WhatsApp conversations, handled as a team.
Connect your own WhatsApp Business number through the WhatsApp Cloud API. Replies, templates, media and delivery states all live in the shared Inbox your team already works in.
Illustrative demo with fictional data.
WhatsApp Business Platform
The rules of the channel, before you commit to it.
WhatsApp is not email with a green icon. There is a window that opens and closes, five message categories with different prices, and an approval queue between you and your own templates. Everything below is from Meta's developer documentation, with the source on the page.
The 24-hour window
Twenty-four hours of free-form replies. After that, approved templates only.
Every message a customer sends opens a 24-hour customer service window. Inside it, your team and Scout answer in free text with media, like any chat. When it closes, WhatsApp accepts only templates Meta has already approved — so BlendDesk swaps the composer for the template picker instead of letting an agent discover the rule through a rejected send.
- Every inbound message restarts the clock
- The window is measured from the customer's last message, not from the start of the conversation. Answer, they reply, you have another 24 hours.
- Inside the window
- Free-form text, images, documents, locations and voice notes. These are service messages, which Meta began charging for on 1 October 2026; the first 1,000 per phone number per month are included.
- Outside the window
- Only a template that Meta approved in your account, in one of Meta's categories. The category, not the length or the channel, decides what the message costs.
- What your team sees
- The thread shows where the conversation sits in the window. When it closes, the banner says so and the picker lists the approved templates synced from your Meta account, with their category on every row.
Illustrative demo with fictional data.
Message categories
Five categories. Five prices.
Meta prices WhatsApp per message, by category, per market. The category is assigned when the template is reviewed, from what the message says.
| Category | What it is | What Meta charges |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | What it isPromotions, offers, product news, re-engagement — anything with a sales purpose. | What Meta chargesEgypt: $0.0644 per message. |
| Utility | What it isOrder updates, delivery notices, payment receipts, appointment reminders — messages tied to a transaction the customer already made. | What Meta chargesEgypt: $0.0036 per message. |
| Authentication | What it isOne-time passcodes and account verification. | What Meta chargesPriced per message, at a rate Meta publishes per market. |
| Authentication-International | What it isAuthentication messages delivered to certain countries, billed separately from domestic authentication. | What Meta chargesA separate per-market rate on the same rate card. |
| Service | What it isYour free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer service window. | What Meta chargesCharged since 1 October 2026. The first 1,000 per phone number per month are included. |
Rates are Meta's, charged by Meta to your account, and they change. Check your own market on Meta's rate card before you budget.
Source: Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — pricing, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
Same words. About 18× the bill.
In Egypt a marketing template costs $0.0644 and a utility template costs $0.0036 — the same sentence, roughly eighteen times the price. You do not get to pick the cheap category for a sales message: Meta reviews the category when it approves the template. What you control is what the message says. Keep transactional messages transactional and they stay utility.
Illustrative demo with fictional data.
What changed on 1 October 2026
Service messages stopped being free.
For two years, every reply inside the 24-hour window cost nothing. Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges for service messages, with the first 1,000 per phone number per month included. One number answering a few hundred conversations a month sees no change. Several numbers, or several thousand conversations, is a new line on your Meta bill — and it is the first line to check before you let anything auto-reply on your behalf.
- Counted per phone number, per calendar month, not per workspace.
- The included 1,000 covers service messages only — templates are billed from the first one.
- Replies inside a free entry point conversation are not charged at all.
Source: Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — pricing, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
Free entry point conversations
An ad that clicks to WhatsApp opens up to seven free days.
When a customer starts the conversation from an ad that clicks to WhatsApp or a Facebook Page call-to-action, Meta opens a free entry point conversation: for up to seven days, messages in that conversation are not charged — free-form replies and templates alike. It is the cheapest conversation on the platform, and the reason ad traffic belongs in the same inbox as everything else rather than in a separate tool nobody checks.
Meta's consumer pricing page still describes this window as 72 hours. The developer documentation is what Meta bills from, and it is what we quote.
Templates, approval and consent
Three things stand between a draft and a customer.
None of them are BlendDesk. Templates live in your Meta account, approval is Meta's, and opt-in is the customer's.
- Meta approves the template, and its category
- You write a template in your Meta account, pick a category and submit it. Meta reviews both the content and the category before it can be sent. BlendDesk syncs the approved list and fills in the variables; it does not create templates on your behalf.
- Opt-in is a requirement, not a growth tactic
- Before a template reaches a number, that person has to have agreed to hear from your business on WhatsApp, somewhere it was clear what they were agreeing to. Keep the record of where and when.
- A human has to be reachable
- Meta's WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy requires a path from automation to a person. In BlendDesk that path is handoff: Scout stops, a named agent takes the thread, and the customer is told who they are now talking to.
What you need on Meta's side
Three assets, all of them yours.
BlendDesk connects through the WhatsApp Cloud API to accounts you own. We never resell a number and never put your traffic on ours.
The business account, the number and the approved templates stay in your name. If you leave BlendDesk, they do not leave with us.
- A Meta Business account
- A Meta business portfolio that owns the WhatsApp Business account. If you already run ads or a Facebook Page, you have one.
- A verified phone number
- A number that can receive a verification code and is not signed in to the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app. Chat history on a phone does not transfer to the Cloud API.
- A payment method on the WhatsApp account
- Meta bills messaging to your business directly. Without a payment method on the account, templates stop sending the moment the free allowance runs out.
Setup
Connect your own Meta account and number.
BlendDesk connects through the WhatsApp Cloud API. The Meta business account, the WhatsApp Business account and the number stay yours. We set it up with you.
