Differences between WhatsApp Business vs WhatsApp explained

You probably already know about WhatsApp, the world’s biggest messaging app. More than 2.7 billion people use it regularly to message friends, family, and, now more than ever, businesses. 

What you might not know about are the different accounts WhatsApp offers to help businesses get in touch with those users. A business account in WhatsApp means you can create branded business profiles to give customers extra information, like your website, a brief description, your business hours, and more. 

Additionally, for larger businesses or those looking to integrate WhatsApp into their existing customer communication systems, there’s WhatsApp Business API, which offers more advanced business features and customization options. 

Let’s explore these accounts and what they offer, as well as when and why you should use them as part of your omnichannel strategy.

The main difference between WhatsApp Business vs WhatsApp is that the business solution offers a free app for small businesses, a paid API solution for larger ones, and an ad format that clicks to WhatsApp. Standard WhatsApp messaging is for personal use to keep in touch with friends and family.  

This chart compares the main differences between WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business app, and WhatsApp Business API.  

	Standard WhatsApp	WhatsApp Business app	WhatsApp Business API
Users	Individuals	Small businesses	Medium to large enterprises
Messaging tools	Basic	Enhanced (quick replies, away messages, labels)	Advanced (chatbots, automated messages)
Message templates	Not available	Not available	Available
Business Profiles	Not available	Available	Available
Pricing	Free	Free	Paid
Available through the App store/Google Play Store	Yes	Yes	No

Businesses own and operate WhatsApp Business accounts themselves. You can set up a verified (optional), branded profile and use it to chat with WhatsApp users that have opted into business communications. The WhatsApp business messaging solutions provide robust features like business profiles to give customers extra information, like your website, a brief description, the business hours when a customer might expect a response, and more. They’re great options for business that want to differentiate their channel offerings.  

The WhatsApp experience that will best suit your business depends on your customer base and company size. 

Now, let’s dig into the key features of these different accounts. 

Standard WhatsApp is a personal messaging app for individuals to send messages worldwide. A standard account in WhatsApp lets people sign up via their phone number in the WhatsApp app and get an account linked to their number.  

Standard WhatsApp is freely available for both Android and iOS, and is used for one-to-one messages, voice calls, and video calls via a phone number. Users can also create group chats between multiple people. 

The regular WhatsApp messenger doesn’t offer much functionality for businesses. Very small business owners like solopreneurs and single-member LLCs might find this personal WhatsApp version sufficient for their needs but will likely need to scale once their business begins to grow. 

WhatsApp for Business is a portfolio of business communication solutions that allow businesses to do more at scale, like interact with customers over WhatsApp, bring in new customers and revenue, and grow.  

• Ads that click to WhatsApp let you create ads on Facebook or Instagram that click through to WhatsApp to message your business directly. 

• WhatsApp Business app is a free-to-download app for small-to-medium businesses to interact professionally with customers via a business number. It can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store and can be used by up to four employee phones or in a browser via WhatsApp Web. You can also send a greeting message and pre-define some common responses for staff to send. 

• WhatsApp Business Platform (also called WhatsApp Business API) is an advanced messaging solution designed for medium to large enterprises with high-volume messaging demands.   

Why do businesses choose WhatsApp vs. WhatsApp for Business?

People love WhatsApp – messages have a 98% open rate, and in 2024, 38% of people said they prefer messaging customer service through mobile channels like WhatsApp.  

While you can technically use a personal WhatsApp account for business, it’s not ideal. WhatsApp for Business solutions are designed for customer communication and offer features like branded profiles that make your business look more professional and trustworthy.  

One thing to note: Your business account needs a separate phone number from your personal WhatsApp. You can use both on the same phone, but make sure it has dual SIM capability so you don’t run into compliance issues mingling your business and personal contact lists.

Next, let’s go through the main features businesses can take advantages of with WhatsApp’s business tools. 

Key benefits of WhatsApp for businesses

WhatsApp is a simple, convenient place to have real-time customer interactions, offering numerous benefits to help grow your business. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, WhatsApp’s business solutions can significantly boost customer engagement and streamline communication. Let’s break down some key advantages of adopting WhatsApp as a business.

Global reach

WhatsApp has huge user bases in Latin America, Europe, Africa, India, and the APAC region. In 2024, Meta revealed it has more than 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. alone. Clearly, WhatsApp is a powerful way to connect with customers.

