The WhatsApp Cloud API is Meta’s hosted service that lets a business send and receive WhatsApp messages at scale through its own software, such as a CRM, a booking system or a support tool. Since Meta shut down the self-hosted On-Premises API on October 23, 2025, it is the only version of the WhatsApp Business API that can still deliver messages.[1] An API, short for application programming interface, is a set of rules that lets one program pass instructions and data to another. Through the Cloud API, a clinic can remind patients of appointments, an airline can confirm a booking, and a bank can deliver a one-time sign-in code. Meta runs the servers, so the business only has to connect the software that decides which messages go out and handles each reply.
Key Takeaways
- The Cloud API is the only version of the WhatsApp Business API that still delivers messages, because Meta’s final On-Premises API version expired on October 23, 2025.
- “Cloud API” and “WhatsApp Business API” now name the same product for sending and receiving messages, so the real decision is how you connect to it.
- Meta hosts and maintains the Cloud API; your side is the software, built in-house or supplied by a provider, that sends messages and receives replies.
- There are two ways in: connecting directly through Meta, or going through a BSP (Business Solution Provider), a company Meta authorizes to give businesses API access and support.
- Meta charges per delivered message, at rates set by message category and the recipient’s country, and a BSP, if you use one, typically adds its own fees.
What Is the WhatsApp Cloud API?
The WhatsApp Cloud API is a Meta-hosted API that connects a business’s own software to WhatsApp so it can message customers at scale. In Meta’s words, it “enables you to programmatically message and call on WhatsApp.”[2] Programmatically means software does the sending and receiving: a CRM that sends a follow-up, a booking system that sends a reminder, or a support tool where agents answer questions.
The WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta’s set of business messaging APIs that lets companies communicate with customers at scale. Besides the Cloud API, it includes the Business Management API, which manages accounts, phone numbers, and templates.
To send messages, a business also needs accounts on the platform. The familiar one is the WhatsApp Business account (WABA), the single account that has bundled a business’s phone numbers, templates, and billing. Meta says the WABA “is becoming two distinct accounts.”[3] A WhatsApp account holds a single business phone number and represents the business on WhatsApp. A Messaging account holds message templates, which are messages written in advance that generally need approval before they go out, together with billing details. Meta is rolling out this model in stages from September 23, 2026, reaching all businesses by mid-October 2026, and it moves existing accounts over automatically.
A BSP (Business Solution Provider) is a company that Meta authorizes to provide WhatsApp Business Platform services to other businesses, such as messaging, billing, integration support, and customer support.[4] 360Dialog is an Official Meta Solution Partner and BSP that provides WhatsApp API infrastructure, giving businesses and software companies access to the WhatsApp Business API. If you want that access through an Official Meta Solution Partner, with your business phone number connected and your first message sent about 30 minutes after signup, work with us to get easy API access.
Is the Cloud API the Same as the WhatsApp Business API?
Yes, the Cloud API is now the WhatsApp Business API for sending and receiving messages. The two names exist because Meta used to offer two versions: the Cloud API, which Meta hosts and launched in 2022, and the On-Premises API, a software client that a business or its provider set up, hosted, and maintained itself.
Meta’s final On-Premises API version expired on October 23, 2025, and Meta’s sunset page directs businesses to the Cloud API on the WhatsApp Business Platform. The older name is still in use too, for example on the WhatsApp Business API Status Page, which reports Cloud API uptime and latency.
The same platform also carries the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp, a separate API that Meta built for sending optimized marketing messages. For everyday messaging, “Cloud API or Business API” is a false choice today. The decision a business actually faces is how to connect: directly through Meta or through a BSP.
What Happened to the On-Premises API?
Meta retired the On-Premises API in stages, and messages to or from numbers still registered on it stopped being delivered on October 23, 2025. Meta’s On-Premises sunset page lists three dates.
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| January 9, 2024 | After On-Premises API v2.53, new features ship only to the Cloud API; On-Premises releases cover bug fixes and security patches |
| July 1, 2024 | Business phone numbers can only be registered for use with the Cloud API |
| October 23, 2025 | The final On-Premises version, v2.63, expires, and messages to or from numbers still registered on it are not delivered |
Meta’s registration page adds that a number moving from the On-Premises API to the Cloud API needs extra steps before it can be registered.[5]
What Can a Business Do with the Cloud API?
A business can use the Cloud API for four kinds of messages: customer support, notifications, marketing, and sign-in codes. Each one lines up with a message category Meta uses for pricing.[6]
- Customer support: A telecom or utility company answers billing and service questions in the chat, using service messages.
- Notifications: A clinic sends appointment reminders, a hotel confirms a booking, or a retailer sends a delivery update, using utility messages.
- Marketing: A travel brand or a gym sends an offer to customers who opted in, using marketing messages.
- Sign-in codes: A bank or an app sends a one-time password, using authentication messages.
Meta allows a business to message only customers who have opted in, meaning they have agreed to receive its messages. Because the messages run through software, you can connect your business number to the tools you already use, from a CRM to a booking system.
How the Cloud API Works for Developers
On the technical side, the Cloud API sends messages through Meta’s Graph API, the HTTP-based interface the platform is built on, and delivers customer messages to your server by webhook. A webhook is the web address where WhatsApp delivers the messages customers send you. Meta’s webhooks deliver JSON payloads, which are blocks of structured text data, for incoming messages, delivery status updates, and asynchronous errors, and both directions run over HTTPS protected by TLS.
