Here’s a common scenario: Your business is scaling well, so you decide to hire more agents and add them to your WhatsApp account. Suddenly, you realize it is not that simple, and some questions arise. How to add more users to WhatsApp? What is the limit? Do I have to pay to add more users? In this WhatsApp Business multiple users guide, we will cover all you need to know to add as many WhatsApp users as you need for your business.
WhatsApp Business Multiple Users: Micro and Small Businesses
The WhatsApp Business App allows a business number to be used on up to five devices—one primary phone and four linked devices. This is ideal for small businesses that need multiple team members to respond to customer messages from anywhere.
The app setup process is straightforward and businesses can use it for free. Plus, it includes business tools like greeting and away messages, WhatsApp catalog, WhatsApp Pay and quick replies.
For businesses that need to use WhatsApp on more than 5 devices. WhatsApp Business Premium, lets you connect up to 10 devices and assign chats to specific agents. However, this plan is only available for Android users and in certain countries.
| WhatsApp Business App | WhatsApp Premium (Multi-agent) |
|---|
Number of connected devices | Up to 5 | Up to 10 |
Name your linked devices | ✅ | ✅ |
Assign chats to agents | ❌ | ✅ |
See which agent sent a message | ❌ | ✅ |
Despite being a convenient and easy-to-use solution, the WhatsApp Business App is not always the best choice. Let’s see why.
Limitations of WhatsApp Business App for Multiple Users
Using WhatsApp Business App with multiple devices is convenient for small businesses, but this is only a temporary solution or feasible when your business is starting. As your business expands, you’ll soon encounter problems with using linked devices, such as:
Can’t ensure all customers have been answered
No way to organize chats, such as marking a chat as resolved
Can’t track agent workload or performance
Can’t connect to a CRM, as WhatsApp Business app doesn’t support any CRM integration
No user access controls and all the data can be accessed by every agent
Not able to implement advanced automation
If your team size stays the same, having 5 to 10 devices connected to one WhatsApp number is sufficient. As your business grows, you’ll need a more sophisticated platform to handle more agents, contacts and messages. This is where WhatsApp API comes in.
WhatsApp Business API: SMBs, Mid-size Companies and Enterprises
WhatsApp API (also known as WhatsApp Business Platform) is designed for SMEs and large businesses that want to scale and manage their teams, messages and customers more effectively.
Here’s the best thing: WhatsApp API supports an unlimited number of users. No matter how big your business is or how fast it grows — WhatsApp API won’t let you down. Still, there are some basic things to keep in mind about WhatsApp API.
WhatsApp API: Things to Keep in Mind
While WhatsApp API is the ultimate solution for WhatsApp Business multiple users, it is also more complex. Let’s start with the fundamentals.
A WhatsApp BSP (Business Solution Provider) is a company authorized by Meta to give businesses access to WhatsApp API. BSPs like respond.io help businesses integrate WhatsApp into their workflows successfully and often provide additional features.
Signing up for WhatsApp API with respond.io is quick and easy. The entire process takes only a few minutes – from linking your Facebook Business Account (now known as Meta Business Portfolio) to adding a phone number.
Because respond.io is also a customer conversation management software that comes with a sales inbox, you can start messaging customers right after creating your WhatsApp API account. That’s killing two birds with one stone!
Once you get a basic command of WhatsApp API, you’ll experience its many benefits.
Benefits of Using WhatsApp API for WhatsApp Business Multiple Users
The WhatsApp Business App limitations don’t exist with WhatsApp Business API. These are some of the main improvements you’ll see after making the switch.
Never miss a customer inquiry – Every message can be answered with automation and team-wide visibility.
Stay organized with chat management – Mark conversations as resolved, assign chats, and keep track of ongoing interactions.
Monitor agent performance – Get insights into workload, response times, and agent efficiency.
Seamless CRM integration – Sync WhatsApp with your CRM to track customer interactions and sales.
Control user access – Restrict data access based on roles to keep customer information secure.
Advanced automation for efficiency – Automate replies, lead qualification, and customer follow-ups for faster service.
While it’s not required to get started, growing businesses may want to get verified as an official account with WhatsApp green tick. Next, let’s discuss setting up WhatsApp with multiple users on the WhatsApp Business app and WhatsApp API.
