Is WhatsApp Business free in Singapore?

The app is. Meta says it's free to download, and messages you send from the app cost nothing. The Business Platform charges per message: as of November 2026, Meta's rate for a marketing message to a Singapore number is SGD 0.0937.

Can I use my personal WhatsApp number for WhatsApp Business?

Yes, but not on both apps at once. WhatsApp's help centre says one number can't run on WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business at the same time, so the number moves to the Business app and your chat history can move with it.

How many people can use one WhatsApp Business number?

On the app, WhatsApp's help centre allows the main phone plus up to four linked devices, and Meta says a Meta Verified business can link up to 10. For a bigger team, the Business Platform lets any number of people answer through a vendor's inbox.

Do I need the WhatsApp Business API?

Only if many people answer one number, you send messages at volume, or you need WhatsApp joined to other software. A small business answering its own enquiries is usually well served by the free app.

Can I send promotions to my customers on WhatsApp?

Yes, to customers who gave you their number and opted in, as WhatsApp's policy requires. Under Singapore's Do Not Call rules you also need either their clear consent on record or a fresh check of the register, and each message must say who you are and how to reach you.

How do I get the green tick on WhatsApp Business?

The badge is now a blue checkmark. On the Business Platform it comes with Official Business Account status, which Meta doesn't grant to Business app numbers. On the app, the badge comes with a Meta Verified subscription.

WhatsApp Business in Singapore: app, API and costs

What WhatsApp Business is

WhatsApp Business is the name for Meta's set of tools for businesses on WhatsApp. For a small business in Singapore, two of them matter.

The WhatsApp Business app is a separate app from the WhatsApp you use to chat with friends, and WhatsApp's help centre calls it "a free-to-download app" built "with the small business owner in mind", and it looks and works like normal WhatsApp. What it adds is a business profile, a catalogue and a handful of tools that help you answer faster.

The WhatsApp Business Platform is the paid version, which developers usually call the WhatsApp Business API. It has no app of its own: software connects to it and sends messages from your number, and Meta charges for each message delivered.

Meta's developer documentation now adds a third piece: Meta Business Agent, Meta's own AI agent. It runs inside the Business app or on the Business Platform, and the Business Platform pricing page bills it by the token.

	WhatsApp Business app	WhatsApp Business Platform (API)
What it is	An app on your phone	A connection that software uses
Cost	Free to download and to send from	Per message delivered, by category and country
Who answers	You, plus up to four linked devices	Any number of people, through a vendor's inbox or your own software
Writing first	Anyone who saved your number or opted in	Only with message templates Meta has approved
Getting started	Download, register your number, fill in the profile	A business portfolio, a phone number and a vendor or developer

One rule trips people up. WhatsApp's help centre says you can't use the same phone number on WhatsApp and the WhatsApp Business app at the same time. You can move a number from one to the other, but it lives in one place at a time.

App or Business Platform: which one your business needs

Most small businesses in Singapore should start on the free app. Pick it if most of these are true:

One or two people answer the chats.
Most chats start with a customer writing to you.
You follow up people you've already spoken to, by hand.
You send promotions to a short list of customers who asked for them.

Look at the Business Platform when the app starts to strain:

More than a few people need to answer the same number at once.
You send hundreds of order updates, reminders or one-time codes a day.
You want WhatsApp joined to your booking system, shop or customer records.
You need a chatbot or AI agent that follows rules you set in software.

Moving doesn't have to mean losing your app. Meta's developer documentation describes an option it calls coexistence: a vendor can connect your existing Business app number to the Cloud API, and you keep answering one-to-one from the app. Meta says the app and the API stay in sync, and messages you send from the app stay free.

The WhatsApp Business API guide covers the Business Platform in full. It sets out what you need, the limits a new number starts with and how to choose a vendor.

