--- title: "WhatsApp API Now Available in Ayrshare: Send and Receive WhatsApp Messages" description: "The Ayrshare API now includes WhatsApp. Send messages, receive incoming messages and media, and retrieve conversations through the Messaging API. Request access." canonical: https://www.ayrshare.com/blog/whatsapp-api-launch/ lastModified: 2026-08-31 pageType: blog --- # WhatsApp API Now Available in Ayrshare: Send and Receive WhatsApp Messages Author: Ayrshare Team Published: 2026-08-26 > The Ayrshare API now includes WhatsApp. Send messages, receive incoming messages and media, and retrieve conversations through the Messaging API. Request access. The Ayrshare API now includes WhatsApp. The Messaging API, which already handles DMs on Instagram, Facebook, and X, now supports WhatsApp too. If you send DMs through Ayrshare now, WhatsApp works the same way. WhatsApp has been the most requested messaging channel since we launched the Messaging API, and for good reason: in most of the world, it’s where customers expect to talk to a business. Email [lotty@ayrshare.com](mailto:lotty@ayrshare.com) to get WhatsApp enabled on your account. ## What the WhatsApp API Supports WhatsApp covers the core conversation loop between your business and your customers: ![whatsapp-embedded-signup](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftd4n5q6/production/e6be0b369c58d246141fe501885774f9033488f1-1600x764.png) **Link a WhatsApp Business Account through Meta’s embedded signup flow.** Your users connect their own WhatsApp Business Account inside the flow, which walks them through selecting or creating their Meta Business Manager, WABA, and phone number, and accepting Meta’s terms. Ayrshare then verifies ownership, completes registration, and subscribes the account to webhooks. You never build the Meta integration or handle a registration PIN. **Send free-form WhatsApp messages during the 24-hour customer service window.** When a customer messages a business on WhatsApp, Meta opens a 24-hour window in which the business can reply with free-form text. The Messaging API sends those replies programmatically, which is what a support product, CRM, or AI agent needs to hold a real conversation. **Receive incoming WhatsApp messages and media.** Inbound texts, images, and other media arrive through the API, so your product sees the full conversation rather than the half it sends. **Retrieve stored WhatsApp conversations.** Pull conversation history for context, threading, analytics, or grounding an AI agent in how a business actually talks to its customers. ## What Is the 24-Hour Customer Service Window? ![whatsapp 24 hours service window](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftd4n5q6/production/a2939a6d7c33c77727dafd59b4d5382972aa2cbc-1600x668.png) The customer service window is a WhatsApp Business Platform rule: after a customer messages a business, the business has 24 hours to reply with free-form messages. Outside that window, Meta requires pre-approved template messages. If you’re new to the WhatsApp Business API, this rule shapes everything you build. WhatsApp messaging on Ayrshare focuses on messaging inside the window, which covers the highest-value use case: responding to customers who reach out. Support conversations, sales follow-ups, order questions, AI-agent replies. If a customer messaged you, you can answer them through the API. ## Why Add WhatsApp to a Social Media API? ![whatsapp-messaging-api-channel](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/ftd4n5q6/production/b04ef2bd431fe9f32d4387b3a5578118f755bbca-1600x740.png) Most platforms force you to use different vendors for social publishing and customer messaging. But splitting them up just creates more technical debt: another integration to maintain, a new webhook format to parse, and yet another token refresh cycle to manage. Ayrshare’s Messaging API already handles DMs for Instagram, Facebook, and X. Now, we’re adding the biggest one of them all. With 3.3 billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is massive. Adding it into Ayrshare brings our single, streamlined integration to the channel where real customer conversations actually happen globally. If you’re building AI agents, this setup is a no-brainer. To work properly, an agent needs to catch inbound messages, understand the context, and reply on time. Ayrshare’s WhatsApp integration covers all the bases: inbound messages and media, easy retrieval of past conversations, and free-form outbound replies. ## Who Should Use the WhatsApp API WhatsApp messaging is a fit if you’re building: - **Customer support or inbox products** that need WhatsApp alongside Instagram and Facebook DMs - **AI agents** that respond to customer messages, with conversation history available for context - **Multi-tenant SaaS platforms** whose users connect their own WhatsApp Business Accounts through embedded signup - **CRMs and sales workflows** where WhatsApp is where the customer already is ## How to Get WhatsApp API Access WhatsApp is available on plans that include the Messaging API, and we enable it per account while we scale up. Email [lotty@ayrshare.com](mailto:lotty@ayrshare.com) with a short note on what you’re building. Setup steps, WhatsApp-specific behavior, and media limits live in the [Messages API docs](/docs/apis/messages/overview). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the Ayrshare API support WhatsApp? Yes. The Ayrshare Messaging API supports WhatsApp. Approved accounts can send free-form messages during the 24-hour customer service window, receive incoming messages and media, and retrieve stored conversations. ### What can I do with the Ayrshare WhatsApp API? You can link a WhatsApp Business Account through Meta’s embedded signup flow, send free-form messages inside the 24-hour window, receive incoming messages and media, and retrieve stored WhatsApp conversations, all through the same Messaging API that handles Instagram, Facebook, and X DMs. ### What is the 24-hour customer service window in the WhatsApp Business API? After a customer messages a business, WhatsApp allows the business to reply with free-form messages for 24 hours. Outside that window, Meta requires pre-approved template messages. Ayrshare currently covers free-form messaging inside the window. ### How do users connect their WhatsApp Business Account? Through Meta’s embedded signup flow, which runs inside your product. It walks the user through selecting or creating their Business Manager, WABA, and phone number, then Ayrshare completes registration automatically. ### Is WhatsApp messaging generally available for all Ayrshare customers? WhatsApp is in private beta and enabled per account. Access is granted on request while we scale capacity, and the API and docs are stable enough to build against today. ### Does the WhatsApp API support template messages? Not yet. Template sending, which Meta requires for messages outside the 24-hour window, isn’t currently exposed through Ayrshare. If templates matter for your use case, mention it when you request access. ### How do I get WhatsApp enabled on my Ayrshare account? Email [lotty@ayrshare.com](mailto:lotty@ayrshare.com) with your use case. Access is granted per account.