What is WhatsApp coexistence?

Meta's product name for coexistence is “API solutions for WhatsApp Business app users”, and its developer documentation lists it as onboarding WhatsApp Business app users (Coexistence). Meta launched it in February 2025 and opened it to Indian (+91) numbers in May 2025.

Before coexistence, a business that wanted the platform on its existing number had to delete its WhatsApp Business app account. That meant losing the chat history on it, and the number could not return to the app unless it was first removed from the platform. Coexistence removes that trade-off: the app keeps working, the platform is added on top, and history is preserved.

You connect through the signup of a provider Meta supports for this. You enter your WhatsApp Business number, confirm your business profile and confirm from inside the WhatsApp Business app, by scanning a QR code or, on older screens, approving and entering a code. You can choose to share up to six months of one-to-one chat history, and your WhatsApp contacts come across with their saved names.

After that, messages are mirrored. Text, photo, video and document replies you send from the phone show up on the platform, with edits and deletes, and messages your team or chatbot sends from the platform appear in the app. Some types, such as voice notes and stickers, may stay in the app. One-to-one messages sent from the app stay free; messages sent from the platform follow Meta's per-message pricing.

A few things change. Disappearing messages, view once and live location switch off in one-to-one chats, broadcast lists become read-only, and linked devices need re-linking (up to four, not WhatsApp for Windows or Wear OS). Groups, calls, catalog, Status and quick replies keep working in the app. A coexistence number sends at a fixed 20 messages per second and can't get the Official Business Account badge.