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WhatsApp Group API - 2026
WhatsApp Group API in 2026: What Meta Supports and What It Doesn't
Meta's WhatsApp Group API is live on the Cloud API, but it only works for Official Business Accounts, caps every group at 8 participants, and has no endpoint to add someone directly. Here is what that means for a real product, endpoint by endpoint, plus the one path that removes all three limits.
Group settings Cloud API Acme Client Onboarding Groep
JD AS ML RK TN CW PB +1 8 / 8 participants
Official Business Account required
Group full: no endpoint to add a 9th participant
Groups API
Does the WhatsApp API support group messaging?
Ja. The WhatsApp Business Platform now exposes a Groups API on the Cloud API, so a business number can create groups, send messages in them, and manage membership. Three conditions gate it: the business must be an Official Business Account, each group is capped at 8 participants, and there is no endpoint to add a participant directly.
WhatsApp Group API: supported vs not supported Verified against Meta's Cloud API docs, August 2026
Ondersteund
Create, list, and update groups on a Cloud API business number
Send text, media, and template messages into a group
Generate and reset the group's invite link
Approve or reject pending join requests
Remove a participant from a group
Subscribe to 4 group-specific webhook events
Niet ondersteund
Adding a participant directly: invite link only
Voice or video calling inside a group
Disappearing messages and view-once media
Editing or deleting a message already sent to the group
Hiding the participant list as an admin
Per-template performance analytics for group messages
This breakdown follows Meta's own Groups API documentation. Source: developers.facebook.com, WhatsApp Group API, checked August 2026. The rest of this guide covers every endpoint, what triggers the 8-participant wall, and the one gap none of Meta's own docs call out directly: there is no way to add a participant to a group.
Definitie
What is the WhatsApp Groups API?
De WhatsApp Groups API is the group-messaging layer Meta added on top of the WhatsApp Business Platform's Cloud API. It lets a business phone number create groups, send messages into them, and manage membership through a dedicated set of endpoints, without moving to a different product.
Stays the same
Same
PHONE_NUMBER_ID used for 1:1 messagingSame access token and app-level permissions setup
Same
/berichten endpoint to send into a group What's new
A dedicated
/groups endpoint family: create, list, update, deleteInvite link and join-request endpoints
4 new webhook fields for group lifecycle events
A number that already sends 1:1 messages through the WhatsApp API guide does not need a second integration to support groups. It needs the extra permission covered next, and the extra endpoints covered further down this page.
Geschiktheid
Who can use the WhatsApp Groups API?
Only a subset of WhatsApp Business Platform numbers qualify for the WhatsApp Group API. A business must run an Official Business Account on the Cloud API itself before a single group can be created, and two common number types are explicitly excluded.
Official Business Account (OBA)
The number must carry Meta's OBA status, the verified tier of the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Live on the Cloud API
The number has to be in active use on the Cloud API, not on the free WhatsApp Business app.
De
whatsapp_business_messaging permissionThe connected app must have this permission approved before any group endpoint responds.
Subscribed to the right WABA
The app has to be subscribed to the WhatsApp Business Account that owns the number.
Numbers on the WhatsApp Business app
Excluded. The Groups API is a Cloud API feature, not something the consumer-facing Business app exposes.
Numbers in Multi-solution Conversations
Excluded. Numbers shared across multiple business solution providers cannot run the Groups API.
Source: Meta's Groups API get-started documentation, checked August 2026.
Limieten
How many participants can a WhatsApp API group have?
8 participants maximum per group. A single business number can hold up to 10,000 groups, and only one Cloud API business can operate inside a given group at a time.
On the WhatsApp Group API, the business number that creates the group takes up one of the eight slots as a participant itself, which leaves room for real customers or teammates rather than the full eight. For a product that needs an onboarding group, a project channel, or a support cell with more than a handful of people, that ceiling is reached fast.
The 8-participant cap is not a technical bug. It reflects a deliberate design choice for structured business messaging rather than open community chat, which is a materially different use case from a personal WhatsApp group. The practical question for a product team is not whether 8 is enough in theory, it's whether the group can grow past its first 8 people at all, which is what the next two sections answer.
API referentie
Which endpoints does the WhatsApp Groups API expose?
