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Multiple WABAs

Also called: Multiple WhatsApp Business Accounts · Multiple Messaging accounts · Several WABAs in one portfolio

Running more than one WhatsApp Business Account in a business portfolio to separate templates, billing and webhooks by brand, region or partner.

Reviewed

What is multiple WABAs?

Multiple WABAs means a business runs more than one WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) inside its business portfolio. Since Meta's new account model began rolling out on 23 September 2026, the old WABA has been split in two: a Messaging account, which keeps the WABA ID and holds templates, billing and webhook subscriptions, and a WhatsApp account, which holds one phone number with its display name and profile. In practice "multiple WABAs" today usually means multiple Messaging accounts, each with its own templates and payment method.

Splitting is a decision about what you want isolated. Templates belong to the WABA they were created in and are not shared. Each WABA has its own payment method, currency and invoices, its own webhook subscriptions and its own analytics. Partners are also isolated: each partner that onboards a client now gets its own Messaging account, so its templates, billing and metrics never mix with another partner's.

Other things stay shared across every WABA in the portfolio. Messaging limits count unique users per rolling 24 hours at portfolio level, pricing volume tiers for utility and authentication count across all WABAs, and business verification belongs to the portfolio. Quality ratings and throughput stay with each phone number. This is why the question differs from Phone Number Limit, which only caps how many numbers you hold: adding WABAs changes organisation and billing, never capacity.

Key takeaways

  • Each WABA, now a Messaging account, has its own templates, payment method, currency and webhook subscriptions.
  • Messaging limits and pricing volume tiers are counted per business portfolio, so extra WABAs never add sending capacity.
  • Phone number quality and throughput stay with each number; the portfolio's number allowance (2, then 20) caps how many you hold.
  • Split when brands, billing entities, currencies or partners genuinely differ; otherwise one WABA is simpler to run.
  • Templates do not move automatically: re-create them or use template migration, and expect migrated templates to rebuild their quality record before high-volume sends.

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Interactive stop

One WABA or several? Answer four questions

Question 1 · up to 4

Do the lines of business need separate invoices or payment methods?

Your answers

None yet — pick an answer to start down the tree.

Path map

Depth 0 of up to 4. Circles are questions, squares are outcomes.

All possible outcomes (5)

  • Use one WABA per billing entity

    Each WABA (Messaging account) gets its own payment method and invoices. Limits stay shared across the portfolio.

    Path: “Yes, different entities or cost centres”

  • Use one WABA per currency

    Currency is set per Messaging account. Eligible Indian WABAs must bill in INR by 31 December 2026.

    Path: “No, one invoice is fine” → “Yes”

  • Let the partner onboard you

    Under the new account model, the partner's Embedded Signup creates its own Messaging account on your shared number.

    Path: “No, one invoice is fine” → “No” → “Yes”

  • Split templates into separate WABAs

    Isolate brands or agencies, and copy shared templates with template migration.

    Path: “No, one invoice is fine” → “No” → “No” → “Yes”

  • Keep one WABA

    Add more numbers to the same WABA as you grow. Simpler webhooks, templates and billing.

    Path: “No, one invoice is fine” → “No” → “No” → “No”

Answer questions about brands, billing, currency and partners to see whether a second WABA (Messaging account) helps, or whether a second number in the same WABA is enough.

Question 1: Do the lines of business need separate invoices or payment methods? 2 options.

Multiple WABAs: key facts and limits

Per WABA (Messaging account)
Templates, payment method, currency, webhooks, analytics
Per portfolio (shared)
Messaging limits, volume tiers, business verification
Per phone number
Quality rating, throughput, display name
Templates per WABA
250 unverified; up to 6,000 verified with approved display name
Phone numbers per portfolio
2 initially, 20 once verified or at the 2,000 limit
After template migration
Quality history starts again; ramp volume gradually
INR billing deadline
Eligible WABAs must move to INR by 31 Dec 2026

How does multiple WABAs work?

  1. List what must be separate

    Write down which brands, legal entities, currencies, cost centres and partners need separate invoices, template sets or access. If the answer is "nothing", stay with one WABA.

