Connect your WhatsApp Business number to Chatwoot and your team can answer WhatsApp chats from a shared inbox, alongside your other channels. You can also send approved template messages, run broadcast campaigns, collect CSAT ratings and take WhatsApp calls.
What you can do on WhatsApp
| Capability | What it does | Learn more |
|---|---|---|
| Shared WhatsApp inbox | Customer messages arrive as conversations your team can assign, label, reply to and resolve | Choose how to connect WhatsApp |
| Template messages | Start a conversation, or reply after 24 hours, with a message Meta has approved | Templates and the 24-hour window |
| Campaigns | Send one approved template to every contact with chosen labels. Business plan and above. | WhatsApp campaigns |
| CSAT surveys | Ask for a rating when a conversation is resolved, even after the 24-hour window has closed | CSAT surveys on WhatsApp |
| Calling | Customers call your business from WhatsApp and agents answer in the browser | WhatsApp calling |
| Account health | See your number's status, messaging limit, display name review and business profile inside Chatwoot | Manage your WhatsApp number |
WhatsApp inboxes also work with features shared by every channel, such as Automation, Canned responses, Captain and Reports.
To learn how Chatwoot handles WhatsApp usernames and Business-Scoped User IDs, see WhatsApp usernames and Business-Scoped User IDs in Chatwoot.
Plan & access
| Chatwoot Cloud | Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp inbox (any connection method) | Startups plan and above, and the free trial. Not available on the free Hacker plan. | Included |
| Quick setup with Meta (the fastest way to connect) | Included from the Startups plan. During the free trial, click Request access on the setup screen and submit your use case to turn it on. | Available when your installation's super admin has added your own Meta app's WhatsApp App ID, WhatsApp Configuration ID and WhatsApp App Secret in Super Admin › Settings › WhatsApp Embedded. Without them, use manual setup. |
| WhatsApp campaigns: sending | Business plan and above. Available automatically, no request needed. | Not a premium feature. Works on Community Edition and is on by default. |
| Campaign analytics | Business plan and above | Needs a paid self-hosted plan. Your installation's super admin turns on Campaign Analytics in Super Admin › Accounts › open the account › Edit, under Premium features, then clicks Save changes. |
| Calling | Business plan and above | Needs a paid self-hosted plan with Enterprise Edition, from v4.15.0. Installing the Enterprise Edition build alone does not enable it. |
| Templates, CSAT surveys, account health | Every plan that includes WhatsApp | Included |
Who can do what:
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Administrators connect inboxes and change inbox settings.
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Agents added to the inbox answer conversations and send templates.
See Pricing & Plans for what each plan includes.
Provider charges are separate from your Chatwoot subscription. Meta charges for some WhatsApp messages and calls, and Twilio adds its own fees if you connect through Twilio. To estimate costs, use the WhatsApp pricing calculator, or see Meta's WhatsApp pricing and Twilio's WhatsApp pricing.
Your connection method decides what you can use
Chatwoot connects to WhatsApp in three ways. Choose before you connect, because some features only work with WhatsApp Cloud API.
| Quick setup with Meta (WhatsApp Cloud API) | Manual setup (WhatsApp Cloud API) | Twilio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup effort | A few minutes in a Meta window. No developer setup. | Meta app, system user token and webhook | Twilio account, credentials and webhook |
| Keep using the WhatsApp Business app on your phone | ✅ (Coexistence) | ❌ | ❌ |
| Template messages | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Twilio content templates |
| Campaigns | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| CSAT surveys after 24 hours | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Calling | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Account health tab | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Available on | Chatwoot Cloud, and self-hosted installations with their own Meta app configured | Cloud and self-hosted | Cloud and self-hosted |
Using 360dialog? 360dialog is no longer offered for new inboxes. Existing 360dialog inboxes keep working for conversations but cannot use campaigns, calling or CSAT templates.
How to check what you have
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Your inbox type: go to Settings › Inboxes and open your WhatsApp inbox. An Account Health tab means it is a WhatsApp Cloud API inbox.
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Quick setup: on the WhatsApp setup screen, a Request access box instead of the connect button means Quick setup is not yet on for your account.
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Campaigns: WhatsApp under Campaigns in the sidebar means campaigns are available for your account.
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Calling: a Calls tab in the inbox settings means calling is available for your account.
Your path through this guide
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Connect: Choose how to connect WhatsApp, then follow the setup guide for your connection method.
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Learn the one rule that shapes WhatsApp: Templates and the 24-hour window.
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Add what you need: WhatsApp campaigns, CSAT surveys or WhatsApp calling.
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Keep it healthy: Manage your WhatsApp number.
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When something breaks: Troubleshoot WhatsApp.