The in-app Meta setup guide covers every step in English and Arabic, and shows what you do and what our team does. The slow parts are Meta's: business verification and template review run on Meta's clock, not ours.
What stays yours
- Your Meta business account and WhatsApp Business account
- Your phone number
- Your templates, approved by Meta
- Your WhatsApp billing, charged by Meta
- 1
Prepare your Meta assets
YouA Meta Business Portfolio and a phone number that can receive a verification code. The number can't be active on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app at the same time, and chat history on a phone doesn't move across.
- 2
Add a payment method in Meta
YouMeta bills WhatsApp messaging to your business directly, so a payment method needs to be on your WhatsApp account.
- 3
We connect the number
Our teamWith the access you give us, we set up the connection in your own Meta account and link the number to your Inbox.
- 4
Send a test message
TogetherCheck delivery both ways, then sync your approved templates into BlendDesk.
In every thread
Everything a WhatsApp thread carries.
Your agents see what the customer sent, in the form they sent it, and know what happened to every reply.
- Media in and out
- Images, video, audio, documents, locations and shared contacts appear in the thread, and agents can attach files to replies.
- Delivery states
- Every reply shows Sent, Delivered or Read. If a message fails, you can retry it from the thread.
- Saved replies
- Type / in the composer to insert a Saved reply for the answers your team gives every day.
- Private notes and mentions
- Add a Private note or @mention a teammate. Customers never see either.
- Reply to a specific message
- Reply-to quotes keep long threads easy to follow.
Templates, ratings and campaigns
Templates for outreach. Ratings when you're done.
Outside the 24-hour window, WhatsApp works through templates that Meta has approved.
- Templates are written in Meta
- Create and submit templates in your Meta account. BlendDesk syncs them and lets your agent fill in the variables. The one template BlendDesk creates itself is the Customer ratings template.
- Customer ratings
- Switch on Customer ratings for the inbox and BlendDesk submits a rating template to Meta. Once approved, customers get a message with a button, rate from Poor to Excellent and can add a comment.
- Campaigns
- WhatsApp campaigns send approved templates to a group of contacts. We confirm what is enabled for your workspace during setup.
Thanks for contacting Nile Home. How did we do?
Please rate usHow would you rate your conversation?
- 1Poor
- 2Fair
- 3Average
- 4Good
- 5Excellent
Quick and helpful.
Billing
We never mark up Meta's fees.
Meta charges your business for WhatsApp messages, on your own payment method, at Meta's published rates. BlendDesk adds nothing on top, takes no share and does not resell messages inside a bundle you cannot audit. What you pay us is for the platform. What you pay Meta is for the messages, and you can read both bills separately.
- No per-message margin, no rounded-up rate, no hidden conversation fee.
- Your Meta invoice comes from Meta, itemised by category.
- Our plans are seats plus metered AI resolutions, with a spend cap you set.
Where these facts come from
Every WhatsApp platform claim on this page is taken from Meta's developer documentation for the WhatsApp Business Platform. We quote the developer docs rather than Meta's consumer pricing page, which at the retrieval date still described service messages as free and the free entry point window as 72 hours.
The 24-hour customer service window, free-form replies inside it, approved templates outside it.
Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — customer service window, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026
Five message categories, and the Egypt rates of $0.0644 per marketing template and $0.0036 per utility template.
Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — pricing and rate card, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026
Service messages charged from 1 October 2026, with the first 1,000 per phone number per month included.
Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — pricing, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026
Free entry point conversations of up to seven days, opened by an ad that clicks to WhatsApp or a Page call-to-action.
Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — conversation types and pricing, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026
Template and category review by Meta, and the opt-in requirement before templates are sent.
Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform — message templates, developer documentation. Retrieved 2 November 2026
An automated conversation must offer a path to a human.
Meta, WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, updated 23 September 2026. Retrieved 2 November 2026
Part of the same workspace
- InboxAssign conversations to a person or team, work the Mine, Unassigned and All queues, and keep Tags and private notes beside the thread.
- ScoutScout can be assigned to a WhatsApp inbox. It replies only while the 24-hour window is open and hands over to your team when it can't help.
- AutomationsRoute new WhatsApp conversations by inbox or message content, add Tags, or assign a team the moment a conversation is created.
- EmailGmail, Microsoft or IMAP, with To, Cc and Bcc.
- Live chatA website widget you design yourself.
WhatsApp questions
Which WhatsApp do I connect?
The WhatsApp Cloud API, with a phone number on your own Meta business account. The number can't be active on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app at the same time, and chat history on a phone doesn't move to BlendDesk.
Do you provide the number or the WhatsApp account?
No. You own the Meta business account, the WhatsApp Business account and the number. We work with the access you give us.
Who pays for WhatsApp messages?
Meta charges WhatsApp messaging to the payment method on your own WhatsApp account. The rates and free allowances are set by Meta and can change.
Can I create message templates in BlendDesk?
No. Create and submit templates in your Meta account and BlendDesk syncs them. The only template BlendDesk creates is the Customer ratings template.
What happens after 24 hours?
After 24 hours without a customer message, free-form replies are paused. The composer shows a banner and asks your agent to choose an approved template.
Can Scout reply on WhatsApp?
Scout can be assigned to a WhatsApp inbox. It replies only while the 24-hour window is open, answers only from knowledge you approve, and hands over to your team otherwise. It needs an AI provider configured for your installation.
How long does setup take?
We set it up with you using the in-app Meta setup guide. The work on our side is short. Steps on Meta's side, such as business verification and template review, run on Meta's schedule, so we tell you where yours stands rather than quoting you a date we don't control.
Bring your customer conversations together.
Tell us a little about your team. We'll show you how BlendDesk could fit the way you already talk to customers.