Wati: WhatsApp Business API Platform Explained, With Setup Guide

What is Wati?

Wati is a customer messaging platform built on the official WhatsApp Business API. It turns a WhatsApp number into a shared team inbox with automation: multiple agents can reply from one number, chatbots can answer common questions and collect leads, and marketing teams can send broadcast campaigns to customers who have opted in. It also connects WhatsApp to the tools a business already uses, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, HubSpot, Zoho and Google Sheets.

The problem Wati solves is that the consumer WhatsApp Business app does not scale. It works for one person on one phone, with no automation, no shared access and no integrations. Getting on the official API directly requires a developer and Meta’s approval process. Wati packages API access, approval, an inbox and automation into a product a non-technical team can run.

Wati (Clare.AI Ltd) is headquartered in Hong Kong and is a Meta Business Partner. It is especially popular in markets where WhatsApp is the default channel for commerce and support: India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, the UAE and much of Southeast Asia.

Who it is for

• Ecommerce and D2C brands that want order confirmations, shipping updates, abandoned-cart recovery and promotions on WhatsApp.
• Support teams of two to fifty agents who need a shared WhatsApp inbox with assignment, tags and canned replies.
• Service businesses (clinics, schools, real estate, travel) that handle bookings and enquiries on WhatsApp.
• Marketing teams that run opt-in broadcast campaigns and want click and reply metrics.
• Agencies that manage WhatsApp communication for several clients.

Wati is not the best fit if your customers are not on WhatsApp (much of North America), if you need a sophisticated AI agent with deep knowledge-base reasoning, or if you want a single inbox that also covers email, Instagram and web chat at the same depth. For omnichannel chat, see our customer support and messaging tools.

Key features

• Shared team inbox. All WhatsApp conversations in one place, with agent assignment, internal notes, tags, quick replies and conversation status. Works on web and mobile apps.
• Broadcasts. Send template messages to segmented, opted-in contact lists. Schedule campaigns, personalise with contact attributes, and see delivery, read and reply rates.
• No-code chatbot builder. A visual flow builder for welcome messages, FAQs, lead qualification, menu-style navigation and handover to a human agent. Flows can read and write contact attributes.
• AI assistant features. AI-suggested replies and knowledge-based answers trained on your content, available on higher tiers.
• Template management. Create and submit WhatsApp message templates to Meta for approval directly from Wati, with status tracking.
• Click-to-WhatsApp ads and website widget. A chat button for your website and support for ads that open a WhatsApp conversation, with the ability to track which campaign a lead came from.
• Integrations. Shopify and WooCommerce (order notifications, abandoned carts), HubSpot, Zoho, Salesforce, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, and a REST API with webhooks.
• Catalog and payments. Share WhatsApp product catalogs and, in supported countries, collect payments inside the chat.
• Analytics. Agent response times, conversation volumes, campaign performance and chatbot flow metrics.

Pricing

Wati charges a monthly subscription per workspace, with a number of agent seats included and extra seats billed separately. On top of that, every WhatsApp conversation is billed by Meta at country-specific rates, and Wati may add a small markup on some tiers. At the time of writing there are three main tiers plus enterprise terms; names and prices change, so confirm on the pricing page.

Tier	Typical contents	Who it suits
Growth	Shared inbox, broadcasts, basic chatbot, a handful of agent seats, core integrations	Small teams getting started
Pro	More seats, advanced chatbot and automation, Shopify and CRM integrations, campaign analytics	Growing ecommerce and support teams
Business	Highest seat count, AI features, priority support, higher API limits	Larger teams and agencies

Budget for three line items: the subscription, Meta conversation fees (which scale with how many marketing messages you send), and extra agent seats. For a brand sending many promotional broadcasts, Meta fees can exceed the subscription.

How to use Wati: step-by-step

1. Prepare what Meta needs

Before you sign up, gather:

• A Facebook Business Manager account (Meta Business Suite) for your company, ideally verified.
• A phone number that is not currently registered on WhatsApp, or one you are willing to migrate (migration deletes the app’s chat history).
• Your legal business name, website and address, which must match across Meta and Wati.

2. Sign up and connect the WhatsApp API

1. Start the Wati trial at wati.io and create your workspace.
2. Follow the Embedded Signup flow: log in with Facebook, select or create your Business Manager, enter the phone number and verify it by SMS or call.
3. Set your WhatsApp display name and profile (logo, description, address, hours). The display name must reflect your business name or Meta may reject it.
4. Wait for Meta’s checks. A new number starts with a limited daily messaging tier that increases as you send quality messages without being blocked.