Set up the WhatsApp Business app, step by step

Meta's own get-started page lists the steps. Here they are, with what to fill in for a Singapore business:

Download WhatsApp Business from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, where Meta lists it as free.
Register your number. Pick +65 from the country list, type the number and confirm it with the code WhatsApp sends by SMS or call.
Moving from personal WhatsApp? The app can carry your chat history across, so back it up first.
Allow access to contacts and photos, so you can message saved customers and send pictures.
Fill in the business profile: name, category, a logo, a short description, your address and opening hours, email and website.
Write quick replies for the questions you answer every day: price, location, parking, how to book.
Turn on a greeting message for first-time chats and an away message for outside your hours.
Add labels for where each chat stands, such as New enquiry, Quote sent, Booked and Paid.

Then put the number where customers look. Meta lists QR codes, short links and the message buttons on your Facebook Page and Instagram profile as free ways in. The WhatsApp link generator makes a chat link and a QR code for your shopfront, receipts and name cards.

WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy asks for customer support contact details on your profile, kept up to date. A complete profile is part of the rules.

What the app does, and where it runs out

The app's tools are simple, and they cover a lot. These are the ones Meta lists on its features page:

A business profile with your hours, address, website and logo.
A catalogue of products or services, with links you can share on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram.
A greeting message for new chats and an away message outside business hours.
Quick replies for the answers you type most.
Labels to sort and filter chats.
Broadcasts, to announce an offer to many customers at once.

Business Broadcasts are newer. Meta's features page says they can reach people even if they haven't saved your number. You can schedule them, and add Book, Order or Call buttons. Meta also says they're "available to eligible users in select countries", so check inside your app before you plan around them.

Meta Business Agent is the other new arrival. You set it up under Tools in the Business app. Meta says it learns from your past chats, your website and your catalogue. It answers customers and hands the chat to you on topics you flag. Meta's page says it's available "to eligible businesses in select markets", and Meta's Meta One page says it's free each month up to an included allowance.

The limits show up when the business grows:

WhatsApp's help centre says every account can link up to four extra devices to the main phone. Meta's features page says a Meta Verified business can link up to 10 devices and agents.
The main phone has to stay in use. WhatsApp's help centre says linked devices log out if the phone isn't used for over 14 days.
There's no way to pass a chat to a colleague, see who's answering, or count how long customers waited.
Nothing follows up for you. A customer who goes quiet stays quiet unless someone remembers.

What WhatsApp Business costs in Singapore

Meta's get-started page lists the Business app as free to download. Meta's developer documentation adds that messages sent from the app aren't charged, even after the same number joins the Cloud API.

The Business Platform is paid. As of November 2026, Meta's pricing documentation (updated 30 September 2026) says Meta charges per message delivered, and the rate depends on the message's category and the country of the person receiving it. Meta added Singapore dollars as a billing currency on 1 April 2026.

These are Meta's own rates for messages to Singapore numbers, from its rate card effective 1 October 2026:

Message category	What it's for	Meta's rate per message, SGD	In USD
Marketing	Offers, promotions, invitations	SGD 0.0937	USD 0.0732
Utility	Order updates, booking confirmations, reminders	SGD 0.0205	USD 0.016
Authentication	One-time passcodes	SGD 0.0205	USD 0.016
Service	Replies a person or bot sends after the customer writes in	SGD 0.0205 after the first 1,000 a month	USD 0.016

As of November 2026, three details change the bill:

Service messages were free until 30 September 2026. Since 1 October 2026, Meta gives each business phone number 1,000 service messages a month at no charge, then charges per message.
Utility messages sent while the customer service window is open are charged again from 1 October 2026, Meta's documentation says.
Meta Business Agent is billed at USD 2.00 per million tokens. Meta's own estimate is about 4 to 5 US cents a message.

Vendors who connect you to the Business Platform usually add their own monthly fee on top. Meta's FAQ says there's no fee to access the Business Platform directly, and that partners "may charge additional fees". The WhatsApp API pricing guide works through a month's bill for a small business.

