Phone Numbers #

The platform uses phone numbers to send and receive messages over WhatsApp. You can buy a number directly through the platform, connect your existing WhatsApp Business account, or link a WhatsApp Web session via QR code — all from the same Channels page.

Numbers you buy here are for WhatsApp. They are not SMS numbers. SMS runs on your own Twilio account, connected separately as its own card on the same page. See SMS.

How to get there: Settings → Channels group → Channels.

The Channels page lays every channel out as its own card: Instagram & Messenger, WhatsApp Business API, WhatsApp Web, SMS, SMS via Twilio, Twilio Account, Telegram, Instagram (Personal), LINE, Email, and the website chat widget. Phone numbers you’ve bought or connected show up as rows inside the WhatsApp Business API and WhatsApp Web cards.

Buying a Phone Number #

The platform handles the underlying carrier setup for you — no third-party accounts required.

Your plan needs channels. Buying or connecting a messaging channel requires a plan that includes channels. If you see a message about needing a channels tier, upgrade your plan (or, on a managed account, ask your provider) to add channel capacity.

Step-by-Step #

1. Open Settings → Channels.
2. On the WhatsApp Business API card, click Connect WhatsApp, choose Get a new number from us, then Managed by us.

3. A dialog opens. Search and pick your country, optionally filter for a specific pattern of digits, and browse the list of available numbers.

4. Click the number you want from the list.
5. Fill in the Number Details that appear below the list — a Display name, the business name people see on WhatsApp (it also labels the number in your channel list). It must contain letters — WhatsApp refuses a bare number as a business name. Depending on the country, the dialog may also ask for a Business category (a WhatsApp-required vertical, e.g. Retail, Professional Services) or a few local details (like a VAT number or address); fill those in the same way.

6. Click Review purchase. The review screen repeats the phone number and both costs — what you pay today and what recurs monthly — with an explicit “this is a real purchase” warning.

7. Tick the acknowledgement checkbox, then click Confirm purchase to complete the purchase.
8. If we don’t have your business address yet, the dialog asks for it here instead of completing the purchase — phone numbers have to be registered to a business address. Fill in your business name, street, city, postal code, and country, then click Save and buy number. We save it to your business details, so you only ever enter it once, and the purchase continues on its own. If your address is already saved but the carrier can’t verify it, the same step opens with your current address filled in so you can correct it — usually the street number or postal code.

The number is added to your account immediately. A purchased number is not used for SMS; if you need SMS, connect your own Twilio account instead (see SMS).

Some countries need regulator approval first. In most countries the number is ready right away. In a few, the local telecom regulator has to approve the registration details you entered before the number can be activated — usually within a few business days. When that applies, the purchase dialog tells you the number is waiting for approval, and its row on the Channels page shows Awaiting approval instead of the setup button. You don’t need to do anything: we email you as soon as the number is approved and ready to connect. In the rare case the regulator declines the registration, we refund the credits automatically and email you — you can then rent a different number or connect one you already own.

A number costs credits twice. A one-time purchase charge is deducted immediately, plus a monthly rent to keep the number active. The purchase dialog shows both before you confirm. Rent starts at 50 credits a month; premium numbers cost more, in line with what the carrier charges. See Monthly Phone Number Billing for what that rent covers.

Finishing WhatsApp Setup #

Buying the number is only the first half. Before it can send or receive anything, the number has to be registered with WhatsApp — a short step that runs in Meta’s own window and takes a minute.

Right after the purchase, that window opens on its own. Follow it through and the number goes live.

If you closed it, or you bought the number and stopped there, nothing is lost. The number’s row on the Channels page shows Setup not finished, with a Finish setup button next to it. Click it and the same WhatsApp window opens, already pointed at that number. You can do this at any time, as many times as you need. The setup wizard offers the same rescue: its WhatsApp tile shows Finish setting up with your number on it whenever a bought number is still waiting on this step.

Pick your own number in the WhatsApp window. Meta offers a free test number (starting +1 555) that looks like the quick option, but it can’t be used with your account and the setup fails at the last step. Always choose the number you bought.

Until setup is finished, the number can’t send or receive messages, so it won’t appear as a sender option on your campaigns.

Available Number Search #

• Country — pick the country where you need a number. The picker opens a searchable list of every country; type to filter by name or dial code.

• Contains — optionally filter results to numbers containing a specific string of digits.

There’s no separate number-type filter (local vs. toll-free, etc.) — a country’s available numbers all load together, and each row shows only the phone number and its cost, not a capabilities breakdown.

Number availability depends on the country. Some countries require regulatory documentation before a number can be activated (see below).

Some countries have no numbers to sell. The country list covers every country, but the numbers themselves come from our carrier’s live stock, and a few countries aren’t in it at all — India is the most common one people hit. Pick one of those and the list simply comes back empty. This isn’t something we can switch on. You have two ways forward: use a number you already own in that country (see Connecting Your Own WhatsApp Cloud API below), or buy a number in a country we do cover — it messages people anywhere in the world just fine, it only looks like a foreign number to them.

