There is no "add user" button in the WhatsApp Business app. So teams improvise: the phone sits on the front desk, WhatsApp Web stays open on a shared computer, or the owner forwards the six-digit code to whoever needs to log in. Each works for a week and then causes a problem that is hard to undo.
This guide sets out the ways to share one WhatsApp Business account that hold up, what each person can and cannot do in each, and what your customers see on their side.
The three ways that work
Linked devices are covered step by step in our multiple-devices guide, so this page does not repeat them. The rest of it is about the two routes that give people separate access, and the shortcuts to avoid.
| Way to share | What the team gets |
|---|---|
| Linked devices (free, built in) | Up to four extra screens on the number. Everyone on them is the same user and sees every chat. |
| WhatsApp's own multi-agent option (paid, where offered) | Through the Meta Verified subscription for business, WhatsApp adds more devices and lets you assign chats to agents, inside the Business app. |
| A shared inbox on your number | The number connects once as a linked device; each teammate gets their own login, role and scope behind it. |
A fourth route, the WhatsApp Business API, is multi-user by design but usually means a dedicated number, approved templates and per-message fees.
Related: WhatsApp Business on multiple devices, phones and users
Why sharing the phone, the login or the code backfires
A WhatsApp account has no password to share. Whoever holds the phone, or a linked session, simply is the business. That is why the common shortcuts fail in the same few ways:
- Forwarding the six-digit verification code. The code registers the number on a new phone, which logs the old one out. Anyone who has it can move your business account to their device. WhatsApp will never ask you to share it, and neither should a colleague. Turn on two-step verification so a code alone is not enough.
- Passing the phone around. Only one person can work at a time, the phone leaves the building with whoever took it home, and personal notifications and business chats mix on one screen.
- WhatsApp Web open on a shared computer. Anyone who sits down has the whole account: every customer, every chat, the full history. The session stays signed in until someone logs it out from the phone.
- Scanning the business QR on a staff member's own laptop. The access leaves with that laptop. When the person leaves, the session keeps working until the owner notices and removes it under Linked devices.
The common thread: none of these records who did what, and none can be limited to part of the inbox. When a customer complains about a reply, nobody can say who sent it.
Related: The WhatsApp verification code, explained · WhatsApp Web for business: login, limits and security
WhatsApp's own multi-agent option
WhatsApp offers a paid Meta Verified subscription for businesses. Where it is available, WhatsApp says it lets a business connect more devices to the account and assign chats to sales agents, all inside the WhatsApp Business app. It suits a team that wants to stay entirely in WhatsApp's own apps.
What it includes, how many devices, and whether it is offered in your country change over time, so check WhatsApp's own Help Center articles on multi-agent and on Meta Verified for business before you buy. Compare it on the things that matter for a team: whether each person has their own identity, whether access can be limited to some chats, and what happens when someone leaves.
Permissions: what each role can do
A practical pattern for a small business: the owner keeps Full Control, one trusted person is a Manager, everyone who answers customers is a Team Member, and anyone who only needs to look (an accountant, a new hire in week one) is a Viewer. A part-timer who handles one product line gets that product's label as their only filter.
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Viewer | Read the chats in their shared filters. No sending, no actions. Sees the chat, not the full contact record. |
| Team Member | Send, schedule, use AI replies and saved replies, and archive, inside their shared filters. |
| Manager | Everything a Team Member does, plus contacts, labels, alarms, payments, campaigns, auto replies and the dashboard, inside their shared filters. |
| Full Control | The whole inbox, the same as the owner: inviting and removing people, billing and the WhatsApp connection. Cannot be limited by filters. |
Roles are enforced on the server, not just hidden in the app: a Viewer who tries to send is refused.
What the customer sees
- The same business number, name and profile as before. Nothing tells the customer a team is behind it or which tool you use.
- Replies from the number, whoever wrote them. No agent name or signature is added. Inside Spun each message shows "Sent by" its author, for the team only.
- No new number to save and no link to accept. Sharing happens entirely on your side.
If you want customers to know who is helping them, have agents type their first name in the reply. It is a habit, not a setting.
Related: Free WhatsApp link generator: one link to your team's number · Free WhatsApp QR code generator
Taking access back
Sharing is only safe if ending it is easy. When a person leaves or changes job, a Full Control user removes them from the team and their access ends immediately. Removal also removes the Gmail sending identity, hosted home connection and API access set up under that membership. You cannot remove yourself, so an inbox is never left without its owner.
While you are at it, open Linked devices on the business phone and log out any session you do not recognise, such as an old WhatsApp Web login on a staff laptop from before you switched.
Related: Checklist: when a teammate leaves your support team
More than one number, and what it costs
A second WhatsApp number is its own inbox in Spun, not a tab inside the first one. It starts shared with nobody ("Only me") and you choose who joins it; up to 10 lines can be connected. That keeps, say, a sales number and a support number separate by design.
Team members are unlimited and free: there is no per-seat charge. Sharing your inbox out is included on every paid plan (Pro, Max 10x and Max 40x). During the free trial you can join someone else's shared inbox, but sharing your own starts with a paid plan.
Related: WhatsApp for teams: one number, your whole team · Plans and pricing · WhatsApp for teams in India, priced in rupees