Diference between WhatsApp for Business App and WhatsApp for Business Platform

WhatsApp Business App, what is it?

The WhatsApp Business app is a free-to-download messaging app ideal for small businesses. It helps you easily and professionally connect with customers who use WhatsApp in a more personal way, and use built-in tools to highlight your products and services, answer questions, and improve sales and customer satisfaction.The WhatsApp Business app is a free-to-download messaging app ideal for small businesses. It helps you easily and professionally connect with customers who use WhatsApp in a more personal way, and use built-in tools to highlight your products and services, answer questions, and improve sales and customer satisfaction.

What is WhatsApp Business Platform?

The WhatsApp Business Platform (aka the WhatsApp API) is a collection of APIs and solutions that empowers larger businesses to efficiently and scalably have conversations with customers who use WhatsApp to deepen relationships, build trust and grow sales. More sophisticated than the WhatsApp Business app, it offers more automation features, including pre-defined message sequences, chatbot features, and other capabilities suited to larger enterprises.

It also lets businesses connect WhatsApp to their business tech stack, such as customer support, CRM, and sales systems.

What are the main differences between both platforms?

1. Unlike the WhatsApp personal app and the WhatsApp Business app, the WhatsApp Business Platform is not an app at all. It’s a collection of APIs and solutions that developers use to activate features and integrate with backend systems, such as CRM and marketing platforms.

2. Similar to the WhatsApp Business app, the WhatsApp Business Platform lets you directly interact with customers around the world who use WhatsApp. But the platform can do it at a much larger scale, in a more automated way, and while connected to your other technology platforms and workflows. Using its APIs, businesses can connect thousands of agents and bots to interact with customers programmatically or manually.

3. There is a charge per conversation for using the WhatsApp Platform, while the WhatsApp Business app is free to download and use.

4. Your business will need developer resources or a Business Messaging Partner to implement the WhatsApp Business Platform, whereas you can download the WhatsApp Business app from your favorite app store.