In this new post, we’ll cover the key differences between the WhatsApp Personal API and the WhatsApp Business API. In response, we’ll tell you about the WhatsApp extension we developed that integrates with CiviCRM and its benefits.

Why choose WhatsApp Business for organizational communications? Advantages over using personal accounts

Using WhatsApp (personal) instead of WhatsApp Business for organizational communication might seem simpler at first, but it comes with both benefits and significant limitations. On top of being a Violation of WhatsApp policies where the breach WhatsApp’s terms of service risk suspension, here’s a clear comparison of the pros and cons of using WhatsApp Business for organizational purposes:

WhatsApp Business is:

✔ Designed for medium and large organizations to send and receive WhatsApp messages at scale.
 ✔ Supports automation and system integration such as CiviCRM.
 ✔ Must be used through an approved provider (Civi-Go WhatsApp Service, Twilio, other).
 ✔ Use approved templates. Uses a pay-per-conversation pricing model. It is not a standalone app, businesses do not log into WhatsApp manually.

WhatsApp Business is not:

🚫 Not a mobile app — there’s no WABA “app” you install; it’s an API used by developers to build messaging tools.
🚫 Not for personal use — intended for organistation–constituent communication, not personal chats.
🚫 Not free — it has a pricing model based on conversation volume and message types.
🚫 Not limited to a single phone/device — you don’t need to keep a phone online; messages are handled via servers and APIs. Can use either a fixed or a mobile line.
🚫 Does not support all features of WhatsApp app (e.g., no voice/video calls, no direct group chats like personal WhatsApp).

After uncovering these differences, it’s beneficial for nonprofits to be able to use this communication tool with their CRM and thus have everything integrated with their database contacts.

For this reason, we recommend that you consider integrating the API with CiviCRM.

What are the benefits of integrating your WhatsApp Channel with CiviCRM

Professionalism. Build trust and scale 

Make the switch to WhatsApp Business API to protect privacy. Personal numbers are exposed, and there’s a high risk of mixing personal and business messages. Build credibility, and present a unified, professional presence. Improve legitimacy of your organization by having a Business profile, verification badge, and automatic greeting messages. Clients look for legitimacy, specially with donation campaigns.

Automation and scalability. Manage properly to show you care 

Avoid message chaos and confusion, reach more people, automate responses and create flows with less effort. Read and respond from inside your CiviCRM and keep the thread saved as one additional interaction tab of your contact. Save your team a lot of time in managing repetitive answers and prepare to reply at scale when you launch a campaign.

• Manage across teams or high message volume. From one number (fixed or mobile) any number of people can read and reply messages sent to your organization

• Integrate WhatsApp messaging with CiviCRM workflows to automate tasks and improve communication with contacts.

• Send bulk WhatsApp messages to groups of contacts

Relevance. Keep your channel format and style up to date 

Enrich conversations with multimedia content. Get creative! send pictures, audios or videos. Create Polls, and integrate with CiviRules to build journeys that will get people closer to your organisation and your team freer to focus on developing those relationships.

• Interactive buttons (Option 1, Option 2.. 3)

• Call to action buttons (“Learn more”)

• Quick reply buttons (e.g., “Yes” or “No”)

• Location sharing

What is the CiviCRM WhatsApp Extension

The WhatsApp Business Extension was developed by iXiam. Since 2007 we’ve collaborated with NGOs, Medical Associations, Universities, Federations and UN departments. We are based in Spain and the United States with over 350 implementations in 47 countries with languages including Spanish, English, French and Greek.