WhatsApp Coexistence: WhatsApp Business App Users can Register for WhatsApp Cloud API using the Business App Account.

WhatsApp Business App users can register for the Cloud API using their business app account and operate both accounts together.

Amy Baker

Mar 18, 2025 • 6 min read

What’s the WhatsApp Coexistence Upgrade about?

As per a late February 2025 update note from WhatsApp (Meta), existing WhatsApp Business App users (Android/iOS) can now create WhatsApp Business (WABA) accounts using their WhatsApp Business App account and phone number without having to delete the existing business app from their phone or mobile device.

This feature is called Coexistence, it allows existing Business App users to operate their WhatsApp Business API accounts simultaneously. You can register for the WhatsApp Business API using your WhatsApp Business App account with official WhatsApp solution providers like Chakra WhatsApp. A solution like this will allow you to scale up your customer engagement and interactions using features such as a Shared Chat Inbox, Automated Broadcast Messages, Chatbots, Drip Campaigns, AI settings, and more.

How the Coexistence upgrade can help WhatsApp Business Users?

This coexistence upgrade has been a long-awaited one by millions of business app users to enable them with seamless registration to WhatsApp Cloud API.

Deleting a WhatsApp Business App account is Not Required: Previously, to register for WhatsApp Cloud API (Business API) with the same number as the WhatsApp Business app, one had to delete the Business App account/profile before registering for the WhatsApp API. With the new WhatsApp API coexistence upgrade, you no longer need to delete the WhatsApp business app account to register on WhatsApp API.

Maintain access to both WhatsApp Business App and API accounts together: Using the Coexistance upgrade WhatsApp Business App users can use both their business app and Cloud API accounts.

Easy Migration from Business App to Business API account: For WhatsApp Business App users, migration to a WhatsApp API account got easier. They can use the Whatsapp Business app phone or account to register for the WhatsApp Business API. This was earlier not possible and WhatsApp business app users had to delete their account to use the same number to register for WhatsApp API.

Automate interactions using CRM + WhatsApp API: With WhatsApp API, business app users can leverage the potential of key features like automating messaging and incoming chats with Chatbot. Businesses can operate at scale and automation which is not feasible in the WhatsApp Business App.

Sync chats between the WhatsApp business app and Business API: Users can sync all chats and messages over the past 6 months. There is also a real-time sync between both the Cloud API and WhatsApp Business App.

Will the Coexistence upgrade limit some functionalities of WhatsApp Business users?

Disappearing messages: Post the onboarding to WhatsApp API, Business App users won’t have the feature of disappearing messages available to them

View once message: WhatsApp features allow users to send photos, videos, or voice messages to disappear once the recipient has opened it once. This feature would no longer be available for 1:1 individual chat with WhatsApp coexistence onboarding.

Live location message: Live location feature enables users to share their live location on WhatsApp chat. This feature is not available for WhatsApp Business users who onboard for WhatsApp API using the coexistence capability.

Broadcast lists: Broadcast lists are saved contacts on WhatsApp where you can send messages to the entire list instead of selecting individual contacts. With WhatsApp Coexistence, the broadcast list will be disabled. Also, no new list can be created by business app users. The existing lists will remain as read-only.

Unsupported Countries for WhatsApp Coexistence mode

Countries Not Supported for WhatsApp Coexistence with phone numbers having the country codes from these countries:

Australia
India
Japan
Nigeria
Philippines
Russia
South Korea
South Africa
Turkey

The following regions also are not supported for the WhatsApp Coexistence mode. WhatsApp Business App numbers with country codes from the following regions are not part of the coexistence

European Economic Area
European Union
United Kingdom

Pricing for WhatsApp Coexistence

After onboarding to WhatsApp Cloud API using the coexistence mode, WhatsApp Business App users will continue to be Free as earlier. However, they will have to pay for chats and business-initiated messages in the Cloud API as per the standard conversion-based pricing model.

Complete list of Features and their status after WhatsApp API onboarding of WhatsApp Business app users using coexistence

Existing Features on WhatsApp Business App	WhatsApp Business App Feature Status AFTER onboarding to Cloud API	Is the WhatsApp Business app feature supported on Cloud API?
Individual chats (1:1)	Message Edit/Delete for Everyone will no longer supported.	Supported. All chat messages for 6 months syncd between business app and cloud API.
Contacts	Feature Active. No Change	Supported. All contacts with a WhatsApp number can be synchronized.
Group chats	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported. Group chats not synchronized.
Phone number hiding chats	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.
Disappearing messages	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.
View once message	Disabled for individual chats	Not supported.
Live location message	Disabled for individual chats	Not supported.
Broadcast lists	Disabled. Existing Lists read-only.	Not supported.
Voice and video calls	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.
Business tools (eg. catalog, orders, status)	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.
Messaging tools (eg. marketing, away messages, quick replies, etc)	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.
Business profile (eg. business name, address, website)	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.
WhatsApp Channels	Feature Active. No Change	Not supported.

How to Register your Business App account for WhatsApp API

Engage a WhatsApp Solution Provider who has enabled this capability to onboard to Cloud API using the existing Business App details. Chakra is a leading WhatsApp Solution provider (Meta Tech Partner). Using Chakra you can add an existing WhatsApp Business App connection using the embedded flow in the standard WhatsApp API. Following is the flow of connecting your business app with the cloud API.

Step 1: Choose the option to connect your existing WhatsApp Business App

Step 2: Once the Business App number has been shared, a QR code with instructions to share contact and chat history.

Step 3: A message is sent on the WhatsApp Business App with a confirmation code and a click to scan the QR code option.

Confirmation Code on existing Business App account

Step 4: Tapping the Scan QR code provides an option to share their WhatsApp Business app messaging history with you:

Step 5: Tapping the Scan QR code opens a page asking you to give the business permission to share its chat history with you.

Step 6: Once the Business App is connected with the Cloud API, the standard WhatsApp API flow takes over to complete the registration

Conclusion:

The addition of coexistence can be a real game-changer for businesses that can leverage advanced features of the cloud API, such as Shared Chat Inboxes, Broadcast messaging, Chatbots, Automated Lead Assignment, AI settings, etc. This would be ideal for businesses looking for more automated and high-scale operations. They can also connect their CRM with the WhatsApp Business API (Cloud API) to connect their WhatsApp Sales funnel with other channels.

Business App users who prefer to use the business app can continue to operate without much change in its core feature capability. This gives them the flexibility to operate in an omnichannel fashion as per preference.

Chakra WhatsApp, an Official WhatsApp Solution Provider can help you with many of the capabilities for WhatsApp Business App users desire in their Cloud API solution. Shared Chat Inbox, Automated Chat Assignment, Messaging Flow Sequences, Chatbot, AI Conversations, expansive CRM, a Mobile App to manage conversation on the go, and more.