Turn conversations into customers with respond.io's official WhatsApp API. ✨
Manage WhatsApp calls and chats in one place!
How to Use WhatsApp Business App with Multiple Users
Any business can use the WhatsApp Business App with multiple devices or users. To link a device, follow the steps below.
Go to your WhatsApp Business App.
Tap the More Options icon with three vertical dots.
Click Linked Devices.
Click LINK A DEVICE.
Scan the QR code.
You can get the QR code on WhatsApp Business Web or WhatsApp Business Desktop App on your companion devices. Log in to either, and a QR code will be displayed on your screen.
The steps above work on Android devices. For iPhone users, go to WhatsApp Settings in Step 2 and follow the rest of the instructions above. Upon linking, your team can access WhatsApp Business on your additional devices without the need to keep your phone connected.
Now, we’ll show you how you can use WhatsApp Business multiple users on WhatsApp API.
How to use WhatsApp Business API with multiple users
Managing multiple customer conversations with a large team can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. Especially if you start on the right track with your WhatsApp messaging inbox. While there are many on the market, here’s why you should choose respond.io.
If you’re curious about WhatsApp multiple users with respond.io, you can start with a free trial and then upgrade to the plan that suits you best.
Step 1: Get a WhatsApp Business API Account
To apply for one, you can watch the video or follow the steps listed in this section.
Setting up WhatsApp Business API with respond.io is a quick and easy process if you follow these steps.
1. Start by creating an account on the respond.io platform.
2. Navigate to Settings > Channels. Then, click Add Channel, select WhatsApp Business Platform (API), and press Connect.
3. Click Get Started to complete the eligibility checks, then click Connect With Facebook and log in to your Facebook account. Ensure you grant permissions for respond.io to manage your WhatsApp Business account and billing.
4. Select an existing Meta Business account or create a new one, then create a WhatsApp Business profile by entering your business details.
5. Enter your WhatsApp phone number, select a verification method (SMS or call) and input the 6-digit verification code received to complete the setup.
Step 2: Add Users
To add WhatsApp Business multiple users to respond.io, follow these three simple steps.
1. Navigate to Settings > Workspace Settings > Users.
2. Click Add User to invite agents to the Workspace using their email address.
When adding Users, you can give them an appropriate User Role. This allows you to limit the level of access of each collaborator invited to the platform. You can choose between three User Roles:
Owner: Owners have access to all modules, and they can manage the Workspace settings.
Manager: Like Owners, Managers have access to all modules. However, they have restricted access to Workspace Settings.
Agent: Agents only have access to the Messages module.
3. Create Teams to group your agents for better visibility after they accept your invitation.
For detailed guidance on how to add and edit team members' profiles, invite new users, view team members and their roles, create new teams and manage them effectively, explore our comprehensive help center article.
Step 3: Assign Chats to Team Members
To either assign or unassign a conversation, all you need to do is follow the steps below.
1. Access the Assignment dropdown in the top-right corner of the Inbox module.
2. Use the dropdown to assign or reassign an agent to a contact.
3. Search for an agent by name in the search box or select from the list of available agents with their avatars.
Step 4: Collaborate on WhatsApp Chats with a Team
Respond.io can help teams collaborate efficiently when handling WhatsApp Business conversations.
1. Add internal notes to provide context or updates visible only to team members, ensuring smooth handovers between agents.
2. Use tags to organize conversations with labels like "Urgent" or "Follow-Up" to categorize and prioritize them for faster resolution.
That's all. You're all set! Now let's look at how you can sell and market with WhatsApp Business API for multiple users.
How to Market and Sell with WhatsApp Business Multiple Users
Your agents are probably experienced in sales and marketing, but they may not be familiar with everything respond.io WhatsApp API has to offer. Here is a summary of the main benefits for them.
Qualify Leads Faster to Boost Sales
When it comes to WhatsApp lead capture, there are two ways to do it: Organically or paid. First, optimize your organic lead capture potential by maximizing your WhatsApp entry points.
If you’re running WhatsApp click-to-chat ads but struggling with lead qualification, speeding up the process is essential for higher conversions. With respond.io, you can create an automated Workflow to instantly route leads from your click to chat ads to the right agents based on shifts, team expertise or other criteria.
But here’s an interesting twist. You could speed lead qualification up even more while maintaining quality service by leaving it to AI. For example, start by routing contacts to a sales or support AI Agent.
