How to Integrate WhatsApp API With Your CRM

Quick answer: To integrate WhatsApp API with a CRM, you need a Meta business portfolio, a phone number that is not already on WhatsApp, and a route in: the CRM's own WhatsApp channel, a Business Solution Provider such as Wati, Interakt or AiSensy, or Meta's Cloud API directly. Then you get message templates approved and map replies to CRM records. India-specific deadline: Meta says eligible Indian accounts must move to INR billing by 31 December 2026.

How we researched this: We read Meta's developer documentation (getting started, phone numbers, messaging limits, pricing) and its WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, the WhatsApp help pages of HubSpot, Zoho and Freshworks, and the pricing pages of Wati, Interakt, AiSensy, Kylas, Cratio and TeleCRM. Everything is as checked in October 2026.

Three ways to connect WhatsApp to a CRM

A BSP route often wins for Indian SMBs because it includes the shared inbox. If you are comparing providers, our WhatsApp Business API providers in India and Wati vs Zoko guides go further.

Step 0: what Meta and WhatsApp require before you start

A business portfolio and admin access. Meta's getting-started guide says you create or select a business portfolio when you create the app. HubSpot's help adds that you need admin permission for your company's Meta Business Manager account, plus your legal company name, a WhatsApp display name, a website URL and a business email.

A suitable phone number. Meta's phone number page says numbers already in use with WhatsApp cannot be registered unless they are deleted first, numbers must be verified with a code sent by SMS or voice call, and landline and toll-free numbers can be used (voice OTP is the standard route for them). A number behind an IVR can be registered but must be able to accept calls from international numbers. New business portfolios are initially capped at two registered business phone numbers, which Meta raises to 20 when the business is verified or reaches a messaging limit of 2,000. HubSpot's page adds that a number connected to the WhatsApp Business App, another integration or another WhatsApp account must be disconnected first.

Realistic sending limits. Meta's messaging-limits document says newly created business portfolios have a limit of 250 unique users outside customer service windows per rolling 24 hours. Business verification, or sending 2,000 delivered high-quality template messages over a 30-day period, is a path to 2,000; above that, scaling is automatic as long as quality stays high. If you plan a 5,000-person broadcast on day one, you will be blocked by this limit, not by the CRM.

Permission to message people. The WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy says you may contact people only if they have given you their number and "you have received opt-in permission from the recipient confirming that they wish to receive subsequent messages". It leaves the method to you, suggests separate opt-in by message category, and requires you to honour opt-outs. Capture the opt-in on the web form, at the shop counter or on the call, and store it as a field in the CRM. For the data-protection side, see our DPDP Act compliance software guide.

The setup, step by step

Route A: through the CRM or a BSP (the common one).

1. Open the WhatsApp section in your CRM or BSP settings and start a new connection. HubSpot's help describes a pop-up Meta setup window in which you choose a business portfolio and WhatsApp Business account and add or pick a phone number.
2. Verify the number with the code Meta sends, approve the permissions requested, and choose the inbox or channel to connect it to.
3. Submit message templates. Meta must approve them, and Freshworks' help notes your business must follow the WhatsApp Business Policy and Commerce Policy.
4. Map the sender to a CRM owner or team so that new chats create or update a lead.
5. Send a test message to your own phone, reply, and check that the reply lands on the right record.

Two practical cautions from vendor help pages: HubSpot says only new messages after connecting sync, so you will not see old chats; Freshworks says previous WhatsApp contacts will not appear on the integration, and advises backing up before deleting. HubSpot now offers a "coexistence" mode that lets one number run in the WhatsApp Business App and HubSpot together and imports the last 180 days of history, but it requires the same Marketing Hub or Service Hub Professional or Enterprise subscription.

Route B: direct Cloud API. Meta's guide has seven steps: create a Meta app with the WhatsApp use case, connect a messaging account, send a test message with a temporary token, set up a webhook for delivery and read status, create a permanent access token through a system user with the business_management, whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management permissions, send a non-template message inside a 24-hour window, and confirm delivery on the webhook. Meta warns the temporary token "expires quickly and is not suitable for development purposes".