  2. Check what will still be shared

    Messaging limits, volume tiers and verification are portfolio-wide; quality and throughput are per number. Extra WABAs will not raise limits or protect one brand's quality from another's number.

  3. Create the extra WABA the right way

    Create it through a partner's Embedded Signup (which now creates a Messaging account per partner automatically), in WhatsApp Manager, or by sharing an existing one with a partner. Attach the right payment method and currency to each.

  4. Move or rebuild templates

    Templates stay in their WABA. Re-create them or use POST /{DEST_WABA_ID}/migrate_message_templates with source_waba_id; migrated templates start without their old quality history, so ramp volume up gradually.

  5. Wire webhooks and IDs per WABA

    Subscribe your app with POST /{WABA_ID}/subscribed_apps for each WABA, store the WABA ID next to every phone number ID, and route events by entry.id.

Example: A Mumbai group with a pharmacy and a diagnostics brand

A Mumbai healthcare group runs a pharmacy chain and a diagnostics lab under separate legal entities with separate GST registrations. It keeps one verified business portfolio but two WABAs: the pharmacy's has refill and delivery templates and is billed to the pharmacy entity; the lab's has report-ready templates and is billed to the lab. Each brand has its own number and display name. Both still share the portfolio's messaging limit, so the marketing team plans the lab's health-check campaign and the pharmacy's monsoon offer on different days. When the group later adds a marketing specialist partner for the pharmacy, that partner gets its own Messaging account on the pharmacy number.

— A Mumbai group with a pharmacy and a diagnostics brand

Multiple WABAs in code

# WABAs your business portfolio owns
curl "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{BUSINESS_ID}/owned_whatsapp_business_accounts?fields=id,name,currency,timezone_id" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"
 
# WABAs clients have shared with you (partners)
curl "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{BUSINESS_ID}/client_whatsapp_business_accounts?fields=id,name" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"
 
# Numbers in one WABA
curl "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{WABA_ID}/phone_numbers?fields=id,display_phone_number,verified_name,quality_rating" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}"

Common mistakes with multiple WABAs

  • Splitting to get more sending capacity

    Messaging limits are counted per business portfolio, so ten WABAs share one limit. Raise capacity through verification and quality instead.

  • Splitting across portfolios to isolate risk

    Creating extra portfolios for one legal entity splits verification and complicates ownership, and numbers cannot later be moved between portfolios. Use one portfolio per legal entity and separate inside it.

  • Forgetting webhooks on the new WABA

    Inbound messages for a number in an unsubscribed WABA never reach you. Subscribe every WABA and alert when a known phone number ID sends no events for a day.

  • Hard-coding one WABA ID

    Code that assumes a single WABA sends templates from the wrong account or fails lookups. Store the WABA ID per phone number and pass it explicitly in template management calls.

Why does multiple WABAs matter?

The WABA structure decides how cleanly you can bill brands or subsidiaries, give an agency access to one line of business without exposing another, run a second currency, or add a specialist partner for marketing while support stays where it is. Getting it wrong is expensive to unwind: templates have to be re-created or migrated, webhooks re-pointed, and numbers cannot be moved to another business portfolio. A few minutes with the decision tree before onboarding saves weeks later.

Best practices for multiple WABAs

  • Name WABAs after the brand and entity they bill, for example "Pharmacy – Entity A – INR".
  • Keep a shared template naming convention so migrations and audits are easy across WABAs.
  • Plan for messaging_account_id on sends if one token will reach several Messaging accounts on the same number.

Multiple WABAs FAQs

Can one business have multiple WABAs?+
Yes. A business portfolio can hold several WABAs, each with its own templates, payment method and webhooks. They share the portfolio's messaging limit and business verification.
Do multiple WABAs increase my messaging limit?+
No. Messaging limits are counted per business portfolio across all its numbers and WABAs. Only verification, quality and steady volume raise the limit.
Can I use the same template in two WABAs?+
Not directly; templates belong to the WABA they were created in. Re-create the template in the other WABA or copy it with template migration, which resets its quality to a baseline.
When should I use a second WABA instead of a second number?+
Use a second WABA when billing, currency, templates or partner access must be separate. If you only need another number for the same brand and invoice, add it to the existing WABA.

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