Can the official WhatsApp API message a group?
The short answer
No. The official API cannot post into a group.
What Meta's documentation says
Meta's official WhatsApp Cloud API is built for business messaging: templates, customer-service windows and per-conversation pricing. A large part of what WhatsApp itself can do — groups, channels, status, presence, contact lookups — has no endpoint there at all, which is why so many teams end up looking past it. Everything below is checked against Meta's own published reference, with the link and the date we checked it.
Not possible on the Cloud API
The messages reference describes the recipient field as "The recipient's phone number for individual messages, and group-id for group message." (verbatim). No endpoint in the reference creates or returns a group id, so the value cannot be obtained.
Wapito is an independent product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or certified by WhatsApp or Meta Platforms, Inc. WhatsApp is a trademark of Meta Platforms, Inc.
Why there is no endpoint for it
Meta's message reference does mention a group recipient type, but there is no way to create a group, list one, or obtain a group id anywhere in the Cloud API, and Meta publishes no group messaging guide. In practice a business on the official platform cannot post into a WhatsApp group.
The official workaround, and what it costs
Businesses send the same content to each person individually, which is charged per message, loses the shared thread, and means replies arrive in as many separate conversations as there were recipients.
What the official route costs is not only the per-message price. Every row below is quoted from Meta's own documentation, with a link to the page and the date it was read.
| What it costs | What Meta's documentation says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Writing to someone first | A business may send free-form messages only inside a 24-hour customer service window that the user opens by messaging or calling. Once the window closes, only pre-approved template messages may be sent. | Meta's docs checked |
| Every message you send | Meta charges for the WhatsApp Business Platform per message rather than per conversation. The earlier per-conversation model was replaced on 1 July 2025, so any comparison written before that date is out of date; free entry point windows remain an exception. | Meta's docs checked |
| Getting onto the platform | Apps that need advanced access to Meta's permissions may have to complete Business Verification, a process in which Meta collects information to verify the business entity. It is a real onboarding step with a real elapsed time, and it has no equivalent when you link a number you already own. | Meta's docs checked |
How Wapito does it
POST /messages/textSend a text message
curl --request POST \
--url https://api.wapito.com/v1/messages/text \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer wpt_YOUR_TOKEN' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{"to":"+15551234567","body":"Your order #4182 has shipped. Track it here: https://acme.example/t/4182","typing_time":3}'When you should still use the Cloud API
You need a verified business identity
The official platform is the only route to an Official Business Account: the verified name customers see in place of a phone number, and the badge beside it. A linked number can carry a WhatsApp Business profile, but Meta will never badge it, and no provider can get you one.
You are sending marketing at scale to people who never wrote to you
That is what approved templates are for. Meta charges per message for them and treats the volume as legitimate; the same volume from a linked number is the clearest automation signal there is, and it is how numbers get banned. If outbound campaigns are the whole product, the official platform is the cheaper mistake.
You need Meta's own support and an SLA
A Business Solution Provider gives you a contract, an escalation path and a human to call when delivery stops. Wapito will tell you the moment WhatsApp restricts your number and what it did; nobody outside Meta can make it undo that, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a separate endpoint for group messages?
No, and that is deliberate. Every send endpoint takes a recipient, and a group id is simply one of the recipient forms it accepts. The same call that messages a person messages a group, which means your sending code does not need a special case for groups at all.
How do I mention someone in a group message?
Include the mention in the message body using the participant's identity, and the client renders it as a tap-able name that notifies them. Getting the identity right matters more than it used to, because in newer groups participants may be represented by a linked identity rather than a phone number.
Can I send to many groups at once?
Only by sending to each one in turn. The send queue serialises per channel deliberately, so a fan-out across fifty groups will be paced rather than parallel, and pushing harder returns a saturation error instead of sending faster. Build the loop to expect that pacing.
Related
Do it with Wapito
Other ways to do it
Try it on your own number
Create a channel, link a WhatsApp number by QR or pairing code, and call the API in a couple of minutes. The Sandbox plan is free and needs no card.