Learn how to connect WhatsApp Business Platform to Crisp so WhatsApp messages can be handled from your shared Inbox.

Crisp is a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, which means you can connect a WhatsApp Business phone number to your Crisp workspace and manage WhatsApp conversations alongside your other channels. This guide covers the first connection, coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app, moving a number from another provider, adding numbers, templates, pay as you go billing, and useful next steps.

Use this guide to jump to the section you need:

• Connect WhatsApp Business Platform with Crisp → requirements and first setup
• Connect a WhatsApp Business App number with coexistence → keep using the mobile app while receiving messages in Crisp
• Use a number already connected to another provider → move to Crisp from another Business Solution Provider
• Manage your WhatsApp numbers and account → add numbers, reconnect, access Meta settings, and update profile details
• Use APIs, templates, and catalog templates → start with the API and send approved templates
• Understand WhatsApp pricing and pay as you go billing → message charges, free service messages, and spending limits
• Make the most of WhatsApp in Crisp → recommended next actions

Connect WhatsApp Business Platform with Crisp

Connecting WhatsApp lets your company build a shared inbox for WhatsApp Business and use Crisp features such as team collaboration, customer context, workflows, knowledge base articles, and AI assistance from the same place.

Requirements

Before connecting WhatsApp, make sure you have:

• A Crisp Essentials or Crisp Plus plan
• Owner access on the Crisp workspace
• A phone number you can verify by SMS or voice call
• Admin access to the relevant Meta business portfolio

Install the WhatsApp plugin

1. Go to Crisp.
2. Open Plugins → WhatsApp.
3. Install the WhatsApp plugin.

Connect your WhatsApp number

Every WhatsApp number is connected through the same Meta sign-up window, whether the number is new, already used in the WhatsApp Business app, or already connected to another provider. Meta detects which case applies from the phone number you enter.

1. Open the WhatsApp plugin settings and click Connect to WhatsApp.

2. A Facebook window opens. Log in with a Facebook account that is an admin of your Meta business portfolio, then review the permissions requested by Crisp.
3. Enter the business phone number you want to connect, or pick one from the dropdown, then choose to receive the verification code by text message or phone call.
4. Enter the verification code.
5. Select your business portfolio and WhatsApp account, or create new ones by entering your business name, country, and website.
6. Review the permissions summary, then click Finish.

Select and test your WhatsApp number

Once you click Finish, Crisp connects your account, registers your numbers on the WhatsApp Business Platform, and opens the Phone Numbers page.

On the Phone Numbers page, every number of your WhatsApp Business account is listed. If your account has a single number, it is connected automatically. Your team can only reply to messages from connected numbers.

For each number, you can:

• Connect Number → start receiving and replying to this number's messages in Crisp
• Disconnect Number → stop receiving this number's messages in Crisp
• Register Number → shown when Meta still needs the number to be registered. Click it to finish the setup, then connect the number
• QR code button → display a QR code and an invite link to start a WhatsApp chat with the number. Scan it from your phone to send a test message

Numbers that also use the WhatsApp Business app are labelled Also connected to the WhatsApp Business app.

Connect a WhatsApp Business App number with coexistence

Coexistence mode lets you connect an existing WhatsApp Business App phone number to Crisp while continuing to use the WhatsApp Business mobile app. This is useful when your team wants customer messages to appear in Crisp without changing how the mobile app is used.

What coexistence does

With coexistence, you can:

• Keep using the WhatsApp Business app → the mobile app remains available
• Receive new messages in Crisp → customer messages appear in your Crisp Inbox
• Sync app replies to Crisp → messages sent from the mobile app appear in the matching Crisp conversation

Connect in coexistence mode

1. In Plugins → WhatsApp, click Connect to WhatsApp. If WhatsApp is already connected, go to Phone Numbers and click Add Number instead.
2. Log in with Facebook, then enter the phone number registered in your WhatsApp Business app. Meta detects that the number uses the app and starts the coexistence flow.
3. Check the profile shown (picture, name, phone number, category, and website from the WhatsApp Business app) and confirm this is the account you want to connect.
4. Select your business portfolio, or create a new one.
5. Open the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and scan the QR code shown by Meta. Meta also sends a WhatsApp message to the number with a link to the QR code. If you cannot find it, open Settings → Account → Business platform in the app.