The WhatsApp Groups API adds 12 endpoints on top of the standard Cloud API: group creation, metadata, the invite link, and join requests. None of them adds a participant directly.
Methode
Path
Wat het doet
POST
/<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/groups
Creates a new group and returns its first invite link
GET
/<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/groups
Lists every active group tied to the business number
GET
/<GROUP_ID>?fields=<FIELDS>
Reads a single group's metadata: subject, description, participant count
POST
/<GROUP_ID>
Updates the group's subject, description, or photo
DELETE
/<GROUP_ID>
Deletes the group and removes every participant at once
GET
/<GROUP_ID>/invite_link
Returns the group's current invite link
POST
/<GROUP_ID>/invite_link
Resets the invite link, which invalidates every link shared before
GET
/<GROUP_ID>/join_requests
Lists the join requests waiting for approval
POST
/<GROUP_ID>/join_requests
Approves one or more pending join requests
DELETE
/<GROUP_ID>/join_requests
Rejects one or more pending join requests
DELETE
/<GROUP_ID>/participants
Removes one or more participants from the group
POST
/<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages
Sends a text, media, or template message into the group
Look closely at what's missing: there is a
DELETE /participants endpoint, and no POST /participants eindpunt. You can remove someone from a WhatsApp API group. You cannot add them the same way. The next section covers exactly what that means and what to do about it. The gap
Can you add someone to a WhatsApp group with the Cloud API?
Nee. The WhatsApp Group API has no add-participant endpoint. Participants can only join through a shared invite link, and the business can then approve or reject the join request.
DELETE /<GROUP_ID>/participants removes people, nothing adds them.The only path in, start to finish
1
Create the group
POST /groups returns a group_id and a first invite link
2
Get the invite link
GET or POST /invite_link, resettable at any time
3
Send the link
POST /messages, a 1:1 template sent to the prospect
4
They request to join
Tapping the link creates a join_requests entry
You approve
POST /join_requests confirms them as a participant
# Step 2: get or reset the group's invite link
krul -X POST \
"https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/<GROUP_ID>/invite_link" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>"
// 200 OK
{
"invite_link": "https://chat.whatsapp.com/<LINK_ID>"
}This is the only way in. There is no bulk import, no CSV of phone numbers, no endpoint that adds a list of people to a group in one call. Each person has to tap a link and wait for approval, one at a time. For a handful of VIP contacts that is a minor inconvenience. For a recurring product flow, onboarding every new client into a dedicated group, staffing a project channel, building a support cell per account, it is a manual step that happens outside the API for every single person, every time.
Compare that to a WhatsApp link API used for 1:1 outreach, where sharing a link is the entry point by design. Inside a group, the same invite-link mechanic becomes the only door available, whether or not it fits the product's actual onboarding flow.
A WhatsApp account linked through Unipile does not carry this restriction: the same action type that removes a participant has a counterpart that adds one directly, on behalf of the authenticated user. Full detail, endpoints included, further down this page in how you access WhatsApp groups from a user's own account.
Niet ondersteund
What is not supported in WhatsApp API groups?
Six message types, three admin actions, and one API are unavailable inside a group created through the WhatsApp Group API, even though every one of them works fine in a regular 1:1 conversation on the same number.
Categorie
Niet beschikbaar
Message types
Calling, disappearing messages, view-once media, authentication templates, commerce messages, and interactive messages
Admin actions
Hiding the participant list, editing a message already sent to the group, and deleting a message already sent to the group
API's
The Calling API does not work inside a group conversation
Analytics
No per-template performance metrics for templates used in a group. Meta recommends keeping group templates separate from 1:1 templates for this reason
How-to
How do you send a message to a WhatsApp group?
Use the same
POST /<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages endpoint as one-to-one messaging, set recipient_type naar groep, and put the group ID in naar. There is no separate endpoint for group messages.Text message, curl
krul -X POST \
"https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"messaging_product": "whatsapp",
"recipient_type": "group",
"to": "<GROUP_ID>",
"type": "text",
"text": { "body": "Welcome to the project channel." }
}'Template message, Node.js
const response = wacht op fetch(
`https://graph.facebook.com/v21.0/${BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID}/messages`,
{
methode: "POST",
kopteksten: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${TOEGANGSTOKEN}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
lichaam: JSON.stringify({
messaging_product: "whatsapp",
recipient_type: "group",
naar: GROUP_ID,
type: "template",
template: {
naam: "onboarding_welcome",
language: { code: "en_US" },
},
}),
}
);Media messages follow the identical pattern: reference the uploaded media, then send it with
recipient_type: "group" the same way as text or a template. Delivery, formatting, retries, and error codes all follow the same rules as any other Cloud API message, group or not.What doesn't change on the WhatsApp Group API: there is no group-specific rate limit documented separately from the standard messaging limits, and no group-specific message format. The only new field is
recipient_type.Webhooks
Which webhooks fire on WhatsApp group events?
