whatsapp business API

What is the MM Lite API feature in the WhatsApp Business Platform

MM Lite (Marketing Messages Lite) is Meta's high-performance API for sending marketing messages over WhatsApp. It's designed to send marketing messages at scale, offering features like higher delivery rates compared to the existing Cloud API

Amy Baker

• 2 min read

The MM Lite API (Marketing Message Lite API) is a recent feature release in the WhatsApp Business API platform. It refers to the optimized and lightweight message delivery and retry mechanism used to handle sending, queuing, and retrying messages in environments, and enhance the customer experience for businesses compared to the cloud API.

What Is MM Lite API?

  • A simplified, stateless version of the Message Manager
  • Designed to send and manage WhatsApp messages without needing a persistent database
  • It is a default setup in WhatsApp Cloud API and available in on-premise (soon to be deprecated) deployments that want to avoid a full MM setup

Key Feature Highlights

  • Message Submission: Accepts and processes outgoing messages
  • Retries: Automatically retries failed message deliveries within limits
  • Queue Handling: Maintains in-memory queues for short-term message management
  • No Database: Works without a MySQL or PostgreSQL backend
  • Session Handling: Handles session vs non-session messages with basic rules

How Does It Work (Technical Flow)

Traditional Media API: Upload Media → Get Media ID → Send Message with ID

MM Lite API: Send Message + Media File in a single Request → WhatsApp Delivers Instantly

Key Components:

  • Media Handle: A temporary reference ID returned after upload (valid 24 hours).
  • Direct Attachment: The file binary is sent via multipart/form-data in the same API call.
  • No Persistence: Media is not stored on Meta’s servers after delivery.

Use Case Fit

  • Ideal for small to medium-scale businesses
  • Quick deployments and low infrastructure overhead
  • Customer Support: Share troubleshooting images/PDFs
  • E-commerce: Live Commerce with product visuals on Chat
  • Finance: Instant invoices/receipts post delivery
  • Developing Markets: Optimized for low-bandwidth zones.
  • Instant Notifications: Promo messages with images (e.g., flash sales)

Key Advantages :

Feature

MM Lite API

Traditional Media API

Media Storage

❌ Not stored

✅ Stored (duration 3-30 days)

Upload Steps

Single step

Multiple steps

Cost Efficiency

Yes (no storage fees)

Higher Cost

Delivery Speed

Quicker

Relatively Slower

Use Cases

Time-sensitive, high-volume

Long-term reusable media 

Key Limitations:

  • File Size: Limited to up to 5 MB (smaller than the 16MB standard API limit).
  • Media Types: Images (image/jpeg, image/png), Audio, Documents (PDF, spreadsheets).
  • Persistence: Media expires after 24 hours. The media is not reusable
  • Custom Retry: Not Available
  • Templates: Cannot be used in message templates.
  • Advanced Features Limited: Lacks analytics, tagging, and prioritization

When to Use MM Lite API?

  • For a fast, easy-to-deploy messaging backend
  • No requirement for detailed tracking or long-term message persistence
  • You're using WhatsApp Cloud API

When should you upgrade to a Full Message Manager?

  • You need advanced control, retry policies, and high reliability
  • You are sending thousands of messages per day, with higher message volumes
  • Your business needs detailed tracking and reporting

How can partners benefit?

  • Cost Savings: Reduced data infrastructure/storage costs.
  • Speed: Enhanced customer experience with near-instant media sharing
  • Competitive Edge: Offer optimized solutions for high-volume/emerging-market clients.

Footnote: Insights from an AB test conducted with ~12 million delivered marketing messages sent by advertisers in India between 1st Jan 2025 to 31st Jan 2025. It compared MM Lite API optimized delivery to standard CloudAPI delivery for high engagement messages only (i.e., higher reads, clicks, etc.), and the analysis consisted of a t-test at 95% confidence.