6. Confirm your account name, select the timezone of your business, then click Next.

7. Accept the terms, then click Finish.

You are redirected back to Crisp. The number appears on the Phone Numbers page with the Also connected to the WhatsApp Business app label. Make sure it is connected to start receiving WhatsApp messages.

After connecting coexistence

Once coexistence is active:

• New incoming messages appear in both the WhatsApp Business app and Crisp
• Messages sent from the app are synced to the corresponding Crisp conversation
• Messages sent from Crisp are delivered to the customer through WhatsApp
• Contacts are gradually synced to Crisp as conversations happen

Manage your WhatsApp numbers and account

Use the actions below when you need to add another number, refresh your connection, access WhatsApp Manager, or update profile details.

Add a new number

Once WhatsApp is connected, every new number is added to the WhatsApp Business account already connected to Crisp. You can add a brand-new number, a WhatsApp Business app number with coexistence, or a number already connected to another provider.

1. Open Plugins → WhatsApp → Phone Numbers and click Add Number.

2. In the Facebook window, enter the phone number you want to add and verify it with the code you receive by text message or phone call.
3. Your WhatsApp Business account already connected to Crisp is selected for you. Keep this selection, then click Finish.
4. Back in Crisp, the new number appears on the Phone Numbers page. Click Connect Number to start receiving its messages.

Reconnect your WhatsApp Business account

Open Plugins → WhatsApp → Connection Settings and click Reconnect to WhatsApp.

Reconnect when:

• A number is missing from the Phone Numbers page
• Permissions were revoked on Facebook
• You want to connect a different WhatsApp Business account to this workspace

Access WhatsApp Manager

1. Go to Meta Business Suite, select your business, then open Settings.
2. Open Accounts. Depending on whether your business has moved to Meta's new account structure, you will see WhatsApp Accounts only, or both WhatsApp Accounts (phone numbers and profile) and Messaging Accounts (templates and billing).

3. Select the account you want to manage, then click WhatsApp Manager.

Change your profile picture and display name

WhatsApp profile details are managed from WhatsApp Manager.

1. Open WhatsApp Manager using the steps above.
2. Go to Account Tools → Phone numbers.
3. Hover over the number you want to edit and click Edit the display name for this phone number, then follow Meta's approval process.

4. To change the profile image, click the settings cog on the same page, then open Profile. From there, you can update the picture, description, address, website, and other profile details.

5. Once WhatsApp approves the new display name, go back to Plugins → WhatsApp → Phone Numbers in Crisp. If a Register Number button appears next to the number, click it so the change can take effect.

Use APIs, templates, and catalog templates

Once your WhatsApp number is connected to Crisp, you can start using the API and approved message templates.

Start with the WhatsApp Business Platform API

A workspace owner can generate API tokens and set a callback URL from Plugins → WhatsApp → API Settings. The token key is only shown once, so save it in a secure place. All workspace owners are emailed when tokens are generated or revoked.

Create message templates

Message templates let you initiate conversations or reply after the 24-hour customer service window has closed. Templates must be created and approved in WhatsApp Manager before they can be sent from Crisp.

1. Open WhatsApp Manager for the account connected to Crisp.
2. Go to Account Tools → Message Templates.
3. Click Create Template.
4. Fill in the template details and submit the template.
5. Once Meta approves the template, you can send it directly from Crisp.

Format message template variables in Crisp

WhatsApp supports simple formatting inside message variables.

