Jawabkan
Almost every SME in Malaysia starts on the WhatsApp Business app. It is free, it is on your phone, and for a long time it is enough. Then the business grows: more customers, more staff answering, more messages after closing. At some point someone tells you “you need the WhatsApp API”.
This guide explains the difference in plain words, when the app is still enough, the signs it is not, and one thing many owners do not know: you may not have to choose between them.
The difference, briefly
The WhatsApp Business app is the app you use on your phone. The WhatsApp API, officially the WhatsApp Business Platform, is a connection for software. There is no app to open: other software sends and receives messages through it on your business’s behalf.
| Point | WhatsApp Business app | WhatsApp API |
|---|---|---|
| Who replies | You and your staff | Software, such as an assistant |
| Cost from Meta | Free | Per message, at Meta’s Malaysian rates |
| Automatic replies | Greeting, away and quick replies: fixed text | Replies that depend on the question |
| Messaging a customer after 24 hours | As normal | Approved templates only, charged |
| How you start | Download and register | Meta’s official sign-up, with your own Meta business account |
When the app is enough
For many businesses the app is all they need, and there is no reason to pay for anything:
- One or two people answer, and they know the answers.
- Most messages arrive during opening hours and are answered within minutes.
- The questions vary and need judgement, not the same answer again and again.
- An away message and quick replies already cover the time after closing.
If that is you, the most useful work is setting the app up properly: a complete profile, a catalogue, quick replies and labels. It is free, and it makes anything you add later work better.
Signs the app is no longer enough
- The same questions all day. Prices, stock, opening hours, delivery areas. Quick replies help, but someone still has to read each message and tap.
- Night messages wait until morning. The away message tells customers you will reply tomorrow. It does not answer their question, and some of them have already asked somewhere else.
- Several people, several answers. When three staff answer one number, a customer can be given three different prices.
- You have started looking at tools that scan a QR code. Unofficial tools that drive your app through WhatsApp Web are the usual reason business numbers get banned (why). If you need automation, the official route is the API.
The app is for the conversations that need you. The API is for the questions whose answers are already written down.
You may not have to choose: the app and the API on one number
For a long time, using the API meant the number had to leave the app. Today Meta lets an existing WhatsApp Business app number connect to the API without leaving the app. Meta calls this Coexistence. In Meta’s own guide, businesses connected this way can still send one-to-one messages using the WhatsApp Business app.
What changes, according to the same guide:
- Broadcast lists become read-only.
- Linked devices are logged out once. You can link them again, except WhatsApp for Windows and WearOS.
- Up to 6 months of chat history can sync, for one-to-one chats only. Group chats stay in the app.
- Open the app on your main phone regularly. Meta lists “primary device inactive for approximately 14 days” as one reason the connection is cut.
- Replies you type in the app stay free. Only messages sent through the API are charged at API prices.
And if you change your mind, Meta’s guide says a connected business can disconnect from the API from inside the WhatsApp Business app itself.
“After we connect, can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app on my phone, on the same number?” If the answer is no, your number will leave the app. Ask before you start, not after.
The cost: two bills, not one
The app is free. The API has two costs: Meta’s charge for the messages sent through it, and the subscription for the software that uses it. Meta charges per message and by category, and its Malaysian rates change. We keep the current rates, the date we checked them, and how to estimate a monthly bill on our WhatsApp Business API pricing page; the original source is Meta’s pricing page.
One thing makes the comparison easier: when a conversation is handed to you and you reply from the app, that reply is not charged.
Questions to ask any provider
- Can I keep using the app on my phone? Coexistence, as above.
- Whose WhatsApp Business account is it? It should sit in a Meta business account that is yours, so the number and its history stay with you.
- Where are Meta’s charges paid? Straight to Meta from your own account, or through the provider with something added? Both exist; what matters is that you know.
- What happens when it does not know the answer? A good assistant hands the question to you. One that guesses will give a price, a date or a promise you never made.
- Does it use the official API, or does it scan a QR code?
Where Jawabkan fits
Jawabkan uses the official API on the number you already use, through Meta’s official sign-up, and you keep using the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. It answers repetitive questions from the facts you approve, and hands everything else to you with the conversation. It is not a team inbox, not a CRM and not a broadcast tool. Meta’s messaging fees are billed directly to your own WhatsApp Business account, and we add nothing to them. See pricing or how it works.
Frequently asked
Is the WhatsApp API free?
No. The WhatsApp Business app is free, but Meta charges for messages sent through the API, by message category and country rate. The current Malaysian rates and how to estimate a bill are on our pricing page.
Can I use the app and the API on the same number?
Yes. Through Coexistence, an existing WhatsApp Business app number can connect to the API, and you can still send one-to-one messages from the app. Broadcast lists become read-only, and WhatsApp for Windows cannot be linked.
Do I need the API if I only want an auto reply?
Not necessarily. The app already has a greeting message and an away message, free. You need the API when you want replies that depend on what the customer asked, such as the price of a particular item, answered by software.
Can I stop using the API later?
Yes. Meta’s guide says a business connected through Coexistence can disconnect from the API from inside the WhatsApp Business app.