The green tick, the blue tick and Meta Verified

People still ask for the WhatsApp green tick. Meta's developer documentation now describes a blue checkmark. A Business Platform number that's an Official Business Account shows a blue checkmark beside its name.

Two things surprise Business app users. Meta's documentation says it doesn't grant Official Business Account status to WhatsApp Business app numbers at all, so on the app the badge comes from somewhere else: Meta Verified, a paid subscription that Meta's features page lists with impersonation protection and priority support. Meta's Meta One page says Meta is bringing Meta Verified into a new subscription called Meta One.

The green tick guide covers the criteria and how to apply.

The Singapore rules for promotions

Two sets of rules apply when a Singapore business sends promotions on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp's own rules come first. Its Business Messaging Policy, last updated 23 September 2026, says you may only contact people who "have given you their mobile phone number" and who have given you "opt-in permission". It also says you must respect every request to stop, on WhatsApp or anywhere else.

Singapore's Do Not Call rules are Part 9 of the Personal Data Protection Act. They cover a "specified message": one whose purpose, or one of whose purposes, is to offer, supply, advertise or promote goods or services. Before you send one to a Singapore number, section 43 says you need one of these:

a check against the Do Not Call Register, made within the prescribed duration before you send, showing the number isn't listed, or
the person's "clear and unambiguous consent", kept "in written or other form".

Section 44 adds that each promotion must say clearly who sent it and how to reach that business. The PDPC's Do Not Call pages set out the checking window and how to check numbers.

A reply to a customer who asked about your prices is a different thing from a promotion, and so is a booking confirmation. When one message mixes the two, treat the whole thing as a promotion. This is a summary, not legal advice.

Mistakes that get a business number restricted

WhatsApp's policy says people "can block or report businesses", and its systems "may limit the amount of messages a business can send" based on that feedback. These habits bring the blocks and reports:

Sending a promotion to every contact on the phone.
Adding a promotion to an order update and calling it an order update.
Ignoring someone who replied STOP.
Asking for an NRIC number or a full card number. The policy says not to ask for personal ID card numbers or "other sensitive identifiers".
Running automation with no way to reach a person. The policy says automated replies need "prompt, clear, and direct escalation paths", such as a hand-over to a human or a phone number.
Linking the account to a tool WhatsApp doesn't support.

That last one needs a straight answer. WhatsApp's help centre says "linking your device through unofficial apps or websites may put your account at risk", and that linking to one "may result in a temporary or permanent account ban". Ask any tool you connect exactly how it links your number before you scan its code.

Made-up example: Mei runs a two-person aircon servicing firm on the WhatsApp Business app.

Her quick replies cover the four things customers ask: the price per unit, the next free slots, the areas she covers and how to pay.

A greeting answers first-time chats and an away message covers closed hours, and labels show which quotes are still open.

In March she tags 40 past customers who ticked "send me offers" on her job sheet and broadcasts a chemical-wash promotion with her business name, number and "Reply STOP to opt out".

By June the enquiries come in faster than she can answer. Her technician needs to see the chats too, while quotes go unanswered whenever she's on a job.

That's the moment the free app stops being enough. The fix isn't more broadcasts, it's more hands on the same number.

When the replies outgrow one phone

You've outgrown the app when the chats you miss cost more than the time you save. Watch for these signs:

First replies wait until the next day.
Two people answer from two phones and nobody sees the other's chats.
You type the same price answer twenty times a day.
Leads who go quiet never hear from you again.

There are three ways forward. Stay on the app and add a person. Move to the Business Platform through a vendor, with templates and per-message fees. Or link a tool to the number you already use.

Palby AI Agent, which we make, is the third kind. It isn't the Business Platform, and it isn't one of Meta's partners. Your number links by QR code as a linked device through a third-party service called Green API. That means no Business API to apply for and no new number. An AI agent answers your enquiries in your words, books the good ones and hands the hot ones to a person in a team inbox. WhatsApp's warning about unofficial apps applies to it too, so read how it links and sends before you decide.

30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.

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