Chat with people quickly

There are many ways people can find a business on WhatsApp and start a conversation, like: 

• QR codes and short links 
• Embedded buttons in a website 
• Call-to-actions in Facebook and Instagram ads 

Many businesses use WhatsApp alongside their branded apps because there’s no need for customers to download a new app. Instead, you can provide support, send notifications, promote marketing campaigns, and more via the app that’s already installed on their phones. 

Private, secure messaging increases trust

WhatsApp Business really lets customers know who you are. With 87% of customers avoiding brands they don’t trust, a messaging platform like WhatsApp can be a key component of customer loyalty. Every WhatsApp message, including messages between people and business, is protected by the Signal encryption protocol from before they’re sent until they’re delivered to the recipient. Learn more about WhatsApp Business privacy protection.

Reach many people at once

In the WhatsApp Business app, businesses can use WhatsApp Channels or broadcasts to reach multiple users. Channels are great for sending one-way push communications like newsletters or updates, while broadcasts let you send a message to a group of up to 256 unique contacts.  

Now, if you’re using the WhatsApp Business API, you can scale your messaging efforts even further with WhatsApp marketing notifications. Unlike broadcasts or Channels, these messages can start with a minimum of 1,000 recipients and can be scaled to reach an unlimited number of users. You can also reach users that don’t have your number saved in their contacts (as long as they’ve opted in), and automate your campaigns with features like chatbots, automated replies, and more.

Automate messages for efficiency

Texting with customers is already more popular than other channels like email, and WhatsApp takes it to the next level with rich messaging features and helpful automation, making the customer experience even better. 

Automation options like quick replies mean less time fussing over small customer issues and more time focusing on the big stuff. And rich media like images, videos, GIFs, quick-reply buttons, and more makes for a top-class user experience that will keep people coming back. 

In the free WhatsApp Business app solution, you can automate three types of messages:  

• Greeting messages: So you can greet new customers or reply to new chats even if you can’t personally answer in the moment.  
• Away messages: When you get responses or inquiries outside of working hours. 
• Quick replies: Based on common actions or FAQs so you can input them into individual chats when you get a frequently asked question (like, “what are your hours?” or “How long do orders typically take to ship?”) 

What’s the downside of WhatsApp Business?

Because it’s super manual, WhatsApp Business App is great for small companies that need a simple, free way to handle a low volume of customer inquiries. It does have some limitations as well:

• No account verification
• No integration with existing CRM systems
• Limits on the number of people who can answer customer inquiries
• Limited automation options and no chatbot integrations

However, for those businesses that need more functionality, WhatsApp does have a solution: WhatsApp Business Platform (API). We’ll go through that next.

The other option for businesses is the WhatsApp Business API, also known as the WhatsApp Business Platform. This solution is for large businesses and independent software vendors looking to integrate WhatsApp messaging into their own products. It’s designed to handle much larger conversation volumes. 

Once your business is verified, you’ll get access to four different tiers, each letting you engage with more and more users. You can upgrade your tier by hitting the following criteria: 

• Make sure your phone number status is “Connected” 
• Keep your quality rating at or above “Medium” 
• Reach half your daily send limit in a seven-day period with new, unique users 

If you achieve those goals, Meta will upgrade your account status within 24 hours. However, you can’t simply pay to upgrade your tier.

Can I use WhatsApp Business API for my small business, or is it only for larger enterprises?

WhatsApp Business API is primarily designed for medium- to large- enterprises and independent software vendors. For example, if you develop a marketing automation tool, you might want to offer WhatsApp in addition to email, SMS, and RCS. 

However, smaller businesses with technical resources and investment can use the WhatsApp Business API to unlock advanced features and customization options.

Benefits and features of the WhatsApp Business API

Because it’s an API, this solution integrates with your internal systems rather than using its own interface. It can even connect to an existing contact center to allow live agents to answer questions via WhatsApp without disrupting current workflows. 

With all the additional features, there is a small fee for sending messages via the WhatsApp Business API. 

These are the main features large businesses and enterprises should consider when it comes to this WhatsApp solution. 

Increase support with unlimited users

With the Business API, you can connect one account with unlimited devices and user profiles. This means you don’t need to throttle customer support through the world’s most popular messaging channel. The standard API allows for 1,000 unique daily contacts, and growing that number simply involves reaching out to half that many users in a seven-day period. 

