A regular number connects in a couple of minutes and stays on your phone. You need the Business API if you want to message clients first and send broadcasts. Here is how to choose, and when it makes sense to have both.
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When a business connects WhatsApp to a CRM, the first question is usually this: connect your regular number, or go straight to the official WhatsApp Business API? The answer decides whether you can send broadcasts, whether the number stays on your phone and what you can hand over to AI.
In short: if clients message you first, start with your regular number. If you need to message clients first, send reminders and broadcasts, you will need the Business API. Many businesses use both, on two different numbers.
How they differ
| Regular number | WhatsApp Business API | |
|---|---|---|
| Connecting | With a QR code, like WhatsApp Web, in a couple of minutes | Through a Meta partner or your own Meta app |
| The number on your phone | Stays as it is | Through a partner, stays in the WhatsApp Business app |
| Answering clients | Yes | Yes |
| Messaging first | No, replies only | To clients who agreed, with approved messages |
| Broadcasts and reminders | No | Yes |
| WhatsApp groups | Yes | No |
A regular number: when it is enough
A regular number works well if clients get in touch with you themselves: from your website, an ad, a business card or a recommendation. You connect the number you already have, the one your clients know. There is nothing to register, and the number keeps working on your phone.
On a regular number, CRAIM's AI employee answers everyone who writes, within seconds, day and night. It does not message first, and that is deliberate: WhatsApp does not like broadcasts from regular numbers and may block them. Replying to clients is never a problem.
A regular number has another advantage: groups work with it. If you talk to clients in group chats, those will show up in the CRM too, and when someone mentions a colleague with @, that person gets a notification.
The Business API: when you need it
You need the official API if you are the one who has to message clients first:
- Broadcasts. Offers, news and event invitations for people who agreed to get them.
- Reminders. About an appointment or a payment, or a nudge to a client who has gone quiet.
- Winning clients back. A message to people who were interested once and then disappeared.
WhatsApp sets the rules here. You can only message people who have agreed, and only with a message WhatsApp has approved in advance. In CRAIM you can write that message right in your account, send it for approval and schedule the broadcast. A client can unsubscribe at any time just by replying.
WhatsApp charges for the messages you send first, at its own rates. Replying to a client who wrote to you works as usual.
Will the number stay on my phone?
This is what people worry about most, and there is no need to. In CRAIM the Business API connects through a Meta partner, 360dialog, and the number stays in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone. You can reply from the phone or from the CRM, and the conversation shows up in both.
If you connect the API directly through your own Meta app, the number will only work through the API and will no longer open on the phone. That option suits businesses that already have a Meta app set up.
Often it is best to have both
Many businesses keep two numbers. Clients write to the regular one, where the AI answers and groups work. Broadcasts, reminders and messages to clients who have gone quiet go out from the official one. Both numbers are connected to the same CRM, and a client from either one ends up in the same card.
How it looks in CRAIM
Whichever number you choose, every new chat automatically becomes a client and a deal in your pipeline. The whole team works with the number from the CRM, the AI employee answers within seconds, and messages from Telegram and email arrive in the same inbox.
See the WhatsApp CRM and its plans. The first 14 days are free, no card required.
Common questions
- What is the difference between the WhatsApp Business API and a regular number?
- A regular number can only reply to people who message you first. On the other hand, it connects with a QR code in a couple of minutes, stays on your phone and works with groups. The Business API lets you message first and send broadcasts and reminders to clients who agreed, using messages WhatsApp has approved.
- Can I connect the WhatsApp Business API and keep the number on my phone?
- Yes, if you connect through a Meta partner. In CRAIM that is 360dialog: the number stays in the WhatsApp Business app, and you can reply from the phone or from the CRM.
- Can I send broadcasts from a regular WhatsApp number?
- It is better not to: WhatsApp may block a regular number for sending broadcasts. In CRAIM broadcasts go only through the Business API and only to clients who agreed. A client can unsubscribe just by replying.
- How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?
- WhatsApp charges for the messages you send first, at its own rates. Replies to a client who wrote to you are not part of that. The connection is paid to the partner at its prices, while the CRM, the team and the AI employee are in your CRAIM plan, from $9 a month.
- Can I connect two WhatsApp numbers to one CRM?
- Yes. For example, a regular number for incoming chats and groups, and an official one for broadcasts. A client from either number ends up in the same card.