The WhatsApp Group API adds four webhook fields to cover group activity, and all four require a separate subscription before any group event reaches your endpoint. None of them are covered by the standard message webhook you may already use for 1:1 chats.
Webhook field
Fires when
group_lifecycle_update
A group is created or deleted on the business number
group_participants_update
Membership changes: a join request is approved or a participant is removed
group_settings_update
The group's subject, description, or photo is changed
group_status_update
The group's general status changes on the platform
Field names and subscription requirement per Meta's Groups API get-started documentation, checked August 2026. See the full webhook payload reference for exact field structures.
Prijzen
How much does WhatsApp group messaging cost?
Per bericht, the same way as any other Cloud API conversation. There is no separate rate card, and no group discount.
Meta moved the entire WhatsApp Business Platform to per-message pricing on July 1, 2025, replacing the older per-conversation model. Group messages sent through the WhatsApp Group API are billed the same way: each message sent into a group counts individually, at the same per-message rate as a 1:1 message in the same category, in the same country.
There is no volume discount specific to groups, and, as covered earlier on this page, no separate performance dashboard for templates used in a group. Budgeting a group-heavy use case means treating each group message as exactly what it is on the invoice: one more message against the standard per-message rate.
For the full rate card across conversation categories and countries, see our WhatsApp Zakelijke API-prijzen breakdown.
Gekoppelde accounts
How do you access WhatsApp groups from a user's own account?
A WhatsApp account connects through Unipile the same way a person would use WhatsApp Web: by QR code or pairing code, on behalf of the authenticated user, with no Meta Business verification required. Once linked, its groups are standard chats, reachable through the same chat and messaging endpoints as any other conversation.
Unipile fungeert als een onafhankelijke technische tussenpersoon between a product and WhatsApp: every call below executes on behalf of the authenticated user who linked the account, not as a standing integration with WhatsApp or Meta.
Data handling note
Scoped to the authenticated session
Group data retrieved through a linked WhatsApp account is not stored in a parallel system or kept as an independent archive. Access is scoped to the session of the geverifieerde gebruiker who linked the account, and every request acts namens that user.
Platform limits & responsible use
WhatsApp's own limits, relayed
Unipile relays WhatsApp's own native rate limits on the linked account rather than imposing a separate one. How often a group is messaged, and how many groups an account manages, remains a beslissing aan klantzijde, made within WhatsApp's own limits for that account.
