How to create a WhatsApp Business account: with a new number, your existing number, Meta Business Suite or a laptop

Setting up WhatsApp Business takes about ten minutes, but the number you choose in the first minute is hard to undo. This guide helps you pick the right route, then walks through each one with steps checked against WhatsApp's help centre in October 2026.

By Ritchie, ReplyKit · Published 17 October 2026 · 8 min read

Which way should you create your WhatsApp Business account?

"WhatsApp Business account" means two different things, and people mix them up. Most small businesses want the first one.

• The WhatsApp Business app account. Free, on your phone, set up in minutes.
• A WhatsApp Business Platform account (the API). Created in Meta Business Suite or Meta's developer dashboard, used by software and providers to message at scale, with per-message fees.

What number can you use for WhatsApp Business?

A mobile or landline number that you own and that can receive an SMS or a phone call. WhatsApp's help centre lists numbers it cannot register:

• VoIP numbers
• Toll-free numbers
• Paid premium numbers
• Universal access numbers (UAN)
• Personal numbers (the kind not tied to a device)
• Landline extensions (use the main line without an extension)

One number works on only one of the two apps at a time: either WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. Choose a number you will keep for years, because it ends up on your signboard, website and Google profile. Our guide to virtual numbers and landlines explains why online virtual numbers often fail.

How to create a WhatsApp Business account with a new number

1. Install the app. Download WhatsApp Business from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. It is free.
2. Accept the terms. Open it, review the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service (and, in some regions, the Business App Privacy Policy) and tap Agree and continue.
3. Enter your number. Choose your country from the list, then type the number without a leading 0. Tap Done.
4. Enter the six-digit code. It arrives by SMS. If it does not, wait for the timer (up to 10 minutes) and tap Call me. Do not guess codes, or you will be locked out for a while.
5. Add your business name and tap Next.
6. Pick up to three categories. You cannot create a custom category, so pick the closest ones.
7. Add business hours, a profile photo, address and website, and a description. You can skip any of these and finish later, but customers see all of them.
8. Tap Continue, then Done. Your account is live.

If WhatsApp finds a backup for this number it may offer to restore it; that only happens if the number was used before. The app also lets you draft your description with Meta's AI assistant; check what it writes before saving. Our profile guide has twelve example descriptions.

How to create a WhatsApp Business account with your existing number

If customers already message your personal WhatsApp, move that number into the Business app. WhatsApp's help centre describes it as a migration that brings your chat history and media with you.

1. Back up your chats in WhatsApp first (Settings, Chats, Chat backup).
2. Save "WhatsApp contacts" to your phone. WhatsApp says contacts stored only inside WhatsApp are not supported in the Business app and will be lost. In WhatsApp's settings, choose to save contacts to the phone's address book.
3. Update WhatsApp and install WhatsApp Business.
4. Open WhatsApp Business and tap Agree and continue.
5. Choose your number. The app detects the number you use in WhatsApp; tap it. To use another number, tap Use a different number.
6. Tap Continue, then Allow so the Business app can bring over your chat history and media.
7. Enter the six-digit code and create your business profile.

After this, the personal WhatsApp app no longer works on that number. You can move back later; WhatsApp has a guide for that too. If you want both a personal and a business account, use two numbers; our guide to running both on one phone shows the dual-SIM setup. Not sure which app you need? See WhatsApp vs WhatsApp Business.

Can you create a WhatsApp Business account with a landline?

Yes. Landlines are supported only in the WhatsApp Business app, not regular WhatsApp. You still install the app on a smartphone; the landline is just the number. During registration, choose Call me, answer the landline, and an automated voice reads out the six-digit code. Extensions cannot be used. Meta's documentation for business numbers also recommends switching off call forwarding and phone menus so the verification call reaches the line.

How to create a WhatsApp Business account in Meta Business Suite

This creates a WhatsApp Business Platform account, not an app account. You need it only if you will send messages through software, usually via a provider. Meta's documentation describes the pieces:

• A business portfolio in Meta Business Suite, which holds your assets.
• A WhatsApp account for your phone numbers, display name and business presence, and a Messaging account for templates and billing. (Older pages call this a WhatsApp Business Account, or WABA.)
• A business phone number that you own, with a country and area code, that can receive a call or SMS. A number already active on WhatsApp must be deleted from it first, unless you use Meta's option for connecting a Business app number through a provider.

Meta lists several ways to register the number: Meta Business Suite when you create the WhatsApp Business account, WhatsApp Manager, the App Dashboard, or a provider's Embedded Signup link. Most small businesses go through a provider, because the provider handles the technical part. Our guide on how to get WhatsApp Business API access covers requirements, verification and costs.

Separately, Meta Business Suite can sync an existing Business app account into its Inbox in some countries, so you can answer from a computer. That does not create a new account.

Can you create a WhatsApp Business account on a laptop?

Not the app account. Registration happens on a phone: the Business app runs on Android and iPhone, and WhatsApp's linked devices (Windows, Mac and WhatsApp Web) cannot be used as the primary device. WhatsApp's registration page also tells you not to register on an unsupported device such as an iPad.

What you can do on a laptop: create a Platform account in Meta Business Suite, and, once your app account exists, link the laptop to it and answer chats there. Our guide to using WhatsApp Business on a PC has the steps.

What to do in the first hour after you create it

A new account with an empty profile looks like a scam to cautious customers. Work through this list before you share the number.

1. Fill every profile field. WhatsApp shows customers your name, description, address, hours and category, plus the month and year you joined.
2. Turn on two-step verification (Settings, Account, Two-step verification) and add an email address.
3. Set a greeting message and an away message from the Tools tab.
4. Save your ten most common answers as quick replies (up to 50 are allowed).
5. Create your short link and QR code (Tools, Short link) and put them on your website and Google profile.
6. If your app offers it, reserve a business username (Tools, Profile, Create username): up to 25 lowercase letters and numbers.

Our day-one setup checklist goes further.

Do you need anything beyond the free app?

We make ReplyKit, so weigh our view accordingly. You do not need any extra tool to create a WhatsApp Business account; the app is free and does the job. ReplyKit becomes useful later, when the messages outgrow what you can answer quickly. It is an AI agent that answers WhatsApp and website chats from your own content, books appointments, and hands chats to you in one click.

It works with either a WhatsApp or a WhatsApp Business number through Quick Connect, a QR pairing that is unofficial, not the WhatsApp Business API, and a number can be restricted. Read will WhatsApp ban my number for automation? before you connect, and use a dedicated number, which is one more reason to choose your number carefully today. When you are ready, the 7-day free trial needs no credit card, and plans start at $29 a month.

Frequently asked questions

ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. Steps follow WhatsApp's help centre and Meta's documentation as of October 2026; menu names can differ by version and region. Third-party prices and features were checked in October 2026 and may change.