WhatsApp Business app features in 2026: what each one does

The free WhatsApp Business app adds a business profile, a product catalogue with a cart, chat labels that are becoming lists, up to 50 quick replies, automatic greeting and away messages, a short link, and up to four linked devices. As of October 2026 the paid extras are business broadcasts, Meta Verified or Meta One plans, and ads.

Below: each feature with its current limits, which parts cost money, the AI features Meta has added, and what the app still can't do for a team. Limits were checked against WhatsApp's help centre on 5 October 2026; WhatsApp rolls features out gradually, so your app may differ.

WhatsApp Business app features at a glance

Business profile, short link and QR code

The profile is what customers see when they tap your name: business name, description, address or service area, hours, up to three categories, email, website, and your Facebook Page or Instagram account if you link them. It also shows the month and year you joined. Edit it under Tools → Profile. Fill in your hours: they power the away message's Outside of business hours option, and the app turns your hours and address into ready-made quick replies.

Every account gets a short link, found under the Tools tab along with your QR code. You can attach a default message that appears ready to send, such as "Hi, I'd like to book a site visit", and print the QR code for a shop counter. To build a link for any number with your own text, use the WhatsApp link generator. Business usernames, an @name customers can type instead of your number, are rolling out gradually, and you can reserve one now.

How does the WhatsApp Business catalogue work?

The catalogue puts what you sell on your profile, so customers can browse without asking for a price list. Each item needs a name, at least one photo and its country of origin; price, description, link and product code are optional, and prices can only be shown in some countries.

1. 1Open the Tools tab, tap Catalog, then Add new item.
2. 2Add up to 10 photos or videos, each video up to 50 MB.
3. 3Enter the name, choose the country of origin, add any optional details and tap Save.
4. 4Wait for the review. WhatsApp checks every item against its policies and hides it until it is approved. A rejected item can be appealed with Request another review.

Items can be grouped into collections, hidden without being deleted, and shared as links in chats or on your status. Turn on carts in the catalogue's settings and customers can send several items as one order; WhatsApp says the change can take up to 24 hours to apply.

Labels, quick replies, greeting and away messages

• Labels sort chats into categories such as New customer or Payment pending. You can create up to 20, in different colours, and filter the chat list by label. WhatsApp is gradually replacing them with lists, also up to 20, under Tools → Lists. See WhatsApp Business labels.
• Quick replies store up to 50 messages you send often, photos and videos included. Type / in a chat to pick one, then edit it before sending. Quick replies with media don't work on WhatsApp Web or desktop. See quick replies for WhatsApp Business.
• A greeting message goes automatically to anyone who messages you for the first time, or after 14 days with no messages in that chat. It can go to everyone, to people not in your address book, to everyone except chosen contacts, or only to chosen contacts.
• An away message replies automatically while you're unavailable: always, on a custom schedule, or outside the hours on your profile, with the same choice of recipients.

Are broadcasts free on WhatsApp Business?

• Broadcast lists are free. Each holds up to 256 contacts, everyone receives the message as a private chat, and only people who have saved your number get it. In some countries a monthly cap of 35 free broadcast messages is rolling out, shown under Settings → Broadcasts. The broadcast limit guide covers the rules.
• Business broadcasts are paid. You choose an audience from your contacts or lists, add a photo and an optional action button (a catalogue item, a pre-filled reply, a call or a website), then send now or schedule. Meta reviews each one; you pay only for messages delivered within five days, priced by the recipient's country code, with an INR rate card for India; and the app shows how many people read and replied. They are offered in limited countries.

A scheduled business broadcast still needs your phone online at the scheduled time; if it isn't, the app tries again after a minute and then every 10 minutes, up to 10 attempts in all. Meta Verified includes some free business broadcast messages.

How many devices can one WhatsApp Business account use?

On the free app, the phone and up to four linked devices can use the account at once, and the phone must be used at least every 14 days or the devices are logged out. For bigger teams WhatsApp sells multi-agent: up to 10 devices, each named after its agent, with chat assignment and a record of who sent each message.

In September 2026 Meta added Meta One business plans (Essential, Advanced, Expert and Max), bundling verification with more devices, business broadcast credits from Advanced up and more use of Meta Business Agent, from US$14.99 a month depending on region. Both families are offered to select businesses and locations, calls ring only on the main phone once more than four devices are linked, and tablets aren't supported. WhatsApp Business with multiple users compares the routes for teams.

What AI features does the WhatsApp Business app have?

• Meta AI business assistant helps you, not your customers: it drafts product descriptions, makes catalogue images and suggests profile improvements. It appears in your chat list as Business assistant.
• Meta Business Agent answers customers from your profile, catalogue and website: hours, products, prices, discounts, payment and shipping. You can step in by replying yourself. Connecting it unlinks your linked devices (most can be linked again afterwards, but not WhatsApp for Windows, Android tablets or Wear OS), and Meta keeps collecting those chats to improve its AI even while the agent is muted.

Both are limited to some countries and languages. Meta launched Business AI for eligible small businesses in India in May 2026, in all native Indian languages, and in June announced it was expanding Meta Business Agent to businesses globally; as of October 2026 WhatsApp's help centre still lists it for select businesses in limited countries. The consumer assistant isn't in the Business app; Meta AI in WhatsApp covers it.

What the WhatsApp Business app can't do

• Create a community. You can take part in communities you already belong to, but not start one.
• Combine numbers. Each account is one number with its own phone, devices and subscription.
• Give staff different access. Every linked device sees every chat; there are no roles.
• Do everything on linked devices. Broadcast lists can't be used there, and a linked second phone can't post a status.

Teams that outgrow one phone usually need several numbers in one place, with rules about who sees what. A shared inbox such as WavesFlo's puts chats from every linked number in one list, marks each with the number it came in on, and adds assignment by hand or round-robin within a team, internal notes and five roles. On Growth and Enterprise, each team can also choose automatic answers from keyword replies, a chatbot and AI replies, AI drafts for someone to check, or neither. See the shared inbox.