WhatsApp coexistence or a new API number: how to choose

Your business already answers customers on the WhatsApp Business app. Now your team wants the API, for example to send Meta-approved templates. This guide compares two routes. You can keep your number and add the API with coexistence, or start a new number on the API. It helps you choose.

In short: Keep your number with coexistence if customers already know it and someone still replies from the phone. Start a new API number to leave your main number alone or to apply for the blue tick, which Meta’s Groups API also needs. Either way, Meta bills messages sent through the API.

Two ways to bring a number onto the API

Coexistence runs one number on the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API at once. Messages stay in sync between the two. The owner keeps the phone, and a team answers the same customers from an inbox. The Business app must be version 2.24.17 or later. Meta’s coexistence guide sets out the rules.

A new API number is on the API from the start. It has no chat history, and your customers have not saved it yet. Your team works it from an inbox and sends Meta-approved templates to start chats. You can also apply for the Official Business Account badge later.

Risponse supports both, alongside numbers linked by QR code. For a closer look at each, see WhatsApp coexistence and WhatsApp Business API.

Coexistence vs a new API number at a glance

Each row is explained further down.

When to keep your number with coexistence

Coexistence is usually the better pick if:

• Customers already have your number. Changing it means asking everyone to save a new one.
• Someone still replies from the phone. An owner can keep the Business app while the team works the same chats.
• Recent chats matter. Up to 180 days of one-to-one history comes across, so the team starts with context.
• Most of your work is one-to-one. Groups stay in the app and do not sync.

The catch is that Meta changes a few things in the app. The API side also cannot do everything the app does. Read the trade-offs below before you switch.

When to start with a new API number

A new number gives you the API without touching your main number. It is usually the better pick if:

• You plan to apply for the blue tick. Meta does not give Official Business Account status to Business app numbers.
• You want groups on the API. Coexistence numbers cannot use groups through the API. On a new API number, Meta’s Groups API needs an Official Business Account first.
• You want outreach kept apart. The Risponse best-practices guide suggests a separate number for outreach.
• You want the app left alone. Your main number keeps broadcast lists, disappearing messages and every other app feature.

A new number in the same business portfolio does not give you room to message more people, though. Meta sets messaging limits per business portfolio, and all its numbers share them. New portfolios start at 250 unique recipients in a rolling 24-hour period. The limit rises with verification, message quality and volume.

The trade-offs in detail

Chat history

With coexistence, up to 180 days (about six months) of one-to-one chats can sync. Group chats are left out. Contacts that have a WhatsApp number can sync too.

Meta gives you 24 hours after setup to sync the history. If you miss it, you have to disconnect and start again. A new API number starts with no history, and old chats stay with your existing number.

What changes in the Business app

Once a number runs on both sides, Meta turns off broadcast lists, and existing lists become read-only. Disappearing messages, view once and live location stop for one-to-one chats. Editing and deleting messages still works.

Companion devices are unlinked when setup completes. You can link up to four again, but WhatsApp for Windows and WearOS are not supported.

What the API cannot do on a coexistence number

Meta lists tools that keep working in the app but not through the API. They are group chats, calls, the catalog, orders, status, greeting and away messages, quick replies, labels, the business profile and Channels.

The phone stays the place for those. A team inbox can help with some of them. Risponse, for example, has its own labels and quick replies inside the inbox.

Costs, in words

Meta bills API messages per delivered message, by category and by the country of the person you message. Messages customers send you are free. As of October 2026, free-form service replies are free up to 1,000 delivered messages per number each month. More than 24 hours after the customer’s last message, you can only send approved templates.

On coexistence, messages sent from the Business app stay free. They also do not affect the API’s windows or pricing. Replies from your team inbox go through the API, so Meta’s API pricing applies. On a new API number, every message you send follows that pricing.

Meta lists current rates on its pricing page. Risponse’s own plans are on the Risponse pricing page.

Speed and staying connected

Meta fixes coexistence numbers at 20 messages per second, so plan large sends with that pace in mind.

The main phone must also stay in use. If nobody opens the Business app on the main phone for about 14 days, the number can disconnect. A companion device can disconnect after about 30 days without use. A new API number has no phone app behind it, so this rule does not apply.

Groups and the blue tick

These two points often settle the choice.

Groups. On a coexistence number, groups keep working in the app but do not sync or use the API. On an API number, Meta’s Groups API needs an Official Business Account. Each group holds up to 8 participants, who join by invite link only. For large or existing customer groups, a number connected by QR code brings its groups into the inbox. See WhatsApp groups.

Blue tick. Meta reviews each request for the Official Business Account badge and makes the decision. Its criteria include Business Verification and an approved display name. Meta does not grant the badge to Business app numbers. Its coexistence guide does not say a coexistence number can have it either. If the badge is a goal, a new API number is the clearer route. Even then, Meta decides. Read more on the WhatsApp blue tick page or in Meta’s guide.

Four questions to help you decide

1. Do customers already know your number? If yes, lean towards coexistence. A new number means telling everyone to save it.
2. Does anyone still need to reply from the phone? If yes, coexistence keeps the Business app in their hands.
3. Do you plan to apply for the blue tick or use the Groups API? If yes, start a new API number. The Groups API needs the blue tick too, and Meta decides.
4. Can you live with the app changes? If losing broadcast lists on your main number is a problem, a new API number leaves it alone.

You can also choose per number. In Risponse, every connected number sits in one shared inbox. Each chat shows its number, and the reply box shows which number you are sending from. Inside Risponse, the multi-number inbox also marks every reply with the teammate who sent it. WhatsApp itself does not show which teammate sent a message.

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