QR link or the official Cloud API?
This is the first real decision, and most comparison pages skip it because the vendor only sells one of the two. It decides your setup time, your monthly cost, and whether your number can be banned.
QR link
You scan a code and your existing number starts answering, the way WhatsApp Web works.
Meta official connection
Connect through Meta's own window. Keep the WhatsApp Business app next to the agent, or move a number to the API only. The sanctioned route, with fees.
The trade-off, plainly
| The trade-off, plainly | QR link | Meta official connection |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Minutes. Scan a QR code with the phone that already has the number. | A Meta window opens from your console. Sign in with the Facebook account that manages the business, then pick the number. Business verification is not needed to start. Meta asks for it only to raise how many customers you can message first. |
| Your existing number | Keeps working, with its chat history and its saved contacts. | It depends on the mode. Coexistence keeps the number on the WhatsApp Business app, so you can use both, and past chats can be imported. API only moves the number off every WhatsApp app. Group chats are not shared with the agent. |
| Cost per message | None. There is no Meta bill, because Meta is not in the loop. | Meta charges per message. Since 1 October 2026 replies inside an open 24-hour service window are billed too, at the utility rate; marketing messages cost the most. |
| Green tick | Not available. | Eligible to apply, once verified. |
| Messaging first | Should not be done. Unprompted outbound is the fastest way to get a number banned. | Supported, through approved message templates. |
| Terms | Against WhatsApp's Business Terms, which prohibit unapproved software that interacts with their business services. | The sanctioned route. Nothing to disclose. |
| Risk | The number can be restricted or banned, and no vendor can promise otherwise. | Account suspension only for policy breaches you control, such as a poor quality rating. |
Which one is right for you
Pick the QR link if
You are a small business already doing all your selling on one WhatsApp number, you want it answering this week, and you would rather not pay Meta per message to answer questions you are answering free today. Understand the ban risk and accept it deliberately.
Pick the Meta official connection if
The number is important enough that losing it would hurt, you want the green tick, you need to message customers first (verifying the business raises how many you can reach), or you are answering enough volume that the sanctioned route is worth it.
Where aiBalas lands
We run both, and we say the risk out loud rather than burying it — the QR connector shows you a disclosure you have to accept before a number can be linked. We also refuse to message customers first on a QR-linked number, even though it would be easy to build and customers ask for it, because unprompted outbound is the single biggest ban trigger. Follow-ups and broadcasts run on Meta's official connection only, and need a paid plan. You connect it yourself from the console: say how the number is used today and Meta's own window does the rest.
Common questions
Can a vendor guarantee my number will not be banned on a QR link?
No, and any vendor who says otherwise is selling you something. The connector works by presenting itself as a WhatsApp client, which WhatsApp's Business Terms do not permit. The honest position is that the risk is real, usually small for ordinary customer-service traffic, and much larger the moment you start messaging people who did not message you first.
Does the Cloud API cost more overall?
It depends on what you send. Meta stopped charging per 24-hour conversation and moved to per-message billing. Since 1 October 2026 replies inside an open service window are billed per message too, at the utility rate, which is well below the marketing rate. So a business that only answers customers who wrote in first still pays far less than one that sends marketing messages, which add up quickly.
Can I start on QR and move to the Cloud API later?
Yes, and that is a common path: prove the agent is worth it on a number you already have, then formalise once it is carrying real volume. Your knowledge, products and settings do not have to be rebuilt.
Can I keep using the WhatsApp Business app?
Yes, if you choose coexistence. The agent answers alongside you, and when you reply from the app yourself it steps back for that customer. If you choose API only, the number leaves the apps.
Can one business run both?
Yes. One agent can hold several WhatsApp numbers, and they do not all have to use the same connector — a verified main line on the Cloud API alongside a QR-linked branch number is a normal setup.
Try it before you decide
Free to start, no credit card. WhatsApp, Telegram and website chat on one agent.