Updated on October 28, 2026
“WhatsApp Business API” is the popular name for WhatsApp’s official API for businesses, which Meta now calls the WhatsApp Business Platform and delivers as the Cloud API. It is not the same thing as the WhatsApp Business app, the free mobile app. Since October 23, 2025, when the On-Premises API was shut down, the Cloud API is the way to send messages on the platform, alongside supporting APIs such as the Business Management API and the Marketing Messages API.
If you have seen “WhatsApp Business API”, “Cloud API”, “WABA” and “Marketing Messages API” in different places and could not tell whether they were the same thing, this guide sorts out each name, what it means and whether it still exists.
Summary: name → what it is → does it still exist?
| Name | What it is | Still exists? |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp (Messenger) | Personal messaging app | Yes |
| WhatsApp Business app | Free app for small businesses, operated by hand on a phone or computer | Yes |
| WhatsApp Business Platform | Meta’s official name for its set of business APIs | Yes |
| “WhatsApp Business API” | Popular name for the platform; in practice it means the Cloud API today | As a nickname, yes |
| Cloud API | Meta’s HTTP API for sending and receiving messages, calls and groups | Yes, it is the standard |
| On-Premises API | Version businesses hosted on their own servers | No, shut down on Oct 23, 2025 |
| Business Management API | API for managing accounts, numbers, templates, billing and analytics | Yes |
| Marketing Messages API | API dedicated to marketing messages, with optimized delivery | Yes |
| Webhooks | Events Meta sends to your server (messages, statuses, errors) | Yes |
| WABA | WhatsApp Business Account; split in 2026 into a WhatsApp account and a Messaging account | In transition |
Each one in detail below.
WhatsApp Business app: the app, not the API
The WhatsApp Business app is the one you download from your phone’s app store. It has a business profile, catalog, labels, quick replies and away messages, but people run it by hand on a phone and linked devices. There is no endpoint for your system to call and no webhook.
People often say “we already have WhatsApp Business” when they mean the app. To integrate with a CRM, ERP or chatbot, you need the API platform. Both can share the same number through coexistence; see WhatsApp coexistence: what syncs and what doesn’t.
Want to try it while you read? Create a Vectalk account and send your first message through the official API. Create free account →
WhatsApp Business Platform: the umbrella
WhatsApp Business Platform is the name Meta uses in its documentation for the products aimed at businesses and developers. The About the platform page lists these components:
- Cloud API, to send messages, make calls and manage groups;
- Business Management API, to manage accounts, numbers, templates and billing and pull analytics;
- Marketing Messages API, for optimized marketing messages;
- Webhooks, which deliver JSON events to your server;
- Meta Business Agent, to configure Meta’s own AI agents.
When the docs say “the platform”, they mean all of the above.
“WhatsApp Business API”: the name the market still uses
“WhatsApp Business API” (or “WhatsApp API for business”, “official WhatsApp API”) is what most people search for and what many vendors still call the product. Today, anyone saying WhatsApp Business API is in practice talking about the Cloud API, because that is what sends and receives messages.
The name is confusing for two reasons: it sounds like an API “for the WhatsApp Business app” (it isn’t; the app has no API), and it sounds like a product separate from the Cloud API (it isn’t). For what separates the official API from libraries like Baileys, see official vs. unofficial WhatsApp API.
Cloud API: the API that sends and receives messages
The Cloud API is the part of the platform that sends and receives messages. According to the Cloud API overview, it lets you message and call programmatically, with up to 80 messages per second per business phone number by default and capacity upgrades available.
“Cloud” means the infrastructure runs at Meta. Your code makes HTTPS requests to the Graph API (graph.facebook.com) and receives events through webhooks:
curl -X POST "https://graph.facebook.com/v23.0/PHONE_NUMBER_ID/messages" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"to": "15551234567",
"type": "text",
"text": { "body": "Hi! We received your order." }
}'The messaging_product: "whatsapp" field appears on every send because the Graph API serves several Meta products. For Cloud API costs and limits in depth, read WhatsApp Cloud API: what it is, how it works and what it costs.
On-Premises API: shut down
The On-Premises API was the version in which the business (or its partner) ran the API client on its own servers, in containers. Meta’s sunset page records two milestones:
- since January 9, 2024, new features ship only on the Cloud API, and since July 1, 2024, numbers can only be registered there;
- on October 23, 2025, the last supported client version expired, and the On-Premises API can no longer send messages to WhatsApp users.