Connecting Your Own WhatsApp Cloud API #

If you’d rather use a WhatsApp Business Account you already run through Meta, click Connect WhatsApp on the WhatsApp Business API card and choose Use a number you already have, then Managed by us, instead of buying a new number. Type in the number you own, and Meta verifies it with you directly — so this works for any country, including ones we can’t sell numbers in. The number has to be one that isn’t already active on the WhatsApp app.

The same button also offers Through our Meta app: your own WhatsApp Business Account, but nothing to build in Meta’s developer site. Meta bills the conversations directly to your own WhatsApp Business Account. If you bring your own number: 50 credits a month from us for the connection. If you rent your number here: nothing extra, because the number’s rent already covers the connection. See Connect Through Our Meta App.

There’s a further version of this for anyone who wants their own name on every part of the setup. With the managed connection, the Facebook window your number gets attached to names the app underneath, which is a deliberately neutral “Your AI Connector” rather than any brand of ours — most people running the platform under their own brand are happy to leave it. If you’d rather your own business name sat there, choose Your own Meta app instead: you supply your own Meta app details, pay Meta directly at their rates, and your clients only ever see your business name. It takes about 20 minutes to set up. See Connect Your Own Meta App.

Releasing or Removing a Phone Number #

1. Open Settings → Channels, find the number’s row inside its card.
2. Click the release/remove icon on that row.
3. Read the confirmation — it tells you which of the two things below is about to happen — and confirm.

What happens depends on whose number it is, and the confirmation you see says which one you’re doing:

A number you rented here (bought on the Phone Numbers card) is released. It’s removed from your account, you stop being charged for it, and it goes back to the carrier’s pool, where it may be reassigned to another customer. Only release numbers you’re certain you no longer need.

Releasing has limits. Once released, you can’t re-buy that exact number for 7 days — it’s locked to prevent rapid buy/release churn. A single account can also purchase at most 3 numbers per 24 hours.

A number you brought yourself — your own Twilio account, your own Meta app or WhatsApp Business Account, or your own Android phone acting as an SMS gateway — is only removed from here. Nothing is released at your provider, the line stays in your account with them, and no 7-day cooldown applies, so you can connect it again whenever you like. One thing to expect: if the number was set up for WhatsApp here, you may have to go through that setup again when you reconnect it. Whether the WhatsApp registration itself survives depends on how the number was connected in the first place — if you’re not sure, plan on redoing it.

WhatsApp Business Account Setup #

To use a phone number for WhatsApp Business API messaging, an approved WhatsApp Business Account through Meta is required — the platform registers the phone number on your behalf.

WhatsApp Business API numbers support:

• Template messages (pre-approved message formats)
• Session messages (replies within a 24-hour window)
• Rich media (images, documents, buttons)
• Read receipts and delivery status

For the full walkthrough, see WhatsApp Business.

WhatsApp Web QR Code Connection #

To connect an existing WhatsApp account via WhatsApp Web instead of the Business API:

1. Open Settings → Channels.
2. On the WhatsApp Web card, click Connect.
3. A QR code appears.
4. On your phone, open WhatsApp → Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device.
5. Scan the QR code with your phone.

Once connected, the platform sends and receives messages through your WhatsApp account exactly as a WhatsApp Web session.

A WhatsApp Web session runs on our servers, so it keeps working while your phone is asleep or switched off — it only drops if you unlink the device in WhatsApp, WhatsApp revokes the session, or your phone stays offline for more than 14 days, at which point WhatsApp unlinks every device and you re-pair. If disconnected, click the reconnect icon on that number’s row and scan the QR code again — closing the QR code before it finishes leaves the number disconnected.

For more, see WhatsApp Web.

Send-limit warm-up #

Every new WhatsApp Web number ramps up its daily send limit over about 60 days, rather than opening at full volume immediately. Each number’s card shows its current day, today’s usage against the cap, and tomorrow’s cap, plus a breakdown of the gates that unlock automated follow-ups on that number (number age, activity ramp, and recent contact engagement — each needs about 30 days). If you understand the ban risk and need to move faster, a Raise daily limit action lets you advance the warm-up or push the cap beyond the automatic ceiling — each step requires you to explicitly acknowledge the risk before it applies.

The warm-up limits new contacts hardest. A freshly paired number can start no new conversations at all on its first days, and that allowance only climbs gradually to a maximum of 50 new contacts a day. So WhatsApp Web is not the channel for a first cold message to people who have never messaged you — use it for replies, follow-ups and ongoing conversations, and use a WhatsApp Business API number for the first cold touch.

Other channels have their own version of this: Telegram and iMessage use the same ramp as WhatsApp Web.

SMS Channel Indicator #

Numbers connected for SMS show an SMS icon in your chat list, so you can tell at a glance which conversations are happening over SMS versus other channels.

SMS runs on your own connected Twilio account, not on numbers bought through the platform. Connect it from the SMS via Twilio card on this same Channels page — see SMS.