Verify your account for increased trust

While anyone can use WhatsApp Business API, there are benefits to launching through a Solution Provider, a third-party company that manages API access, like Sinch. They have the knowledge and expertise to help with onboarding, template approvals, embedded signup for enterprises to onboard in 15 minutes, and additional support features. 

With WhatsApp Business API you need to verify your business before you can start engaging with your customers at scale, meaning WhatsApp reviews the business account. If they approve, you: 

• Receive a green tick by your business name 
• Can use a display name rather than a phone number in chat threads 
• Can send a greater volume of messages 

This verification is invaluable for big businesses, as it gives customers confidence that they’re talking to the actual brand and not a spoof account. 

Improve contact management with CRM integration

With the standard business app, you’ll need to manage a traditional, in-app contact list separate from any CRM your business uses. With the API, you can integrate the two so you don’t run the risk of duplicating or omitting important contacts. 

Consent for WhatsApp marketing can be gathered in a number of ways:  

• WhatsApp users initiate a customer support inquiry (through a QR code, for example) and during this session, the business requests that the user opt-in for marketing messages.  
• WhatsApp users opt in to receive messages via a separate channel like email, SMS, RCS, and more. 
• WhatsApp users opt in to receive messages on a form on the business’ landing page, or on a customer support call.  

Contacts should only be messaged via WhatsApp if they’ve given consent, as this is key to maintaining a positive customer experience on the app. If a user feels spammed, they can report the business to Meta which may result in the business receiving a reduced quality rating, lower daily messaging limits, or even a ban on sending future messages.  

Wow customers and help agents via automation

If you’re looking for automation, the API is the option to choose. Program your own automation or connect bots to help customers answer common questions and give support teams time to breathe. 

WhatsApp Flows, which guide users through a series of automated steps, are another powerful tool in the API. These can handle everything from onboarding new customers to walking them through troubleshooting, reducing the need for direct agent involvement. 

Hook it up to other internal systems to send revenue-generating messages like: 

• Automated renewal reminders 
• Personalized promotional offers 
• Marketing campaign content 

You can also use it to reduce support staff workload by sending automated custom messages such as: 

• Delivery updates 
• Appointment reminders 
• Payment approvals 

There’s no shortage of ways the WhatsApp Business API can speed up your workflow. And who wouldn’t want their agents spending their valuable time actually assisting customers and solving complex problems?

Types of content you can send via WhatsApp Business API

Don’t assume the WhatsApp Business API just brings one-on-one messaging capabilities to larger businesses – it does so much more. With the WhatsApp API solution, you can build engaging, eye-catching messages to encourage users to interact with you through:  

• Automated templates that might be about upcoming deliveries, promotional offers, appointment reminders, and more. If you want to message people, you’ll need to have your WhatsApp templates approved first – but most of the time, this takes only minutes.  
• WhatsApp one-time-passwords (OTPs) for secure customer authentication and transaction verification 
• Broadcasts to multiple users that need to adhere to WhatsApp template guidelines but don’t require users to save your contact info beforehand, unlike the standard business app 
• Interactive messages with quick replies that make answers convenient for users (they can be sent as broadcast messages, too) 
• WhatsApp groups that you can create and moderate but not message in, and which users must accept an invitation to rather than you being able to add them. 

In August 2024, Meta also expanded the WhatsApp Business Platform’s use cases in India, APAC, and Latin America to include new verticals such as:  

• Alcohol 
• Over-the-counter medication (though prescription drugs and medical devices are still prohibited) 
• Real money gambling 

For more details on allowed countries and verticals, check out the Business Messaging policy.

It’s safe to say you know your customers best. You invest in the tools to draw insights from their behaviors and actions, and you know the communication channels they prefer to use. And when it comes to using WhatsApp Business vs. WhatsApp, there’s one solution that has the most potential to help your business. 

To fulfill your goals and expand your vision, invest in a WhatsApp Business API partner that’ll help strengthen your business messaging strategy and keep your customers coming back for more. 

Ready to learn more? Our step-by-step WhatsApp guide is packed with detailed insights about how to get started with your business’ WhatsApp journey.

Or, if you’re eager to discuss next steps, let’s chat. Our team is always ready to talk all things WhatsApp and conversational messaging with you!