Supported variable formatting:

• Italic → wrap the text with underscores, such as _text_
• Bold → wrap the text with asterisks, such as *text*
• Strikethrough → wrap the text with tildes, such as ~text~
• Monospace → wrap the text with three backticks on each side

Send a catalog message template

1. Create a catalog in Meta Commerce Manager.
2. Link the catalog to your WhatsApp Business account.
3. Create a Marketing message template and select the product message option.
4. Wait for the template to be approved.
5. In the Crisp WhatsApp widget, select the approved template, fill in any message variables, then add the catalog content ID from the item you want to show in the message header.

Understand WhatsApp pricing and pay as you go billing

WhatsApp Business Platform charges are based on Meta's per-message pricing, the recipient's country, and the message category. As a Business Solution Provider, Crisp handles this billing for your workspace, and you only pay for what you use.

WhatsApp message types

There are two kinds of messages you can send:

• Service messages → free-form replies sent by an operator or a bot while the 24-hour customer service window is open
• Template messages → messages approved in advance by Meta, which can be sent at any time. Each template has a category chosen when it was created: Marketing, Utility, Authentication, or Authentication-international (only in some countries)

The 24-hour customer service window opens when a customer sends your business a message, and resets every time they send a new one. Outside this window, only templates can be sent.

What is charged

Each message is charged individually, based on its category and on the country code of the recipient's phone number.

For example, if you send a customer one marketing template, two utility templates, and three operator replies, you are charged for the three templates. The three replies use three of the number's 1,000 free service messages for the month.

Enable pay as you go and set a spending limit

Pay as you go is disabled by default. Only workspace owners can enable it or change the spending limit.

1. Open Plugins → WhatsApp → Billing & Usage.
2. Click Enable pay as you go.
3. Enter your monthly spending limit in EUR.
4. Click Enable pay as you go to save.

To change the limit later, enter a new amount and click Save spending limit. To disable pay as you go, set the limit to 0 and click Disable pay as you go. Anything already used during the current month is still invoiced.

How the spending limit works:

• It is a maximum, not a prepaid amount → you are only invoiced for what you actually used during the month
• It resets every month → usage starts again from zero on the 1st of each month, and the limit stays the same until an owner changes it
• It appears on your Crisp invoice → usage is added as a monthly Message Usage line

Track your usage

The Billing & Usage page shows:

• Usage & Billing → how much has been used this month compared to your spending limit
• Service message free tier → how many of the 1,000 free service messages each connected number has used this month

The final cost of a message is only confirmed once Meta reports it as sent, so the total can briefly lag behind messages that are on their way. For the same reason, usage can end up slightly above your limit.

Workspace owners are emailed when usage reaches 90% and 100% of the spending limit, and when a number reaches 90% and 100% of its free service messages.

What happens when a limit is reached

If pay as you go is disabled:

• Message templates cannot be sent → the widget shows an error, and the API returns a payment_required error
• Operators can keep replying for free until the number has used its 1,000 free service messages for the month. After that, replies are blocked and a note explains why in the conversation
• Incoming customer messages still arrive in Crisp

If the spending limit is reached:

• Message templates are blocked as soon as sending one would go over the limit
• Operator replies are blocked and a note explains why in the conversation
• Incoming customer messages still arrive in Crisp

Messages can be sent again as soon as an owner enables pay as you go or raises the spending limit, or when the next month starts.

Make the most of WhatsApp in Crisp

Once WhatsApp is connected, you can make the channel easier to handle by combining it with other Crisp tools.

Useful next steps:

• Adjust the plugin preferences → from Plugins → WhatsApp → Preferences, show operator names in WhatsApp messages, set the user language from their phone number, receive ad referral data as notes, and more
• Create message shortcuts → answer common WhatsApp questions faster
• Connect Instagram or Messenger → centralize more Meta messaging channels
• Build workflows → collect information and guide users before a teammate replies
• Create and send template messages → start or follow up on conversations with your own templates, directly from Crisp
• Send WhatsApp campaigns → send bulk WhatsApp messages with the WhatsApp Business Cloud API

Updated on: 07/10/2026