Documentation ›Channels: WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, website
WhatsApp Business API Setup
Connect WhatsApp Business API to receive messages from customers on WhatsApp. You can use any phone number from any country.
Fastest — connect in one click
Go to Dashboard → Integrations → WhatsApp and press the Connect your WhatsApp button. Sign in with Meta, pick your WhatsApp Business number, and we set up the token, webhook subscription, and routing automatically. The manual steps below are only for bringing your own Meta app or wiring it up by hand.
Requirements:
- Meta Business Account (free)
- Phone number for WhatsApp (can be any country)
- Access to receive SMS or voice call for verification
What Meta charges, and the card it needs
- Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges for replies sent within 24 hours of a customer's message — the replies the AI sends. The first 1,000 a month per WhatsApp number are free; after that each reply is billed at the rate of the customer's country.
- Reminder and confirmation templates are paid from the first message; broadcasts cost more. Messages customers send you are always free.
- Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business account directly — SIPmind does not resell or mark up messages. Add a payment card in Meta Business Suite → Billing & payments → your WhatsApp Business account. Without one, Meta stops delivering paid messages once the free thousand is used up.
- The number must not be active in the WhatsApp app. If it is, delete the WhatsApp account in the app before connecting; the number stays yours.
- Current rates by country: WhatsApp Business Platform pricing.
Step-by-step setup (8 steps):
- Create Meta Business Account — go to business.facebook.com and create an account
- Add WhatsApp — Business Settings → WhatsApp Accounts → Add
- Add phone number — enter your phone number and verify via SMS or voice call
- Create System User — Business Settings → Users → System Users → Add. Give permission
whatsapp_business_messaging - Generate Access Token — click "Generate new token" for the System User (token never expires)
- Get Phone Number ID — go to WhatsApp Manager → Phone Numbers → copy the Phone Number ID
- Add to SIPmind Settings — Dashboard → Settings → paste Access Token + Phone Number ID. If you're bringing your OWN Meta app (not the SIPmind shared app), also fill App Secret + Verify Token — see "Bringing your own Meta app" section below.
- Add Phone Mapping — Dashboard → Integrations → WhatsApp → "Add WhatsApp Number" → paste the same Phone Number ID. This step is required — without it incoming webhooks don't know which account they belong to.
Bringing your own Meta WhatsApp Business app?
Most clients use the shared SIPmind Meta app — easier setup, no extra tokens needed.
If you've created your own Meta app (recommended for white-label, dedicated billing, or stricter data isolation), you must also set:
- App Secret — Meta Developers → your app → Settings → Basic → App Secret. Used to verify that incoming webhooks actually come from Meta (HMAC signature). Without it: webhooks fail with 403 → bot looks dead.
- Verify Token — any random string ≥10 chars you pick. Paste the SAME string in Meta Developers → Webhooks → Verify Token when registering
https://sipmind.net/api/v1/whatsapp/webhook.
Both fields are in Settings → Channels, marked "(optional)". Leave them empty if you're using the SIPmind shared app.
Meta's limits, in short
- Replies to customers who wrote you: unlimited, free up to 1,000 a month per number.
- Writing first (templates): 250 different customers a day for a new business portfolio; 2,000 after business verification; then 10,000, 100,000, unlimited as quality holds.
- Calls in WhatsApp: Meta enables them from a limit of 2,000.
Webhook Configuration:
After setup, configure webhook in Meta Dashboard:
https://sipmind.net/api/v1/whatsapp/webhook
Subscribe to: messages, calls — and message_template_status_update if you send WhatsApp broadcasts