In short: which one
To try it today — the QR code. If the number is your main sales channel and losing it would be expensive — the WhatsApp Business API. If your conversations already run through Wazzup — connect Wazzup and change nothing for your managers.
| QR code | WhatsApp Business API | Wazzup | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it connects | Scan the code under WhatsApp’s Linked devices | Through Meta’s window, from the cabinet | With an API key from Wazzup |
| Time | A minute | Longer: needs a Meta Business account and a card for message fees | Minutes, if Wazzup is already set up |
| Number on your phone | Stays; the conversations are on the phone | Stays if you connect the number from the WhatsApp Business app; otherwise it works only through the platform | The number stays in Wazzup |
| Who else charges | Nobody | Meta — for messages, straight from your card | Wazzup — at its own rates |
| Official Meta method | No — it is the Linked devices mechanism | Yes | Depends on how the number is connected in Wazzup |
QR code: the fastest start
In the makeden.app cabinet you open the WhatsApp connection and get a QR code. On the phone: WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices → Link a device, and scan. Without a camera, choose “Link with phone number” and type the code from the cabinet. The assistant becomes one of your linked devices — like WhatsApp Web on a computer. The number does not change, every conversation stays on your phone, and a manager can answer a customer straight from it: the assistant sees that and stops.
What to know. This is not Meta’s official API but the same mechanism WhatsApp Web uses. WhatsApp keeps linked devices only while the main phone is alive: if the phone has not been online for more than 14 days, linked devices are logged out and the code has to be scanned again. And WhatsApp restricts numbers that message strangers in bulk. The assistant sends no broadcasts — it answers people who wrote first and, if you switch it on, reminds a customer who went quiet once. Still, if the number is your main sales channel and a ban would be expensive, choose the official connection.
WhatsApp Business API: the official route
In the cabinet you press “WhatsApp Business API” and Meta’s window opens. It offers two options. Connect the number from the WhatsApp Business app — the app on your phone keeps working as before while the assistant answers through the API (Meta calls this coexistence). Or register the number anew — then it works only through the platform. If the number was connected by QR code, Meta unlinks all linked devices when you switch: that is Meta’s rule, not ours.
Money. The number is connected to your own Meta account, and Meta charges for WhatsApp messages directly on your card. It is not part of the makeden subscription and does not pass through us. Template messages — the ones used to write to a customer more than 24 hours after their last message — are always paid, and marketing templates cost more than utility ones. Since 1 October 2026 ordinary replies within those 24 hours are paid too, but the first 1,000 of them each month on each number are free. Meta charges only for delivered messages and sets the price itself, separately for each country and type of message; the current rates are on Meta’s page: developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing.
Better to add a card from day one. Without a working payment method Meta delivers no templates at all, and ordinary replies only within the free thousand a month; everything beyond that looks sent in the conversation but never reaches the customer. The makeden cabinet checks this with Meta and shows where to add the card.
The 24-hour rule. You can reply freely for 24 hours after the customer’s last message; after that only a template Meta has approved in advance gets through. The assistant writes only within those 24 hours and sends no templates. Once they have passed, a message from the cabinet will not reach the customer — the cabinet shows that — so you wait for the customer to write again or reach them on another channel.
Wazzup: when your managers are already there
In Wazzup: CRM integrations → API → Add, copy the key and paste it into the makeden.app cabinet. The number stays in Wazzup, managers keep answering there, and the assistant joins the same chats — the team changes nothing.
Two things to know in advance. First: Wazzup sends its message notifications to one integration. If they currently go to another system, after connecting they come to us and the previous integration stops receiving them — the cabinet warns you before you connect. Second, which we measured: a message sent through the Wazzup API reaches the customer 6–8 seconds after we hand it over. If a manager starts typing in the same minute, the customer may see the messages out of order. The assistant stops as soon as a person writes, and on request it can hand a finished lead to the managers during working hours and stay out of the conversation.
What is the same whichever way you connect
The connection only changes how messages reach WhatsApp. The assistant works the same way:
- answers from your price list and knowledge base and never invents prices — without the data it says so and offers a person;
- stops as soon as a manager writes to the customer;
- understands voice messages, photos and PDFs;
- collects the enquiry and sends it to your managers — a WhatsApp group, Telegram, amoCRM or Bitrix24;
- answers in the customer’s language — Russian, Kazakh, English and eight more.
Questions
- Can I connect a bot to WhatsApp without the Business API?
- Yes — by QR code, through Linked devices. It is the fastest way and needs no Meta Business account, but it is not the official API: if the number is critical for sales, connect it officially.
- How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?
- Two separate amounts. Meta charges for messages at its rate for the customer’s country, directly on your card; since 1 October 2026 replies within 24 hours are paid too, beyond 1,000 free a month per number. Separately, the assistant subscription: one price whichever way you connect — see makeden.app/pricing.
- Will WhatsApp Business stay on my phone?
- With the QR code, yes. With the WhatsApp Business API, yes — if in Meta’s window you choose to connect the number from the WhatsApp Business app. With Wazzup, the number stays in Wazzup.
- Can I switch later?
- Yes. From a QR connection you can move to the official one in the cabinet; Meta will unlink the linked devices when you do. The knowledge base and the assistant’s settings stay.