There are two ways to make WhatsApp reply automatically. The official one is Meta's WhatsApp Business API, through an approved provider. The other is to connect the number you already use as a linked device — the same mechanism as WhatsApp Web. QwikChat uses the second.
This page explains the difference including the parts that don't favour us, because this decision is too expensive to make from a brochure.
| Capability | QwikChat | The alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Minutes — scan a QR | Days to weeks: business verification, name review, template approval |
| Number | The number your customers already have | Usually a new one |
| Per-message fee to Meta | None | Yes, per conversation, plus tax |
| Monthly platform cost | Tens of thousands of rupiah | Hundreds of thousands to millions |
| Official green tick | No | Yes |
| Message template restrictions | None | Marketing messages need approval |
| Standing with Meta | Unregulated — see the risk section | Official and contracted |
| Suitable for blasting strangers | No — and we don't sell it for that | Yes, with approved templates |
As of August 2026. Meta's fees and provider pricing change periodically — confirm with the provider.
The maths for a small shop
The official route has two cost layers: a platform subscription to the provider, plus a per-conversation fee to Meta. For a shop with hundreds of conversations a month, the second layer alone can exceed the entire subscription cost on the unofficial route.
That's why a product like this can exist at tens of thousands of rupiah: there are no per-message fees to pass on. If someone offers AI at that price while claiming the official API, ask who is absorbing Meta's conversation fees.
What changed in Meta's policy, January 2026
Since 15 January 2026, the WhatsApp Business Solution terms prohibit providers of general-purpose AI — large language models and general AI assistants — from accessing the service where that AI is the primary functionality offered. Several major AI assistants were removed from WhatsApp under this rule, and Brazil's competition authority ordered the policy suspended pending an investigation.
A merchant's own AI bot remains permitted. But the direction is worth noting if you're choosing: AI platforms built on the official API depend on a permission Meta has already shown it will revoke unilaterally. QwikChat sits outside the Business Solution, so that rule doesn't reach us — and in exchange we carry a different risk, set out below.
When the Business API is what you need
If you need the official green tick — because your customers need proof the account really belongs to your company — only the official route provides it. There's no shortcut.
If you send marketing at volume to people who have never contacted you, the official route is the only way to do it without burning your number. We don't sell QwikChat for that.
If you have compliance obligations, need a contractual SLA, or your company is large enough that the monthly cost isn't a consideration, the official route offers guarantees we can't.
In short
If you sell over chat from a number your customers have already saved, your conversations number in the hundreds rather than the tens of thousands, and the green tick isn't a requirement — the unofficial route is far cheaper and can be running this afternoon.
If any one of those three doesn't hold for you, the official route is the right answer and you should go there. We'd rather you chose with the full numbers than signed up and regretted it.
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