Business API comparison
Does a hotel need the WhatsApp Business API?
An honest comparison, checked against Meta's own pages on 23 October 2026: when you need the API, and when your own number does the job.
Start Free TrialLast checked 2026-10-23
Most small and mid-sized hotels do not need the WhatsApp Business API to answer guests with a team. A hotel needs it when its own systems must send pre-approved message templates to many guests who have not written in the last 24 hours, such as notices from a property system, or when it wants the Official Business Account badge Meta offers on that route. For conversations guests start, the hotel's own number connected to Spun does the job. Spun runs on a flat monthly plan with team members free and a free trial, and it works on the number your guests already have saved, with no Business API approval and no new number. Spun is not the Business API: it connects your number as a linked device through a connection provider, so it has no pre-approved message templates and no badge, and normal WhatsApp limits apply to your number.
What gets in the way
Templates outside 24 hours
On the Business API, a message to a guest who has not written in the last 24 hours must be a pre-approved message template.
A fee per message
Meta charges per template message, and since 1 October 2026 for service replies beyond 1,000 a month per number.
Groups and app features change
Existing groups do not come along, and a number kept on the app alongside the API loses broadcast lists and group sync.
How your team works it
Look at who starts your chats
If most chats are guests asking about rooms, changes and arrivals, and your team answers them, you do not need the API.
Keep the number guests have saved
Use the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app number already on your website and booking confirmations.
Connect it by QR
Open Settings → WhatsApp → Health, check the country under "We'll connect it from:", press "Continue to QR" and scan the code with WhatsApp on your phone.
Invite the front desk
Open Team from Spun Tools → Inbox, click "Share Access", enter each person's email or phone and choose a role.
Save your standard answers
Open Quick Replies from the sidebar, click "+ New Quick Reply" and save your check-in, parking and breakfast answers.
Check Sending Health before offers
Before any offer to past guests, look at the "Sending Health" card in Settings → WhatsApp → Health.
What Spun gives you
Your number, connected by QR
Spun connects the number guests already have saved, with its chats and groups, as a linked device. The number stays on your phone, and messages sent from the phone appear in Spun too.
Team members free
Invite the whole front desk with roles. A message sent from Spun shows a "Sent by" line with the team member's name.
Your own saved answers
Insert saved answers by typing "/". They are your own texts, not Business API templates, and need no approval from WhatsApp.
Your groups stay in the inbox
See the WhatsApp groups your number is in and manage participants and invite links from Groups & Channels.
A steadier connection
Self Proxy runs the connection from your own computer for a more stable link and fewer QR re-scans. It is a stability tool, not ban protection.
Sending Health
A score from 0 to 100 per number that tells you when to slow down. It is advice: not a WhatsApp score and not a ban prediction.
Wednesday at a 20-room boutique hotel
- 08:30The owner reads a quote for a Business API tool: templates to submit and a fee per message.
- 09:00The owner looks at last month's chats: almost all were started by guests asking about rooms, parking and late arrivals.
- 09:15The owner connects the front-desk number to Spun by QR, with its chats and groups.
- 10:00Three receptionists accept their invitations and answer from one shared inbox.
- 21:40A guest writes from the airport after two days of silence, and reception replies straight away with no template.
What Spun does not do
- Spun does not use the WhatsApp Business API, so it has no pre-approved message templates and no Official Business Account badge.
- It connects as a linked device through a connection provider, and normal WhatsApp limits apply to your number.
- Spun does not offer a PMS integration and does not send messages driven by your booking system. A large hotel that needs that is better served by a hospitality tool built on the Business API.
- No tool can promise that a WhatsApp number will never be restricted, and Spun does not.
- The Business API facts on this page were last checked on 23 October 2026 on Meta's public developer pages. Meta changes its rules and prices, so check there before you decide.
Frequently asked questions
Does a hotel need the WhatsApp Business API?
No, most small and mid-sized hotels do not need the Business API to run guest messaging with a team. The Business API needs a business account set up with Meta, pre-approved message templates for messages outside the 24-hour window and per-message fees. Spun works on the number your guests already have saved, with your team and AI on top.
When does a hotel need the WhatsApp Business API?
When your own systems must send messages to many guests who have not written in the last 24 hours, for example notices sent automatically from a property system, because those must be pre-approved message templates. Also when you want Meta's Official Business Account badge, which Meta grants on the Business API route to verified businesses that meet its rules, and which it can deny.
What is the green tick, and does Spun give one?
Meta now shows a blue checkmark, the former green tick, beside the name of an Official Business Account. On the Business API route a business applies for it after Business Verification, at least 30 days on the platform and an approved display name. Spun does not give a badge.
What does the Business API cost?
Meta charges per message: per template message in the marketing, utility and authentication categories, and since 1 October 2026 for service replies beyond 1,000 a month per number. Providers that connect you to the API may add their own fees.
Does the 24-hour window apply to my number on Spun?
No, the 24-hour customer service window is a Business API rule, so it does not apply to a normal WhatsApp number connected to Spun. You can reply to a guest whenever the conversation needs it. Normal WhatsApp behaviour still matters: Spun paces broadcasts, and its pipeline automations only message people who wrote to you first.
Can the Business API use my WhatsApp groups?
Not your existing ones. Meta's Groups API lets an Official Business Account create small invite-only groups of up to 8 participants, and on a Business app number kept on the app alongside the API, group chats are not synced. Spun shows the groups your number is already in.
Can I move my number to the Business API later?
Meta lets a WhatsApp Business app number be onboarded to its Cloud API through a provider while you keep using the app, an option it calls coexistence. Broadcast lists are turned off and group chats are not synced. It covers the WhatsApp Business app, not a personal WhatsApp number.
Try Spun on your own number
Connect the number your guests already use and bring your team in. Team members are free, and the free trial needs no Business API.
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