---
title: "WhatsApp Business API and Cloud API explained | Calypso"
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last_updated: "2026-09-11T23:46:19.473Z"
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description: "What the WhatsApp Business API and Cloud API are, what Meta charges for them, and how to connect your number to Calypso without a developer."
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"og:title": "WhatsApp Business API and Cloud API explained | Calypso"
"twitter:description": "What the WhatsApp Business API and Cloud API are, what Meta charges for them, and how to connect your number to Calypso without a developer."
"twitter:title": "WhatsApp Business API and Cloud API explained | Calypso"
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Calypso home
**WhatsApp Business API**
# The API, the Cloud API, and what you actually need.
Most businesses looking for the WhatsApp Business API want one thing: their number answering customers properly, at volume. That does not always mean building against Meta’s API yourself. Here is what the thing is, what it costs, and where Calypso fits.
[**Start 14-day free trial**](https://whatsapp.calypso.so/join) [**See the use cases**](https://www.calypso.so/use-cases)
## Cloud API or on-premises.
“WhatsApp Business API” names an interface, not a download. It has shipped in two forms, and only one of them is a live choice today.
| | **Cloud API** | **On-premises** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Who hosts it** | Meta, on its own servers. Nothing to run. | You, on your own infrastructure, with the upgrades that implies. |
| **Availability** | The path Meta now directs new businesses to. | Being retired by Meta in favour of the Cloud API. |
| **Setup** | A Meta Business account, a verified business, and a number not already on personal WhatsApp. | The same, plus hosting, certificates, and a database you maintain. |
| **What you build** | A webhook receiver and a sender, or a platform that has already built both. | The same work, on top of the infrastructure. |
## There are two bills, and people only budget for one.
**Meta charges you**
### **For the messaging itself**
Billed to your WhatsApp Business Account, at rates that vary by country and by message category, and the model has been moving toward per-message pricing for business-initiated templates. Check Meta’s current rate card for the markets you actually sell in — it is the half of the bill that scales with your volume.
**Calypso charges you**
### **A fixed monthly allowance**
$19, $49, or $199 a month for 1,000, 5,000, or 25,000 answers, with storage and seats included. Extra answers are prepaid at $10 per 1,000 — never metered overage, so the number you plan for is the number you pay. Trials run 14 days on Pro entitlements.
## Connecting a number.
1. **01**### **Connect the number**
Sign in and link WhatsApp. A number already on the WhatsApp Business App connects through Meta’s embedded signup; a number you use today connects directly. No developer and no webhook of your own either way.
2. **02**### **Give the board its knowledge**
Upload what the agent answers from — policies, price lists, product specs. The board indexes them and the agent answers from that, with the source attached.
3. **03**### **Set what it may do**
Guardrails on what it may quote or confirm, the actions it may take on its own, and the ones that wait for a person. Then one switch turns it off.
## Questions before going live.
**What is the WhatsApp Business API? **
It is the programmatic way for a business to send and receive WhatsApp messages at volume, as opposed to the WhatsApp Business App you tap on a phone. There is no downloadable product called “the API” — you either build against Meta’s Cloud API yourself or use a platform that has done it for you.
**What is the difference between the WhatsApp Business API and the Cloud API? **
The Cloud API is Meta’s hosted version of the WhatsApp Business API, and is the version Meta now points new businesses to. The older on-premises version, which you hosted yourself, is being retired. In current usage the two names usually mean the same thing.
**What does the WhatsApp Business API cost? **
There are two bills. Meta charges you directly for messaging through your WhatsApp Business Account — rates depend on the country and on the category of message, and the model has been moving toward per-message pricing for business-initiated templates, so check Meta’s current rate card for your markets. Your platform then charges separately. Calypso is $19, $49, or $199 a month for fixed answer allowances, with extra answers prepaid at $10 per 1,000 rather than metered.
**Do I need the Business API to use Calypso? **
No. Calypso runs on the number your customers already message. If that number is on the WhatsApp Business App, it connects through Meta’s embedded signup instead. Either way you do not write webhook code.
**Can I keep my existing WhatsApp number? **
Yes, and that is the usual case. Note that a single number cannot be live on personal WhatsApp and the WhatsApp Business App at the same time — Meta logs the first one out when you move it, which is expected behaviour rather than a fault.
**Do I need message templates? **
Only for messages you start outside the customer service window. Replies inside an open conversation do not need a template. Calypso is built around conversations your customers start, so most traffic never touches one.
**How long does it take to get access? **
Meta’s side depends on business verification, which is the slow step and is outside any platform’s control. The Calypso side is a sign-in, a number, and a board — a free trial runs 14 days with Pro entitlements.
**Start today**
## **Your number, answering properly.**
Connect the number your customers already message, give the board its knowledge, and keep one switch to stop it.
[**Start 14-day free trial**](https://whatsapp.calypso.so/join) [**See pricing**](https://www.calypso.so/#pricing)