Once assigned to human or AI agents, it’s time for the qualification questions. The quickest, most effective method is using AI Agent to automatically qualify leads based on their budget. This way, agents can focus on the ones that can buy from your business.
Once you have qualified high-quality leads, make sure you don’t ruin it with long or low-quality replies. We show you how to prevent that next.
Respond Smartly and Fast
While automation is fast and often effective, sometimes the fastest and smartest way to help a customer is with a human agent. As much as automation and AI are helpful, human agents are unmatched in terms of critical thinking, persuasion and empathy.
To ensure faster replies, agents can rely on AI Assist to generate AI responses to the customers' inquiries from the Messages Inbox. Differently from AI Agent, AI Assist messages are triggered manually, allowing agents to switch between human and AI replies at will.
Same goes for AI Prompts. Agents can use this feature to translate messages into 90+ languages, refine tone, and correct the grammar in their messages before sending them with a single click.
To support this, supervisors have a complete overview of all the conversations across multiple respond.io inboxes, ensuring that no important interactions are missed and that agents provide thoughtful responses.
As you can see, respond.io offers multiple tools to help you respond faster and smarter. However, few things are as effective as a well-timed call from an agent. And yes—you can make calls on respond.io too!
WhatsApp Business Calling API allows agents to jump on a voice call directly through WhatsApp to push a hot lead further down the funnel or assist customers with complex requests. Customers only need to wait for help for as long as the agent takes to press the call button in the respond.io inbox.
WhatsApp Calls is now in Open Beta. It’s currently supported for organizations in Mexico, Brazil, India, and Indonesia.
Now that you know how to qualify and chat with large numbers of leads, we’ll show you how to keep track of all of them easily.
Manage and Track Leads Easily
As your business grows, your teams will have to manage a high number of leads and their data. This task becomes very difficult without using a CRM. Respond.io integrates natively with popular CRMs like Salesforce and Hubspot to make this task a breeze.
Integrate your CRM with respond.io to have a holistic view of your leads while you chat with them. Switching platforms and manually updating contact fields is over!
When it comes to lead-tracking, respond.io got you covered too. Lifecycle helps you keep track of contacts at every stage of the sales process, from first interaction to conversion.
By organizing contacts into Lifecycle Stages, your team can easily see where each lead stands. This helps you send the right message at the right time, focus on the most promising leads and move contacts through the sales pipeline faster.
With clear insights into each customer’s journey, your team can close more deals with less effort. In the next section, we’ll show you how to reengage with your customers on WhatsApp, your #1 remarketing channel.
Reach Large Audiences with Promotional Messaging
One way to reconnect with leads en masse is to WhatsApp bulk messages. This enables you to send pre-approved messages to your leads even after the 72-hour window has elapsed.
Broadcasting bulk messages with respond.io WhatsApp Business API gets rid of the limitations of the WhatsApp Business app. The 256-recipient limit disappears, and now you can send WhatsApp messages to thousands or even unlimited users.
WhatsApp broadcasts work great for retargeting campaigns. It’s as simple as selecting the contacts who have opted in to hear from you, creating message content with media attachments and adding a call to action or quick reply button. Once you're done, simply send or schedule a WhatsApp message in advance.
Note: Ensure your broadcasts are engaging as Meta will deliver fewer marketing messages to contacts who do not engage. As of April 1, 2025, any WhatsApp marketing template messages to United States numbers will be temporarily paused. You'll receive an error message if you attempt to send a marketing template to any US area code.
Now that you know how to market and sell on respond.io, let’s have a look at some of this platform’s benefits.
4 Benefits of Using WhatsApp Multiple Users with WhatsApp API and Respond.io
Making WhatsApp work for multiple users isn’t just practical. It's a necessity if you want to enhance your team's communication with customers. But when it comes to using the WhatsApp API with respond.io, know it introduces a whole new level of efficiency to your operations.
1. Simplify Your Messaging Workflow
Respond.io offers a unified inbox where your entire team can view and track all WhatsApp chats. This helps prevent confusion over who has responded to a customer and reduces the risk of missed messages, keeping your team on the same page at all times.
2. Assign Roles That Suit Your Team
Not every team member needs the keys to the city. You can designate specific roles, such as Agent, Manager or Owner, for team members, providing them with the appropriate level of access and ensuring everyone has exactly what they need without unnecessary permissions.