3. Set up the inbox

1. Invite agents from Settings > Team and assign roles.
2. Create Tags for the conversation types you handle (order status, refund, pre-sales) and Quick replies for the answers you send most.
3. Set business hours and an away message so after-hours contacts get a reply.
4. Configure Assignment rules: round robin, manual, or route by keyword or chatbot outcome.

4. Create and submit message templates

Marketing and utility messages sent outside the 24-hour customer-service window must use templates approved by Meta.

1. Go to Broadcasts > Templates > New template.
2. Pick the category (marketing, utility or authentication) honestly; miscategorised templates are rejected or re-rated and charged at a higher rate.
3. Write the message with variables for name, order number and so on, add buttons (quick reply, call, URL) if needed, and submit.
4. Approval usually takes from minutes to a day. Prepare your core templates (welcome, order update, re-engagement, promotion) before launch so the campaign is not blocked waiting on approval.

5. Import contacts and get opt-ins

1. Import contacts via CSV or sync them from Shopify, HubSpot or Google Sheets.
2. Add an opt-in checkbox at checkout, a website chat widget, or a click-to-WhatsApp ad so new contacts join with consent.
3. Store consent as a contact attribute and segment broadcasts on it. Sending to contacts without opt-in risks a ban.

6. Build your first chatbot flow

1. Open Automations > Chatbots > New.
2. Start with a welcome message and a menu: “1 Track my order, 2 Talk to sales, 3 Talk to support”.
3. For order tracking, add a question that captures the order number into an attribute and, if you use Shopify, connect the lookup; otherwise hand off to an agent with the number attached.
4. End every branch with a Handover to agent block so nobody gets stuck.
5. Test the flow from your own phone and publish it as the default for new conversations.

7. Send a broadcast campaign

1. Go to Broadcasts > New broadcast, choose an approved template and the contact segment.
2. Map template variables to contact attributes, preview, and schedule for a time your audience is awake.
3. After sending, check delivered, read and replied rates, and watch for a spike in blocks or reports, which lowers your number’s quality rating.

8. Connect your store or CRM

• Shopify / WooCommerce: install the Wati app, enable order confirmation, shipping update and abandoned-cart automations, and map which templates they use.
• HubSpot / Zoho / Salesforce: sync contacts and log conversations so sales can see WhatsApp history in the CRM.
• Zapier / Make: connect anything else, for example a new form submission that triggers a welcome template.

Tips to get better results

• Warm up a new number. Start with transactional and support messages, keep block rates low, and your daily sending limit rises within days.
• Use utility templates for anything transactional. They are cheaper than marketing templates and far less likely to annoy customers.
• Personalise beyond the first name. Reference the product, order or last conversation; generic blasts get blocked.
• Reply fast inside the 24-hour window. Service conversations in the window do not need templates and are cheaper.
• Keep the chatbot shallow. Three menu options and a quick handover beat a ten-level tree.
• Segment by behaviour. Broadcast to people who bought in the last 90 days, not the whole list.
• Watch the quality rating in Meta Business Manager weekly. A drop to “low” throttles your sending before you notice.
• Set a sending cadence. One promotional broadcast a week is tolerated; daily promotions earn blocks.

Limitations and common problems

• Template rejections. Meta rejects templates for vague content, mismatched categories or policy issues. Keep copy specific and avoid anything that looks like spam.
• Number migration. Moving a number from the WhatsApp app to the API wipes the app’s history and cannot be reversed easily. Export chats first.
• Cost surprises. Marketing conversation fees in some countries are significant. Estimate monthly volume before committing to a campaign calendar.
• Business verification. Some features and higher limits require a verified Meta business, which can take days and needs matching legal documents.
• AI depth. Wati’s AI replies are useful for FAQs but not a replacement for a knowledge-base-driven support agent on complex products.
• Single channel focus. Wati is WhatsApp-first. Instagram and other channels are either limited or absent compared with omnichannel tools.

Alternatives

• Manychat - stronger on Instagram and Messenger automation, with WhatsApp support; good for creator and social-led brands. See our Manychat page.
• Tidio - live chat and AI chatbot for websites with messaging channels; better if web chat is the main entry point. See our Tidio page.
• Gorgias - ecommerce helpdesk that includes WhatsApp alongside email and social, for Shopify brands that want one support desk.
• Respond.io and Interakt - direct competitors on the WhatsApp API with similar inbox and broadcast features and different regional strengths.
• Twilio - raw WhatsApp API access for teams with developers who want full control.

Browse the full list of customer support and messaging tools for more options.

Verdict

Wati is a sensible choice for a business whose customers already live on WhatsApp and that needs more than one person answering, plus automation and broadcasts, without hiring a developer. Set up templates and opt-in collection before you launch, warm the number up with transactional messages, and track Meta’s conversation fees from month one. If your main channel is web chat or Instagram rather than WhatsApp, a broader messaging platform will serve you better.