, gives businesses access to the Calling API as part of the WhatsApp Business API.[2] We support the API connection itself, and your team or partner runs the voice system that handles each call.
What Can Businesses Do with WhatsApp Business Calling?
WhatsApp Business calling lets customers reach you in the thread where they already talk to you, so a chat that needs a real conversation can become a call in one tap. Businesses put it to work in five ways:
- Customer support: move a chat to a live call when an issue is easier to explain out loud.
- Lead qualification: call back interested prospects, for example in automotive or real estate.
- Delivery and logistics: coordinate deliveries, delays, and confirmations with the customer.
- Utility services: offer voice flows for service providers.
- Marketing: run engagement campaigns that include a callback option.
Meta’s call settings let you decide when and how customers reach you, for each business phone number.[3] Business call hours take a timezone, weekly hours, and up to 20 holiday overrides; outside those hours, customers can choose to chat or, with callback permission switched on, request a callback, and they see your next available slot. The call icon in the chat can be shown, hidden, or limited to customers with phone numbers from countries you choose. Voicemail is live as well. When a customer’s call is declined or times out, WhatsApp plays your short announcement, records their message, and delivers it to you as an audio file.
To invite a call at the right moment, you can send a call button inside a message, valid for anywhere from 1 minute to 30 days (7 days by default), or share a call deep link.[4] Software platforms that are building WhatsApp into their own product can add calling for the businesses they serve, with each number set up for calling individually.
If your platform wants to give its customers WhatsApp calling, talk to us about connecting their numbers to the Calling API through 360Dialog.
How Do Business-Initiated Calls and Call Permissions Work?
A business must have a customer’s permission before placing any call, and only the customer can grant or revoke it.[5] Permission is either temporary, lasting 7 days from approval, or permanent, with no expiry; the customer can review and change it from your business profile at any time.
Customers can grant permission in three ways:
- Call permission request: you send a request as a free-form interactive message inside an open customer service window (the 24-hour period in which you can send a customer any type of message), or as a template message (a message format Meta approves in advance) outside that window, and the customer picks temporary or permanent.
- Callback permission: with this setting switched on, a customer who calls your business automatically grants temporary permission for you to call back.
- Business profile: the customer grants permission directly from your WhatsApp business profile.
Meta sets four limits for each pair of business phone number and customer:
| Limit | What Meta allows |
|---|---|
| Permission requests | 1 per 24 hours and 2 per 7 days, free-form or template; both reset after any connected call |
| Connected calls | 100 per 24 hours |
| 2 consecutive unanswered calls | The customer sees a prompt asking them to reconsider the permission |
| 4 consecutive unanswered calls | The permission is revoked automatically, and the customer can grant it again |
Meta can also pause calling for 7 days after an early warning when customers send heavy negative feedback such as blocks and reports, and it hides the call button when too many customer calls go unanswered.
Permission requests and calls also work with business-scoped user IDs, so customers who use WhatsApp usernames can be reached the same way.
How Much Does the WhatsApp Business Calling API Cost?
Calls from customers cost your business nothing, because Meta makes every user-initiated call free.[6]
A call also gives you room to follow up in chat. When a customer calls you, answered or not, or accepts your call, the 24-hour customer service window opens or refreshes, so you can follow up with any type of message. A valid payment method is required before your business can place calls. Call permission requests are billed as messages, so how WhatsApp message pricing works applies to them as well.
Meta’s Calling API Pricing page sets the cost for three scenarios:
| Scenario | What you pay |
|---|---|
| A customer calls your business | Free |
| Your business calls a customer | Billed by duration in six-second pulses, rounded up (a 56-second call counts as 10 pulses), at the rate for the country code of the number called, with monthly volume tiers |
| You send a call permission request | Standard messaging rates |
Per-country rates and volume tiers are published as downloadable rate cards on Meta’s Calling API Pricing page.
If you are working out what calling will cost across the numbers you plan to enable, talk to us about plans and pricing.
Which Countries Support WhatsApp Business Calling?