The Twilio Account Card #

Separate from the SMS card, a Twilio Account card controls which Twilio account your WhatsApp senders and bought numbers run under: our managed account (the default), or your own. Switching this is a distinct, advanced action — see SMS Provider for the full walkthrough and its consequences.

Phone Number Status #

Each phone number shows its current connection status as a badge on its row:

WhatsApp Web numbers show a live connection state instead: green when Connected, blue/informational while Connecting/Pairing, and a warning color when disconnected. If disconnected, click the reconnect icon and finish scanning the QR code with your phone.

Monthly Phone Number Billing #

Every number you rent here has one monthly price, whoever the number comes from. Rent is at least 50 credits a month; premium numbers cost more, in line with what the carrier charges. You never have to guess which one yours is: the number’s card on Settings → Channels shows its exact monthly price.

The rent is the only monthly fee on the number. It includes the WhatsApp connection, so there’s nothing else to pay each month to keep that number on WhatsApp. (For comparison: a WhatsApp Web connection on its own, with no number rented from us, costs the same 50 credits a month.)

• The monthly rent is separate from the one-time purchase charge taken when you first buy the number.
• The rent is deducted from your credit balance.
• Already renting numbers? They move to this rate at their next billing cycle — nothing changes mid-cycle, and there’s nothing for you to do.
• Message costs (WhatsApp template fees and similar) are charged separately per message on top of the rent — see WhatsApp Costs & the October 2026 Change.
• If you release a number mid-month, the charge for that month still applies.

For full billing details, see Billing System.

Regulatory Compliance #

Not to be confused with WhatsApp activation. Meta’s ownership verification for a number you bought through the platform is handled automatically — no phone call, no 6-digit code. The requirements below are a separate, country-specific legal step that only applies to certain regions.

Some countries require additional documentation before a phone number can be activated — a legal requirement, not a platform one. Germany, France, Australia, Japan, and others have rules like this, and the rules can differ by type of number within the same country: in the UK, for example, a mobile or toll-free number needs compliance where other numbers don’t.

The platform handles this automatically — as a business, with no personal ID. We only ever collect standard business registration details, never a passport or driver’s licence.

1. Most countries — including the Netherlands and the rest of the EU — you just buy the number. The number purchases right away with no extra step. If your business name and address aren’t saved yet, the buy dialog asks for them at that moment (see step 8 above) — you don’t have to fill them in beforehand.
2. A few countries require documentation — Germany, France, Australia, Japan, and some others. Click Buy as usual; if the country needs a compliance form, it opens automatically. Fill it in and submit, then buy the number once approved.
3. The form asks only for standard business details and uses your business address from Settings automatically — make sure that’s complete first. A few countries (for example France) also ask for a business registration document, such as a KBIS extract. If the same document covers two requirements on the form, you can upload it for both.
4. Submissions are validated up front — if something’s missing, the form tells you exactly which field to fix, so you don’t waste a review cycle.
5. Review usually takes 1–2 business days. You’ll get an email and an in-app notification when the status changes.
6. While under review, the buy dialog shows a “Compliance under review” notice for that country. Once approved, you can buy numbers there immediately.

Approval covers one country and one type of number. Each is tracked separately, so approval for Germany doesn’t cover France — and approval for a UK toll-free number doesn’t cover a UK mobile number. If you’ve been approved for one type and now want the other, start the purchase for the number you actually want: the compliance form that opens is the one for that type, and you submit it the same way.

The same applies to each account you manage. A sub-account has its own compliance, so getting approved on your main account doesn’t carry over to a client’s sub-account, or the other way round.

A few countries can’t be set up this way — some regions only allow a number to be registered to a private individual, and others (for example South Africa) require a government-issued ID even for businesses. We don’t collect personal identity documents. Where only one type of number has that requirement, the platform automatically offers a type that doesn’t — a national business number instead of a city-specific one, for example. If no number in the country can be sold without ID documents, the buy dialog says so up front — you can connect a number you already own instead, or contact support and we’ll help arrange it case by case.

If a submission is rejected, the reason is shown right in the form — correct the details and resubmit.

“A regulatory bundle is required” even though you’re already approved? You’re approved for a different type of number than the one you’re buying, or on a different account. Check which type your approval was for, then start the purchase for the number you want and complete the form it opens.

Tips #

• Start with one number and add more as your messaging volume grows.
• Use WhatsApp Business API for high-volume, professional messaging with template support.
• Use WhatsApp Web for quick setup, for replies and for ongoing conversations — but budget time for the warm-up ramp before pushing high send volume, and don’t use it for the first cold message to a brand-new contact.
• Keep your credit balance healthy to avoid interruptions in number billing and message delivery.

Next Steps #

• WhatsApp Business — Set up and use WhatsApp Business messaging.
• WhatsApp Web — Connect via QR code.
• SMS — Configure SMS messaging.
• SMS Provider — Switch your WhatsApp senders to your own Twilio account.
• Billing System — Understand credits and billing.