What it costs in 2027: Meta's fees plus the provider's

Meta's model. Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered message, by category (marketing, utility, authentication, service) and by the recipient's country. Replies in a 24-hour customer service window are service messages. Meta's pricing page says each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages per month from 1 October 2026, and that businesses without a payment method on file may lose service-message delivery after the free tier is used. A "free entry point" window, which Meta's developer documentation says can stay open up to 7 days, makes messages free after a customer starts a chat from a Click to WhatsApp ad (the WhatsApp Business website describes it as 72 hours, so ask your provider which applies to you). India has its own rate row: Meta lists the India marketing rate as raised effective 1 January 2026.

INR billing deadline. Meta's page says billing localisation for India launched on 1 January 2026 for solution providers and directly integrated businesses whose Sold-To country is India. They must migrate all messaging accounts to INR by 31 December 2026, or Meta will stop delivering messages from non-INR accounts from 1 January 2027. Currency cannot be changed once selected. If you integrate directly, check this now; if you use a BSP, ask the provider to confirm how it is handling it.

Provider pricing pages (rupees). The three providers below publish INR prices on their pricing pages:

None of these pages states whether per-message rates include a provider markup over Meta's rate card, so ask for that in writing. Extra agents cost money too: Wati lists additional users at ₹1,299 (Pro) or ₹2,199 (Business) per user per month.

CRM by CRM: what each says about WhatsApp

• Zoho CRM: Zoho's WhatsApp page says you can create templates inside the CRM, get notifications when a customer messages, use predefined replies and put WhatsApp notifications into workflow rules. It does not state edition, pricing or credits on that page, so confirm them in a trial. Zoho Bigin lists email and WhatsApp Business integration from its Express plan.
• HubSpot CRM: channel needs Marketing Hub or Service Hub Professional or Enterprise; up to 25 numbers per WhatsApp Business account; 24-hour sessions; 1,000 template messages a month shared across connected accounts per HubSpot's help.
• Freshsales: Freshworks describes itself as an official BSP and says you can add a maximum of 25 numbers.
• Kylas CRM: its free Embark plan excludes WhatsApp; the Elevate plan lists WhatsApp, telephony and SMS.
• Cratio: its single plan lists WhatsApp Business API with shared team inbox, templates, campaigns and chatbot, at ₹799 per user per month billed annually (the page also showed a limited-time ₹399 "lifetime" offer), with 18% GST extra per its page.
• TeleCRM: ₹799 per user per month billed annually, a ₹1,999 one-time WhatsApp API setup charge and a ₹200 per user per month Chat Sync add-on.
• LeadSquared: its education page lists WhatsApp Business API connection with pre-approved templates and multi-conversation tracking.

Setting up a shared inbox that works

A multi-agent WhatsApp inbox is only useful if ownership is clear. Decide before launch: which team receives new chats, whether assignment is round robin or by product line, what happens outside office hours, and who owns a chat when the customer replies two days later. Wati lists round-robin assignment on its Business plan, Interakt lists chat auto-assignment on Advanced, and HubSpot's workflow tools rotate record owners on Sales Hub Professional. Put a first-response target in writing; our guide to speed to lead shows why the first hour decides most enquiries, and WhatsApp follow-up automation shows what to automate afterwards.

A one-week rollout for a 25-person Pune distributor

• Day 1: Collect the Meta admin login, a spare SIM or landline that is not on WhatsApp, and the business documents.
• Day 2: Connect the number through your chosen route; verify; set the display name.
• Day 3: Submit five templates: order confirmation, dispatch update, payment reminder, new-lead welcome, and follow-up. Keep them factual; templates are reviewed by Meta.
• Day 4: Add an opt-in field to your lead form and counter register; import existing consenting customers only.
• Day 5: Test with three staff, fix routing.
• Day 6–7: Go live with one team; watch the quality rating, first-response time and opt-outs before adding broadcasts.

More patterns: selling on WhatsApp with a CRM, daily automated follow-ups, and regional-language templates in our guide to CRMs in Hindi, Marathi and Tamil. Browse WhatsApp automation tools and CRM software.

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