Customers can call your business in every location where the Cloud API is available, so you can take calls in each market you serve through it. Business-initiated calling is available in the same locations, except for business phone numbers with country codes from the United States, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam, and Nigeria. The restriction follows your business number, and the customer’s number can be from any country where the Cloud API is available. Call permission features are available only where business-initiated calling is available.
What Do You Need Before You Can Use the WhatsApp Calling API?
With five things in place before launch, calling works from your first customer conversation:
- A business phone number registered on the Cloud API.
- A daily messaging limit of at least 2,000 unique recipients, which is the cap on how many different customers your business can message per day (see Meta’s messaging limits).
- Calling enabled on that phone number, where it is off by default and set up number by number.
- Your app subscribed to the calls webhook field, the event feed Meta sends to your server, with the whatsapp_business_messaging permission. Numbers that use SIP signaling skip the webhook subscription.
- A voice system of your own, using WebRTC (an open standard for real-time audio in browsers and apps) or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol, a signaling standard business voice systems use to set up and manage calls).
360Dialog supports the API connection. We provide the endpoints, the API addresses that connect your number and its signaling with Meta, and we escalate signaling issues to them. Your team or partner configures and manages SIP or WebRTC, including call quality and routing. Through 360Dialog, every call runs between a WhatsApp user and your voice system; landline and mobile networks sit outside that scope, as do coexistence numbers (numbers shared between the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API).
We recommend the Calling API for businesses with VoIP experience and developer resources on hand, and our calling documentation walks through each setup step. Once the number, the limit, and the voice system are ready, the open question is which customer conversations deserve a voice option first.
With your prerequisites checked, get API access to connect a Cloud API number through 360Dialog and switch on WhatsApp calling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are WhatsApp Calls From Customers Free for Businesses?
Yes. Meta makes every user-initiated call free, so a customer calling your business through WhatsApp costs you nothing. Charges apply only to calls your business places, billed by duration in six-second pulses at the rate for the country code of the number called, and to the call permission request messages you send, which are billed at standard messaging rates.
Can the WhatsApp Calling API Route Calls to a Landline or Mobile Number?
No. Through 360Dialog, every WhatsApp Calling API call connects a WhatsApp user with your own voice system, and landline and mobile networks sit outside that scope. The customer on every call is a WhatsApp user, and your team configures the WebRTC or SIP system that answers or places the call on your side.
Does a WhatsApp Call Open the 24-Hour Customer Service Window?
Yes. The 24-hour customer service window opens or refreshes when a customer calls your business, whether or not you answer, and when a customer accepts a call from your business. Inside that window you can send the customer any type of message, so you can follow up in chat after the call with details, links, or confirmations.
Can I Test WhatsApp Calling Before Reaching the 2,000 Messaging Limit?
Yes. Meta lets you test calling on public test numbers, and on sandbox accounts for Tech Partners, without the daily messaging limit of 2,000 unique recipients. Calling is switched off by default on test numbers, so you enable it in the call settings first. Sandbox accounts also have relaxed limits on permission requests and unanswered calls.
Can a Business Call Customers in the United States Through the WhatsApp Calling API?
Business-initiated calling depends on the country code of the business phone number. Meta lists the United States among the country codes excluded from business-initiated calling, alongside Canada, Egypt, Vietnam, and Nigeria. A business number from a supported country can call a customer whose number is from any country where the Cloud API is available, once that customer has given call permission.
Sources
[1] Meta, “Cloud API Calling,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/calling. Accessed October 2, 2026.
[2] 360Dialog, “Calling,” https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/messaging/calling. Accessed October 2, 2026.
[3] Meta, “Configure Call Settings,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/calling/call-settings/. Accessed October 2, 2026.
[4] Meta, “Send WhatsApp Call Button Messages and Deep Links,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/calling/call-button-messages-deep-links/. Accessed October 2, 2026.
[5] Meta, “Obtain User Call Permissions,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/calling/user-call-permissions. Accessed October 2, 2026.
[6] Meta, “Calling API Pricing,” https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/calling/pricing. Accessed October 2, 2026.