3. Personalize Customer Conversations
Respond.io integrates seamlessly with your CRM, so your team can see customer history and preferences at a glance. This means your replies aren't just quick. They can be informed and personalized, helping you engage in more meaningful conversations.
4. A Tool That Scales
It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small brand today or a global powerhouse tomorrow. Respond.io is fully capable of growing alongside your business. As you scale, you can easily add users, automate more workflows, handle higher message loads and more without ever losing your momentum.
Now, let's look at how businesses are succeeding on respond.io with WhatsApp Business multiple users.
How Respond.io Empowers Businesses with WhatsApp Multiple Users
We have interviewed some respond.io customers to learn how they take their businesses to the next level with WhatsApp's multi-user functionality. Below, we’ve compiled a few success stories that will inspire you to kickstart your WhatsApp multiple users journey.
How Lamarsa Coffee Improved Response Time
Lamarsa Coffee, a Malaysia-based coffee equipment retailer, was handling customer communication over WhatsApp Business App.
As its business expanded, Lamarsa Coffee found it challenging to handle the high volume of conversations over WhatsApp. To solve the WhatsApp Business app multiple users problem, Lamarsa Coffee migrated to WhatsApp API and connected it to respond.io for greater multiuser access.
Through enhanced WhatsApp multi-user functionality and respond.io’s advanced Workflows, Lamarsa Coffee has successfully improved first response times by a whopping 38%!
How 800 Storage Handles a High Volume of Conversations
Dubai-based self-storage company, 800 Storage, had limited multiuser access to WhatsApp Business App. This resulted in slow response time, which in turn affected business growth. By upgrading to WhatsApp API and integrating it with respond.io, 800 Storage is now ready to handle a high volume of conversations through WhatsApp multi-team access.
Thanks to multiuser access for WhatsApp, agent performance has significantly improved across the board, with first response times reduced by 30% to 1 minute and 56 seconds!
Getting Started with WhatsApp Business Multiple Users
Getting up and running with WhatsApp Business for multiple users is easier than you might think. If you’re a smaller business, the WhatsApp Business App may be just enough for your needs in the short run. Download the app, link up to five devices and you’re good to go. It’s free, simple to set up, and even useful features to help you get started!
However, if your business is growing (or plans to), then the WhatsApp API is your best bet. Designed with larger teams in mind, it offers unlimited users, powerful automation and integrates smoothly with your existing CRMs. All you need to do is sign up through a platform like respond.io. The setup is quick, and you’ll be managing messages in no time.
Are you ready to use WhatsApp business with multiple users? Try respond.io WhatsApp Business API for free!
Turn conversations into customers with respond.io's official WhatsApp API. ✨
Manage WhatsApp calls and chats in one place!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is WhatsApp Business multiple users free?
The WhatsApp Business App allows free use on up to five devices. If you wish to use WhatsApp on up to 10 devices, you can opt for a WhatsApp Premium subscription.
For businesses requiring more than ten users, WhatsApp API is the solution. This, however, involves WhatsApp’s conversation-based pricing and the use of a messaging software, which incurs additional costs.
Can I use WhatsApp Business on 2 phones?
The WhatsApp Business App supports up to five devices, including four linked devices and one phone per account, but not on two phones simultaneously.
How to use WhatsApp Business on multiple devices?
Open your WhatsApp Business App on your primary phone.
Tap the More Options menu (three vertical dots) in the top-right corner.
Select Linked Devices.
Choose Link a Device.
Scan the QR code displayed on the screen of the device you want to link
What happens to my message history when I switch devices?
When you use WhatsApp Business on a new device, your old messages don’t transfer automatically because of WhatsApp’s security rules. However, once you link the new device, some recent messages may sync and become available.
Is my data safe when using WhatsApp Business on multiple devices?
Yes! WhatsApp Business keeps your chats secure with end-to-end encryption, even when you use multiple devices. This means your messages and business information stay private and can’t be read by anyone else.
Further Reading
If you found this article interesting, here are other reads that might interest you.
How to Change WhatsApp to Business Account In 8 Steps
WhatsApp Blue Tick: 5 Steps to Get the Badge for Your Business
WhatsApp Opt In: Getting Customers to Opt In WhatsApp
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