WhatsApp Tech Provider Program Overview
The WhatsApp Tech Provider Program simplifies the WhatsApp onboarding process for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) using Twilio. This program enables you to allow your customers to onboard to WhatsApp fully self-service, access their WhatsApp Business Accounts within Meta's system, and register WhatsApp Senders programmatically.
Existing ISVs: Guided Onboarding support ended.
Guided Onboarding is no longer supported. You can't add new customers to WhatsApp using Guided Onboarding.
By adopting the Tech Provider Program, your customers will onboard to WhatsApp using Meta's WhatsApp Embedded Signup product. Twilio uses the same WhatsApp Embedded Signup in the Twilio Console to support WhatsApp Self Sign-up for customers onboarding their brands.
The process is fully self-service, allowing clients to onboard a WhatsApp Sender directly from your website within 5–10 minutes.
- Your customers will choose the phone number that they wish to use on WhatsApp (unless you assign numbers automatically). The WhatsApp Tech Provider Program supports both Twilio phone numbers and non-Twilio phone numbers (i.e. bringing your own phone number, or BYON) on WhatsApp, but it's up to you on what you expose to your customers. Note: this needs to happen before the Embedded Signup popup window, so that you can get the full phone number required by the Senders API, as Meta doesn't return the full phone number.
- Your customers will click the "Login with Facebook" button within your UI and the Embedded Signup popup window will launch.
- In the popup window, they will follow Meta's Embedded Signup flow and complete the following:
- Create or select a Meta Business Portfolio
- Create a WhatsApp Business Account ("WABA") or select the existing one if onboarding an additional number
- If not using a Twilio SMS number that you have purchased, they will need to verify ownership of the phone number with Meta by entering their phone number again and verifying it using a one-time password (OTP) that Meta will send via either SMS or voice call.
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As the Embedded Signup popup window is entirely controlled by Meta, know that Meta may make changes to this flow without Twilio's involvement. See Meta's Embedded Signup documentation for the most up-to-date screenshots.
- Once your customer completes the flow within the Embedded Signup window, it will close and you will need to register their WhatsApp Sender using the Twilio Senders API and the subaccount credentials that you have assigned to this customer.
All existing Meta phone number limits apply.
At a high level, you will need to:
- Create a Meta app and have it approved by Meta.
- Accept Twilio's request to link your Meta app to Twilio (called a Partner Solution).
- Complete a technical integration using Meta's SDK and Embedded Signup feature, and onboard WhatsApp Senders using Twilio's Senders API.
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Recent changes by Meta now allow for steps (1) and (2) to be completed without making any code changes. However, step (3) requires code changes. This may take several weeks to complete, as it largely involves Meta-specific code that needs to be implemented, which may require Twilio to open a ticket with Meta for support. Meta provides no SLAs if Twilio needs to do so.
Once you complete the prerequisites below, use the full step-by-step WhatsApp Tech Provider Program Integration Guide provided by Twilio. We don't recommend Meta's Tech Provider documentation as certain steps are not relevant for Twilio ISVs.
If you haven't already, create a WhatsApp Sender for your own company using WhatsApp Self Sign-up. This ensures you are familiar with the WhatsApp Business Platform basics, enables your Meta Business Portfolio to be eligible for verification by Meta, and allows you to create templates and send/receive messages on WhatsApp for your own company.
Let the Twilio Channels Operations team know you are adopting the WhatsApp Tech Provider Program by filling out the request access form.
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After filling out the form, you don't need to wait before continuing to the next steps. After you submit the form, the Twilio Channel Operations team will create a support ticket to help guide you through the process within 3 business days.
This is a required step, as later in the process, Twilio will need to send you a Partner Solution request within Meta's app dashboard for you to accept.
Before a company can participate in the Tech Provider Program, all businesses need to turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) within your Meta Business and have it verified by Meta.
- Enable 2FA in your Meta business portfolio by following the steps listed in Meta's official documentation to make sure this is enabled for your business.
- Go to your Meta business portfolio settings > Security Center and click Start Verification.
- If your business isn't eligible for verification, then complete WhatsApp Self Sign-up for your company first.
- You will need to provide business documents, like a tax statement or utility bill, to verify your company's legal name, email, address, and/or phone number.
- Learn more by viewing Meta's documentation on Business Verification and Accepted Documents.
Warning
Meta's processing time for business verification varies by region and can take several weeks. We recommend starting this process early to avoid delays in onboarding.
After completing the prerequisites, follow Twilio's WhatsApp Tech Provider Program Integration Guide for step-by-step instructions.