WhatsApp Business Calling API: setup, pricing and how to run it

It is part of Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform and adds voice calls (VoIP) to the business number you use for Cloud API messaging. Customers call from the WhatsApp app they already have, with no extra download, and Meta describes calling as free for them.

Meta distinguishes two directions. User-initiated calls come from a customer who taps the call icon in your chat or profile, a call button or a call link. Business-initiated calls are placed by you and need the customer’s permission first.

The API only handles signalling and media: webhooks tell your system a call is arriving, and your system decides whether to accept it and where to send the audio. Who answers, what happens when nobody is free, and what gets recorded is left to the software you connect.

No. The free app can take calls, but like a personal phone it handles one call at a time. The next customer hits a busy line, with no queue, menu or routing behind it.

The Calling API runs on a number connected to Cloud API, and Meta’s docs state the number must not be on the app. Once a number is connected to Dialaunch it stops working in the WhatsApp Business app, and the app’s chat history does not move over. To keep the app, connect a different number. Our guide on WhatsApp Business app vs API for calls compares both.

A number must meet these requirements, as listed in Meta’s Calling API documentation in October 2026. Meta updates them, so check the current docs before you plan a launch.

• The business phone number must be on Cloud API, not the WhatsApp Business app
• The business must have a daily messaging limit of at least 2,000 unique recipients (Meta exempts test numbers and sandbox accounts)
• Calling must be enabled on the phone number, and the connected app must be subscribed to the calls webhook
• User-initiated calling is available wherever Cloud API is available
• Business-initiated calling is not available for business numbers in some countries: Meta currently lists the United States, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam and Nigeria

Yes, but only with the customer’s permission: Meta does not allow cold calls. Permission comes from a call permission request you send, from the customer calling you (with the callback setting on, this grants temporary permission), or from their business profile settings.

You send the request as an interactive message in an open customer service window, or as a template message. Per Meta, temporary permission lasts 7 calendar days, users can choose permanent permission, and they can revoke it at any time.

Meta also caps requests: at most 1 in 24 hours and 2 in 7 days per business and user pair, and an approved permission is revoked after 4 consecutive unanswered calls. In Dialaunch, an agent sends the request from the conversation and calls once the customer accepts.

Calls customers start are free, according to Meta’s calling pricing page. Calls your business places are charged, and the call permission request is a message priced under Meta’s messaging pricing.

Business-placed calls are billed in six-second pulses, and a partial pulse counts as a full one. Rates depend on the country code called, with volume tiers by minutes called in the calendar month. A valid payment method on the WhatsApp Business account is required.

Meta revises its rate cards (the rates at the time of writing took effect on April 1, 2026), so check its pricing pages for per-country rates. Meta bills your WhatsApp Business account directly. Dialaunch is priced separately, from €69 a month excluding VAT; see our pricing page.

A contact centre for WhatsApp calls. Dialaunch turns one WhatsApp Business number into a line that takes many simultaneous calls, so callers are queued, routed or answered instead of hitting a busy line.

• Visual call flows from the Team plan: keypad menus (IVR), opening hours with holidays and time zones, overflow to another team, voicemail, a message or an optional AI agent that answers in any language and says it is an AI at the start of each call
• Queues and routing from the Team plan (€169 a month, 3 seats) that ring agents all at once or in turn, with hold music and wait limits
• Agents answer in the browser with a headset or on their own WhatsApp, and phone line calls can also ring a SIP desk phone or softphone
• Live supervision, included from the Team plan: admins and owners can listen, whisper or barge, and transfer a call in one click
• Recording off by default, with a retention period, a consent message and limited access
• Full call history with a timeline per call, missed calls with a call-back button, and reports on answer rate, abandoned calls, waiting times and service level per agent, team and number
• Your existing phone number in the same flows through a standard SIP trunk

Setup is guided: our team works through these steps with you. The 14-day trial includes 60 AI minutes and needs no card.

• Check the account and number: we confirm your WhatsApp Business account and number meet Meta’s calling eligibility before anything is connected
• Connect the number to Meta’s Cloud API through Dialaunch and enable calling on it
• Build the call flow: greeting, keypad menu if you need one, opening hours, queues and what happens when nobody is free
• Add agents and train them on answering in the browser or on WhatsApp, and on sending call permission requests
• Test with real calls from WhatsApp: inside and outside opening hours, with agents busy, and with a call-back
• Go live during the trial, then use reports on missed calls and waiting times to adjust staffing and flows