The Cloud API handles two types of messages. A free-form message, which Meta calls a service message, needs no pre-approval and can go out while a customer service window is open. That window is a 24-hour timer that starts when a customer messages or calls the business and resets with each new message or call.[7] A template message is a customizable message a business builds in advance. Templates fall into three categories, marketing, utility, and authentication, and they are the only message type a business can send outside a customer service window.[8]
Local storage is a Cloud API setting at the business phone number level that lets a business choose the country where its message content is stored at rest.[9] Meta names finance, government, and healthcare as regulated industries that may prefer it. The setting can only be switched on while the number is unregistered, so a number already in use has to be deregistered and registered again with local storage enabled. For the data protection side, see what GDPR means for your BSP.
Meta lists calling and groups among its newest releases, and both are part of the Cloud API: A business can make and receive calls with customers, and create, manage, and message WhatsApp group conversations.[10] The platform also offers Meta Business Agent, Meta’s service for configuring and running AI-powered agents that handle WhatsApp conversations.
Throughput is the number of messages per second, incoming and outgoing, that one business phone number can handle. Meta’s throughput and On-Premises sunset pages give the operating figures below.[11]
| Measure | Cloud API figure |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Hosted by Meta |
| Default throughput | Up to 80 messages per second per business phone number |
| Maximum throughput | Up to 1,000 messages per second by automatic upgrade |
| Uptime | 99.9% |
| Latency | Under 5 seconds at p99 |
The upgrade goes only to numbers that meet Meta’s eligibility criteria: an unlimited messaging limit for the business, messages to 100,000 or more unique users outside a customer service window in a moving 24-hour period, and a quality rating of Medium or higher. Meta applies it at no cost.
If you want to see how reminders, delivery updates, or support replies would run from the CRM or booking tool you already use, get API access to connect your number through tools such as Zapier, Make, and n8n.
How Do You Get Access to the Cloud API?
There are two routes to the Cloud API: A business connects directly through Meta, or it goes through a BSP.
On the direct route, the business sets up its own business portfolio, a Meta app created in Meta’s App Dashboard, a WhatsApp account and a Messaging account, and a business phone number, then builds and runs the software that sends messages and receives webhooks.[12] A business portfolio is Meta’s container for a company’s business assets. Here it mainly holds WhatsApp accounts and Messaging accounts, and Meta requires one before a business can use the platform. We cover the account side in our guide to getting your first account approved.
On the partner route, the BSP gives the business its instructions, which typically involve completing Meta’s Embedded Signup flow.[13] Embedded Signup is Meta’s onboarding flow that gathers information about the business and creates a WhatsApp account and a Messaging account for it. The business then works with those accounts through the partner’s app, which is the software layer the BSP supplies.
Both routes end on the same Meta-hosted Cloud API, so the choice comes down to who builds and runs the software around it. If you are weighing the direct route against a BSP, talk to us and compare what each 360Dialog plan includes with building that software layer yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the WhatsApp Cloud API Free?
The WhatsApp Cloud API is priced per message: Meta charges businesses on a per-message basis for the messages they deliver to WhatsApp users, with rates that vary by message category and the recipient’s country calling code. Meta publishes its current rate cards on its pricing page, and a BSP typically charges its own fees for its service. Our article on how WhatsApp Business API pricing works explains the model.
Can the On-Premises API Still Send Messages?
The On-Premises API can no longer send messages. Its final version, v2.63, expired on October 23, 2025, and Meta’s sunset page states that the On-Premises API can’t be used to send messages to WhatsApp users anymore. Meta directs businesses to use the Cloud API on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
What Happens to a Number That Was Still Registered on On-Premises?
A number left on the On-Premises API cannot send or receive WhatsApp messages: Meta’s sunset page states that messages sent to or from business numbers still registered for use with the On-Premises API are not delivered. To work with the Cloud API, the number must be registered there, and Meta’s registration page notes extra steps a business must perform first when migrating such a number.
Do I Need a BSP to Use the Cloud API?
A BSP is optional for the Cloud API. Meta documents a direct route, where a business creates its own Meta app, accounts, and business phone number and runs its own software, and a partner route, where a BSP usually onboards the business through Meta’s Embedded Signup flow and provides services such as messaging, billing, and customer support through its app. Both routes lead to the same Meta-hosted API.
How Is the WhatsApp Business App Different From the API?
The WhatsApp Business app is Meta’s phone app for small businesses that personally manage conversations with customers, downloaded from Google Play or the App Store. The WhatsApp Business API connects WhatsApp to a business’s own software so it can message customers at scale. Meta also supports coexistence, which means using the WhatsApp Business app and the API with the same phone number.
Sources
[1] Meta for Developers, On-Premises API Sunset. https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/on-premises/sunset (accessed September 28, 2026)
[2] Meta for Developers, About the WhatsApp Business Platform. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/about-the-platform (accessed September 28, 2026)
[3] Meta for Developers, Updates to WhatsApp Business accounts. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/account-model-evolution (accessed September 28, 2026)
[4] Meta for Developers, Partners. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/solution-providers/overview/ (accessed September 28, 2026)
[5] Meta for Developers, Register a business phone number. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/business-phone-numbers/registration/ (accessed September 28, 2026)
[6] WhatsApp Business, WhatsApp Business Platform Pricing. https://whatsappbusiness.com/products/platform-pricing/ (accessed September 28, 2026)
[7] Meta for Developers, Service messages. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/send-messages (accessed September 28, 2026)
[8] Meta for Developers, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing (accessed September 28, 2026)
[9] Meta for Developers, Local storage. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/local-storage (accessed September 28, 2026)
[10] Meta for Developers, WhatsApp Business Platform. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/overview (accessed September 28, 2026)
[11] Meta for Developers, Throughput. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/throughput (accessed September 28, 2026)
[12] Meta for Developers, WhatsApp Cloud API Get Started. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/get-started (accessed September 28, 2026)
[13] Meta for Developers, WhatsApp accounts and Messaging accounts. https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/whatsapp-business-accounts (accessed September 28, 2026)