If a tutorial tells you to install a WhatsApp Docker container, call /v1/messages on your own server or “host it locally”, it is On-Premises material and no longer applies.
Business Management API: the management API
The Business Management API does not send messages. It manages assets: accounts, phone numbers, templates, billing, plus messaging, pricing and template analytics. Many day-to-day integrator calls belong to it, such as listing an account’s numbers, creating and reading templates, or fetching analytics.
It uses the same Graph API and the same kind of token as the Cloud API, which is why many people don’t notice they are different products: the messages endpoint is Cloud API, the account’s templates endpoint is management.
Marketing Messages API: the new route for marketing
The Marketing Messages API sends marketing messages with optimized delivery, automatic creative enhancements, benchmarks and conversion metrics. It launched as the Marketing Messages Lite API and became generally available on November 19, 2025, under its current name.
What matters for integrators: Meta has announced that the Cloud API will stop supporting marketing messages on October 13, 2027. Messaging accounts created on or after April 13, 2027 won’t be able to send marketing through the Cloud API at all. Service, utility and authentication messages stay on the Cloud API. The migration plan is in Marketing Messages API: how to migrate your marketing sends.
Webhooks and the Graph API
Two technical names come up constantly:
- Graph API is Meta’s general HTTP API (
graph.facebook.com), with versions such asv23.0. The Cloud API, Business Management API and Marketing Messages API are all reached through it. - Webhooks are the notifications Meta sends to your server. The object is
whatsapp_business_account, and the subscribed fields (such asmessages) decide which events arrive. See WhatsApp API message status via webhook.
Account names: portfolio, WABA, WhatsApp account and Messaging account
Account names changed too:
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| Business portfolio | The company’s account on Meta, formerly called Business Manager |
| WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) | The account that grouped numbers, templates and billing |
| WhatsApp account | Since the 2026 split, holds the phone number |
| Messaging account | Since the 2026 split, holds templates, billing and webhooks |
| WhatsApp Manager | The Meta Business Suite screen where you manage numbers and templates |
| Embedded Signup | Flow in which a partner connects a customer’s number to the platform |
Splitting the WABA into two accounts on September 23, 2026 changed how you switch providers: you share the WhatsApp account with the new partner. Details in WhatsApp account vs. Messaging account. For other terms, see the WhatsApp API glossary.
Which name to use when buying or searching
- If you want to automate or integrate, search for “official WhatsApp API” or “WhatsApp Cloud API”. It is the same product the market calls the WhatsApp Business API.
- If you only want to chat from a phone, the WhatsApp Business app is enough.
- If you run high-volume marketing campaigns, plan for the Marketing Messages API because of the October 2027 deadline.
- If someone offers On-Premises or “installation on your server”, be wary: that version was shut down.
To understand who can broker access, see buying the WhatsApp API directly from Meta or through a provider.
Where Vectalk fits in
Vectalk is a proxy for Meta’s official Cloud API. Your application sends the same Cloud API payload to https://apis.vectalk.com.br/api/messages, and Vectalk forwards it to Meta. Webhooks follow the format in Meta’s documentation, and the number can run in coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app. The quickstart shows how to connect a number, and you can sign up at apps.vectalk.com.br/register.
Frequently asked questions
Are the WhatsApp Business API and the Cloud API the same thing?
In practice, yes. “WhatsApp Business API” is the popular name; the Cloud API is the WhatsApp Business Platform API that sends and receives messages. With the On-Premises API gone, there is no other sending version to choose from.
Does the WhatsApp Business app have an API?
No. The app is for manual use. To integrate systems you need the Cloud API. The same number can use both at the same time through coexistence, with some limitations.
Does the On-Premises API still work?
No. The last supported version expired on October 23, 2025, and since then the On-Premises API cannot send messages to WhatsApp users, according to Meta’s sunset page.
Do I need to move to the Marketing Messages API?
If you send marketing templates, yes, by October 13, 2027, when the Cloud API stops accepting marketing messages. Utility, authentication and service messages stay on the Cloud API.
Does the WABA still exist?
The term is still used, but since September 23, 2026 Meta splits the former WABA into a WhatsApp account (the number) and a Messaging account (templates, billing and webhooks).
Official sources checked on October 28, 2026: About the WhatsApp Business Platform, Cloud API overview, On-Premises API sunset, Marketing Messages API, Account model evolution, Coexistence onboarding, Vectalk quickstart.
Try the official WhatsApp API today
Create your account, generate a token and send your first message with the quick-start guide. Same payloads and webhooks as Meta's Cloud API.