Once an account is linked, its groups show up alongside every other chat. Filtering to WhatsApp and paging through them uses the same chat list endpoint as any other conversation:
List every WhatsApp group and chat on a linked account, curl
krul -X GET \
"https://<subdomain>.unipile.com:<port>/api/v1/chats?account_type=WHATSAPP&account_id=<ACCOUNT_ID>&limit=50" \
-H "X-API-KEY: <ACCESS_TOKEN>" \
-H "accept: application/json"Starting a new group works the same way as starting any multi-recipient chat: pass more than one entry in
attendees_ids, formatted the same way WhatsApp identifies contacts internally.Start a new WhatsApp group, curl
krul -X POST \
"https://<subdomain>.unipile.com:<port>/api/v1/chats" \
-H "X-API-KEY: <ACCESS_TOKEN>" \
-F "account_id=<ACCOUNT_ID>" \
-F "attendees_ids[]=33600000001@s.whatsapp.net" \
-F "attendees_ids[]=33600000002@s.whatsapp.net" \
-F "attendees_ids[]=33600000003@s.whatsapp.net" \
-F "subject=Acme Client Onboarding" \
-F "text=Welcome to the group"The Node SDK exposes the same chat surface for reading who is already in a group:
List a group's participants, Node.js SDK
importeer { UnipileClient } van "unipile-node-sdk".;
const klant = nieuw UnipileClient(BASE_URL, TOEGANGSTOKEN);
const aanwezigen = wacht op client.messaging.getAllAttendeesFromChat(chat_id);This is where a linked account diverges from the WhatsApp Group API:
PATCH /chats/{chat_id} supports an addParticipant action, alongside removeParticipant en getInviteLink, on WhatsApp and Telegram chats. Adding someone requires the account owner to hold the group's "Add other members" permission inside WhatsApp itself, the same permission that would apply if they added that person manually from their phone.Add, remove, or invite a participant, Node.js SDK
// Add a participant (WhatsApp & Telegram only)
wacht op client.messaging.performAction({
chat_id,
action: "addParticipant",
value: "33600000009@s.whatsapp.net",
});
// Remove a participant
wacht op client.messaging.performAction({
chat_id,
action: "removeParticipant",
value: "33600000009@s.whatsapp.net",
});
// Get the group's invite link
const { invite_link } = wacht op client.messaging.performAction({
chat_id,
action: "getInviteLink",
});There is no published cap on how many people a group can hold once it is managed through a linked account: the group operates under WhatsApp's native mechanics on the linked account, not the Cloud API's 8-participant ceiling. Unipile does not document or enforce a separate participant limit of its own on top of it.
Full parameter reference for these three actions, including the exact provider ID format per platform, is in the Unipile chat action endpoint documentatie.
Beslissing
Groups API or linked account: which one fits your product?
Both paths, the WhatsApp Group API and a linked account, create and message WhatsApp groups. They fit different products, so the right choice depends on whether the use case can live with an 8-participant, invite-only ceiling or not.
Requirement
Meta Groups API
Linked account
Account requirement
Official Business Account, on the Cloud API
Existing WhatsApp account, linked by QR or pairing code
Max participants
8 per group
WhatsApp's native group mechanics, no separate Unipile cap
Add a participant directly
Not available: invite link and approval only
Available, via the addParticipant action
Invite link
Generate and reset via the API
Generate via the getInviteLink action
Read existing group history
Not part of the API: messages arrive by webhook as they happen
Full history sync plus message list endpoints
List participants
Participant count only, via group metadata
Full attendee list, one call
Message types
Text, media, template text, template media
Text, media, and WhatsApp's native message types
Webhooks
4 dedicated group fields, each a separate subscription
Standard chat and message webhooks
Billing model
Per message, standard Cloud API conversation pricing
Unipile subscription, not billed per WhatsApp message
Who owns the conversation
The business, as the Official Business Account holder
The end user, Unipile acts on their behalf
WhatsApp Group API - FAQ
Answers to the questions Meta's WhatsApp Groups API documentation doesn't spell out directly.
No. The WhatsApp Group API is active on the WhatsApp Business Platform's Cloud API as of 2026. The confusion comes from the ecosystem side: several third-party messaging platforms have not implemented group support yet, and some help centers and open feature requests still describe WhatsApp API groups as unsupported even though Meta's own documentation confirms otherwise.
No, not for Meta's Groups API: an Official Business Account on the Cloud API is required, and numbers on the WhatsApp Business app or in Multi-solution Conversations are excluded. A WhatsApp account linked through Unipile is a different path: it links by QR code or pairing code, on behalf of the authenticated user, with no Meta Business verification at all.
8 participants maximum per group on the Cloud API's Groups API, and up to 10,000 groups per business number. A WhatsApp account linked through Unipile follows WhatsApp's native group mechanics on the linked account instead of that cap.
Meta returns the group ID when the group is created, through
POST /<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/groups. Existing group IDs are listed with GET /<BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/groups. On a linked account, the same ID appears as the chat_id returned when listing chats or starting a new group.It depends on the path. The Cloud API's Groups API is webhook-driven: messages arrive as they happen, and there is no endpoint to pull a group's past history. A WhatsApp account linked through Unipile can retrieve existing messages and resynchronize a conversation's full history on the authenticated user's behalf.
No. Unipile is an onafhankelijke technische tussenpersoon and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WhatsApp or Meta. It connects a user's own WhatsApp account on their behalf and does not operate as a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider for the Cloud API described earlier on this page.
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