WhatsApp Business API for Indian businesses
Connect your number to the official WhatsApp Business Platform in minutes, then run your inbox, templates, campaigns and AI agents from one dashboard. Plans from ₹1,999/month, with a 7-day free trial and no card needed.
What is the WhatsApp Business API?
“WhatsApp Business API” is the name most people use for the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta's interface for businesses that need to message customers from software rather than from one phone. The free WhatsApp Business app works well for a single person replying by hand. Once several people answer the same number, you need to send order updates or reminders automatically, or you want an AI agent to reply at night, you need the platform.
Aethenox AI is a Meta Tech Provider and is built on the official Cloud API. You don't install anything or host servers. You connect your number through Meta's own signup window, and Aethenox AI gives you the tools to use it: an inbox, templates, campaigns, automation, analytics and AI agents.
How do I get the WhatsApp Business API with Aethenox AI?
Onboarding uses Meta Embedded Signup, a secure Meta window that opens inside the Aethenox AI dashboard. You need a Meta Business Account with admin access and a phone number. There are two ways to connect:
Standard connection
Click “Connect with Facebook”, sign in, choose or create a WhatsApp Business Account, then verify the number. Aethenox AI registers the webhook and activates it. This suits new numbers or numbers not in daily use on a phone, because the number then runs on the Cloud API rather than in the WhatsApp app.
Coexistence: keep the WhatsApp Business app
If your team already chats from the WhatsApp Business app, choose “Use my WhatsApp Business app”. You keep using the app on your phone, with no account deletion and no lost chats, and the same conversations flow into Aethenox AI. Your contacts are brought in, and your recent chat history too if you choose to share it. The app needs to be version 2.24.17 or later, and some regions and number types aren't eligible yet.
The full walkthrough is in the Connect WhatsApp guide. For a longer explanation of approval, limits and costs, read our WhatsApp Business API India guide.
What can you do with the WhatsApp Business API on Aethenox AI?
Shared team inbox
Every WhatsApp conversation in one place, updating in real time. Search, filter unread chats, assign a conversation to a teammate and send images, documents and approved templates. When an AI agent is set up, the inbox suggests replies from your knowledge base that you can edit before sending.
Learn moreMessage templates
Create marketing, utility and authentication templates with variables such as a customer name or order number, preview them, and submit them to Meta for approval from the dashboard. Approved templates can be used in the inbox, in campaigns and through the API.
Learn moreBroadcast campaigns
Send an approved template to a list of contacts or to everyone with a tag, now or at a scheduled time. Each campaign reports sent, delivered, read and failed messages, and contacts who reply STOP are excluded from future marketing sends.
Learn moreAutomation rules
Auto-reply on keywords, greet first-time contacts, route chats to the right teammate or AI agent, tag contacts and trigger webhooks. Business hours decide what customers hear when your team is offline.
Learn moreAI agents
AI agents answer from your own knowledge base in English, Hindi and other Indian languages, can call tools such as Google Sheets, Google Calendar or your own API through webhooks, and hand the chat to a human when needed.
Learn moreVoice on the same account
The same AI agents can answer phone calls on a real number, so WhatsApp and voice share one knowledge base and one dashboard.
Learn moreHow does WhatsApp Business API pricing work in India?
Since 1 July 2025, Meta charges per message rather than per conversation. The price of each template message depends on its category:
- Marketing — offers, announcements and anything promotional.
- Utility — updates about something the customer already started, such as an order, booking or payment.
- Authentication — one-time passcodes for login or verification.
- Service — your replies inside the 24-hour window after a customer messages you.
Service replies to customers who message you are free. Templates are charged at their category's rate. Rates vary by category and by the customer's country, and Meta revises them, so we don't print them here.
With Aethenox AI you pay two things: a monthly plan (₹1,999, ₹4,999 or ₹9,999, or an Enterprise quote) that includes your AI replies, and message charges billed from a prepaid wallet as you send, in rupees. Meta also requires a payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account. See current rates on the pricing page.
What are the opt-in and compliance basics?
WhatsApp is strict about consent. Message people who have agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp, and make it easy to stop. Blocks and reports lower your number's quality rating, which can hold back or reduce how many people you can message each day.
- Collect opt-in clearly, for example on a form, at checkout or when the customer messages you first.
- Outside the 24-hour window, you can only start a conversation with an approved template.
- Pick the right template category. Promotional wording in a utility template is a common reason for rejection.
- Honour opt-outs. Aethenox AI records contacts who reply STOP and leaves them out of future campaigns.
- Plan around Meta's messaging limit: new numbers start at 250 unique contacts a day and move up as you send well.
Why do Indian businesses choose Aethenox AI?
Aethenox AI is an Indian company based in Mumbai, and the product is built for Indian businesses: rupee pricing, invoices that carry your GSTIN, AI agents that work in Indian languages, and AI voice agents on the same account. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, credentials and tokens are additionally encrypted with AES-256-GCM, and your conversations are never used to train AI models. Start with the getting started docs, or see how teams use it on the use cases page.
Connect your WhatsApp number today
WhatsApp Business API FAQs
- What is the WhatsApp Business API?
- It is the common name for the WhatsApp Business Platform: Meta’s interface that lets a business send and receive WhatsApp messages from software instead of a single phone. Aethenox AI connects to it through the official Cloud API as a Meta Tech Provider, so your team gets a shared inbox, templates, campaigns and AI agents on top of it.
- Can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app on the same number?
- Yes, with coexistence. If your number already runs on the WhatsApp Business app (version 2.24.17 or later), you can connect it to Aethenox AI without deleting the account or losing chats, and keep replying from your phone. Some regions and number types are not eligible yet; Meta shows the option only when your number qualifies.
- How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost in India?
- There are two parts. Your Aethenox AI plan starts at ₹1,999 a month, with a 7-day free trial and no card needed to start. Messages are then charged per send by category (marketing, utility and authentication) from your prepaid wallet, and Meta requires a payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account. Service replies to customers who message you are free; templates are charged at their category rate. Current rates are on the pricing page.
- How long does WhatsApp template approval take?
- Meta reviews every template. Most decisions take from a few minutes up to 24 hours. A brand-new number has no sending history, so its first templates are often reviewed by hand and can take the full 24 hours; submit them a few days before you need them.
- How many customers can I message per day?
- Meta sets the limit, not Aethenox AI. Every business starts at 250 unique contacts per 24 hours, shared across all its numbers, then moves up to 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited as you send to more people with a good quality rating. Verifying your business with Meta lets you start higher.
- Do I need Meta business verification to get started?
- Not to connect a number, but it helps. A verified business with an approved display name starts at a higher messaging limit. In India, Meta typically accepts documents such as a GST certificate, Certificate of Incorporation, Shops & Establishment licence or Udyam registration.
- Is my WhatsApp data secure with Aethenox AI?
- Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest, and credentials and access tokens are additionally encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Your conversations are not used to train AI models.