WhatsApp coexistence: keep the app, add the API.
Coexistence lets one WhatsApp Business number run on the Business app and the official Cloud API at the same time. Your team keeps replying from the phone. The same conversations also land in a shared inbox, where automations and AI agents can reach them.
It is the reason most businesses stall on the WhatsApp API: nobody wants to give up the handset to find out whether a platform is worth it. You no longer have to.
Coexistence or full migration.
Both run on the official Meta WhatsApp Business Cloud API. Both are set up in the same guided flow. They differ in one thing: whether the WhatsApp Business app keeps working on your number.
Coexistence
Keep the appYou still want to reply from your phone.
What you get
- The WhatsApp Business app keeps working on the number
- Your team carries on replying from the handset
- Those replies also appear in the Watx inbox
- App replies are not bound by the 24-hour window and are not billed by the Cloud API
What it costs you
- Sending is capped at 20 messages per second
- WhatsApp catalogue, orders and status are unavailable
- Broadcast lists become read-only
- Disappearing messages, view-once and live location switch off in 1:1 chats
- Group chats do not sync
- Voice and video calls are not available through the API
- The app must stay installed (v2.24.17 or higher)
Full migration
Move the numberYou want everything, and the desk replaces the phone.
What you get
- Higher sending throughput — no 20 mps ceiling
- Every Cloud API capability, with nothing switched off
- Catalogue, orders and the full template surface
- One place to work: everything runs through Watx
What it costs you
- The WhatsApp Business app stops working on that number
- Replying from the handset is no longer possible
- It is a one-way move — plan it, do not trial it
Every limit above is set by Meta, not by Watx, and Meta revises them. Accurate as of 21 September 2026 — check the current documentation.
Start with coexistence
unless you know otherwise.
Full migration is the better end state for most teams — no throughput ceiling, nothing switched off. But it ends the app on that number, and it is not a decision to make before you have seen the platform work on your own traffic.
Coexistence costs you nothing to try and changes nothing about how your team works today. If it earns its place, migrate properly later. If it does not, you have lost a number's worth of nothing.
Shared inbox
Every conversation in one place, assigned and status-tracked — including the ones answered from the phone.
AI agents
Answer in seconds from your own material, and hand over to a person when it matters.
Broadcasts
Approved templates to a segment, metered so your number stays healthy.
What Meta will bill
Estimate a month under per-message pricing before you commit to anything.
Coexistence, answered.
What is WhatsApp coexistence?
Coexistence is a Meta feature that lets one WhatsApp Business number run on the WhatsApp Business app and the WhatsApp Cloud API at the same time. Messages sent and received on either side from the moment you switch it on are mirrored to the other through real-time webhooks, so your phone keeps working exactly as it does today and the same conversations also land in Watx.
Do I lose the WhatsApp Business app?
Not with coexistence — that is the entire point of it. The app stays on your number and your team carries on replying from the handset. You only lose the app if you choose full migration instead, which moves the number onto the Cloud API permanently.
What stops working in coexistence mode?
Meta sets these limits, not Watx. Sending is fixed at 20 messages per second. The WhatsApp catalogue, orders and status are unavailable. Broadcast lists become read-only. Disappearing messages, view-once and live location are switched off for individual chats. Group chats do not synchronise, and voice and video calls are not available through the API.
Can I switch from coexistence to full migration later?
Yes. Coexistence is the lower-risk way to start: your number keeps working the way it does today while you find out whether the shared inbox, automations and AI agents earn their place. If you later want the full throughput and the whole feature set, you migrate the number properly at that point.
Does coexistence cost extra?
No. Watx charges the same either way, and Meta bills you the same per-message rates either way. Replies you send from the WhatsApp Business app are not billed by the Cloud API at all, and they are not bound by the 24-hour service window.
Do I need to keep the app installed?
Yes. Coexistence works by keeping the app and the API on the same number, so the WhatsApp Business app has to stay installed and on version 2.24.17 or higher. Uninstalling it ends coexistence on that number.
Setting it up is covered step by step in the Watx quickstart.