Short answer
To get the WhatsApp Business API, sign up through a Meta partner's Embedded Signup flow or build on Meta's Cloud API directly. You need a Meta business portfolio, a phone number you own that can receive an SMS or voice call, and a display name. Then you register the number, create templates and connect your software.
What you need before you start
- A Meta business portfolio (Business Manager) for your company. Business verification is not needed to start, but it unlocks higher messaging limits.
- A phone number you own, with a country and area code, that can receive a voice call or SMS. Short codes are not supported.
- A number that is not active on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, unless your partner supports Business app number onboarding.
- A display name that matches your brand.
- A payment method, or a partner that extends its credit line to you.
How Embedded Signup works
Most businesses get access through a partner (Meta calls them Solution Partners or Tech Providers; the industry says BSP). The partner embeds Meta's signup window on its site, and you complete it with your own Facebook login.
- Log in and accept the WhatsApp terms.
- Select or create your business portfolio and WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).
- Add your phone number and verify it with the code sent by SMS or voice call.
- Enter your display name and grant the partner access.
- The partner registers the number on Cloud API and subscribes to webhooks; you then submit your first templates for review.
Partner or direct?
Going direct on Cloud API is free of partner fees but you build the inbox, template tooling, billing and webhook handling yourself. A partner supplies those and support on policy issues. Either way, the WABA and the number belong to your business portfolio, so you can move later.
OmniChannels.ai onboards through Meta Embedded Signup, as BroadNet is an official Meta Business Solution Provider.