Most CRM tools for WhatsApp connect through the official WhatsApp Business API. A smaller group links to the number you already use instead, as a linked device, the way WhatsApp Web links a computer. Both give you contacts, a pipeline and a team on WhatsApp; they differ in cost, in what you can send, and in risk.
This page sets the two side by side honestly: what you gain without the API, what you give up, and what the risk is.
Two ways a CRM reaches WhatsApp
On the official route, you connect through a provider, Meta verifies the business, and the number usually leaves the WhatsApp phone app. Some vendors describe coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app (HubSpot and WaliChat, read on their pages on 9 November 2026). Messages you start must be approved templates.
On the own-number route, the software links to your existing number by QR code as a linked device. Spun works this way, and NetHunt CRM links WhatsApp as a messenger. Your chats and groups stay where they are and the phone keeps working.
| Official Business API | Your own number, linked | |
|---|---|---|
| Your number | Usually leaves the phone app; a few vendors describe coexistence | Stays in the phone app, chats and groups included |
| Messages you start | Approved templates only | Any message, no templates |
| Meta fees | Per template message, by category and recipient country | None |
| Bulk sending | An official bulk-sending allowance from Meta | No official allowance; send at a human pace |
| Status | Official, approved by Meta | Unofficial, with ban risk |
What you gain without the Business API
- You keep the number customers already have, with its history, chats and groups.
- The phone keeps working, so the owner can still answer from WhatsApp on the phone.
- No templates to write and wait for approval: a follow-up is just a message.
- No Meta per-message fees, so the bill does not grow with every message you start.
- A flat price on Spun: from $49 a month with unlimited team members, after a 7-day trial.
- A start in minutes: scan a QR code, with no business verification.
Related: Spun pricing
What you risk, and what you give up
The connection is not official. Spun is an unofficial WhatsApp integration, which may carry some risk: WhatsApp can restrict or ban a number, and bulk-sending patterns, such as many messages to people who never wrote to you, are what its anti-spam systems look for.
You also give up what only the API offers: approved templates for messages to people outside a conversation, an official bulk-sending allowance, and an official channel your compliance team can point to.
- No approved templates and no official bulk-sending allowance.
- A linked device takes one of the companion slots WhatsApp allows on a number.
- NetHunt CRM, the other own-number tool on the hub, says you cannot start the first message from the CRM.
If one lost number would stop your business, or you send templated notifications at volume to people who did not write first, choose the official API.
Related: Spun and the WhatsApp ban risk · WhatsApp automation without the Business API
What the API side costs: Meta's per-message fees
On the API, the price a vendor quotes is never the whole bill. There is the platform subscription, per-seat fees past the included users, and Meta's own fee on every template message, charged by category (marketing costs the most, utility and authentication less) and by the recipient's country. Replies inside a conversation the customer opened are treated differently from marketing you start.
Meta publishes the rate card and revises it, so this page does not quote rates. What does not change is the shape: the more messages you start, the faster that bill grows, and no plan includes it.
Which one fits your team
Choose the API if you send templated notifications at volume to people who did not write first, or your compliance team requires an official channel.
Choose your own number if your team mostly answers people who write to you, follows up and runs modest campaigns at a human pace, and you accept the risk of an unofficial connection.
Related: All 12 CRM tools for WhatsApp, compared · How to connect WhatsApp to a CRM