WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is the free app Meta offers to small businesses. It installs on the phone like regular WhatsApp, but adds business features: a business profile (address, hours, website), a product catalog, quick replies, greeting and away messages, and labels to organize conversations.

What it handles well

For someone just starting out or handling support alone, it covers almost everything. It separates the personal number from the business one, gives the profile a professional look, and automates the two most repetitive messages — the greeting and the out-of-hours notice. It is free and does not depend on Meta approval.

The four limits that show up as the operation grows

1. One main device. The app runs linked to one phone. Up to 4 devices can be connected, but the operation stays tied to one physical phone.
2. No conversation distribution. There is no queue, no round-robin and no owner assignment. Whoever gets there first replies — or two people reply to the same person.
3. No unified history or per-agent metrics. There is no way to know who replied to what, how fast, or which salesperson converted the most.
4. No real integration. It does not talk to a CRM, e-commerce or ERP. What exists is manual conversation export.

When to migrate to the official version

The practical cutoff is two or more agents on the same number. From there, the app becomes a bottleneck, and the path is the WhatsApp Business Platform — Meta's official channel, which enables real multi-agent support, integration and metrics.

⚠️ Do not confuse the two: WhatsApp Business (the app) and WhatsApp Business Platform / API (the official interface for systems) are different things. The first is free and has a screen; the second has no screen and is accessed through a platform like CRPRO.