How to set up WhatsApp in GoHighLevel (2026, step by step)

Two parts. The WhatsApp integration is $10 a month per sub-account, listed in the add-ons on gohighlevel.com/pricing on Oct 31, 2026. Then every message is billed per message at Meta's rate for the country you send to and the message type.

Since Oct 1, 2026, HighLevel charges Meta's published rate with nothing on top. The 5% processing fee they used to add is gone, so a marketing message to the US went from $0.0263 to $0.0250. Heads up: a couple of HighLevel's help articles still mention the 5% as of today. The changelog announcement is the newer source and says it applies to every message in every market.

The bigger change is what's free. Through Sept 30, 2026, replying inside the 24-hour window cost nothing. From Oct 1, 2026, those replies (manual inbox replies, workflow replies and Conversation AI replies) are free for the first 1,000 per phone number per month, then billed. Utility templates sent inside the window are billed now too. The one thing still fully free: a chat that starts from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button gives you 72 hours of free messages of any type, as long as you reply within 24 hours.

This is the question I'd answer before touching anything, because the wrong choice can wipe the client's chat history.

If the business already runs on the WhatsApp Business App, use Coexistence. They keep the app on their phone, the same number works in HighLevel, and up to six months of chats come in. The catches: one number per account under Coexistence, templates can only be sent from the CRM, the profile is managed from the app, and it doesn't work for Nigeria or South Africa numbers. Meta also wants some real activity on the Business App first, so a number nobody has used will get an "isn't eligible" error.

If they're starting fresh, connect a new number: a landline, an unused mobile, or an LC Phone or Twilio number you buy in Settings > Phone Numbers. If the LC number is voice only, set up call forwarding to your phone first, because Meta reads the code out on a call. Eligible sub-accounts can also claim up to two free +1-555 numbers that verify instantly. HighLevel's own doc points out they can't be moved later, so I'd treat those as a quick start, not the client's permanent number.

Moving from Wati, 360Dialog, Twilio or another provider? Use Migrate from an existing BSP. It keeps the number, display name, quality rating, limits and approved templates. Turn off two-step verification on the number first.

Not alongside the personal app. Outside of Coexistence (which is for the Business App), a number lives in one place: the app or the API. To move it to HighLevel you open WhatsApp > Settings > Account > Delete my account, then verify the number during setup. Uninstalling the app isn't enough. Back up the chats first, because they don't come across.

You can connect and start without it. Unverified, you can start up to 250 business-initiated conversations in a rolling 24 hours, reply to customers with no limit, and have two numbers. That's fine for a small local business that mostly answers inbound messages.

Verify if they'll send campaigns or reminders at volume. In the business portfolio go to Security Center > Start verification and enter the legal name, address, phone and website (it has to be live and HTTPS). If Meta can't match public records, upload a business license or registration. Meta says decisions take from 10 minutes to 14 working days.

Verification is one way to get from 250 to 2,000. The limit counts unique people you message outside the window in 24 hours, it's shared by every number in the business portfolio, and after 2,000 Meta raises it on its own (10,000, 100,000, then unlimited) if your quality stays high and you use at least half your limit.

A template is a message Meta approves ahead of time. You need one to message anyone who hasn't messaged you in the last 24 hours. Build them in Settings > WhatsApp > Templates > Create Template: a name in lowercase with underscores, the category, the language, an optional header with media, the body, a footer and buttons like Quick Reply, Visit Website or Marketing Opt-Out.

Variables are numbered, {{1}}, {{2}}, and every one needs a realistic sample value. The body can't start or end with a variable, so write "Hi {{1}}, your appointment is confirmed for {{2}}. Reply here if you need to move it." and not "{{1}}, see you at {{2}}". HighLevel now flags those mistakes before you save.

The category is where most rejections and surprise costs come from. Utility has to be about a specific transaction the person already started, like an order number or a booked appointment. Anything with a promo in it is marketing, even if it starts as a reminder. Skipped numbers ({{1}}, {{2}}, {{4}}), too many variables for the text, and near-duplicates of an existing template also get rejected.

After approval the status reads Active - Quality Pending, then High, Medium or Low quality based on how people react. Low quality templates can get Paused or Disabled, so only send to people who expect to hear from the business. If you created templates in Meta before connecting, they import once. After that, make new ones inside HighLevel so they show up in workflows.

When a customer messages the business, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and it resets every time they message again. Inside it you can send normal free-form messages. Once it closes, the only thing you can send is an approved template, and when they reply, the window opens again.

That's a WhatsApp policy, and there's no setting in HighLevel that gets around it. If you see "more than 24 hours have passed since the customer last replied", you tried to send a normal message after the window closed. Send a template instead.

The Free Entry Point window is separate. It's 72 hours of free messages that start when you reply to someone who came from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button on the mobile app. If the 24-hour window closes during those 72 hours, you still have to use templates, they're just free.

Three pieces do most of the work. The WhatsApp: Customer Service Window Check condition splits a workflow into Open and Closed branches. On Open, send the WhatsApp action with the template set to None - Free form message. On Closed, send a marketing or utility template.

Use the WhatsApp V2 action in new workflows. When a template has quick reply buttons, it builds a branch for each button by itself, plus a timeout branch for when they don't answer and an undelivered branch. You can also swap the image, PDF or video URL without getting the template approved again.

For replies, use the Customer Replied trigger with the Reply Channel filter set to WhatsApp. Add one more workflow with the same trigger, Contains Phrase "STOP", and an Enable DND action for WhatsApp so opt-outs are handled. The money is made in the follow-ups, and on WhatsApp the follow-up after 24 hours has to be a template, so build that branch from day one. My full walkthrough of the builder is in GoHighLevel workflows.

Yes. WhatsApp is one of the Conversation AI channels along with SMS, email, Facebook, Instagram, live chat and the chat widget. Go to AI Agents > Conversation AI, open the bot, and on its Deploy tab switch on WhatsApp. You can pick which WhatsApp number it covers and add tag rules, so for example existing customers go to a support bot and new leads go to a booking bot.

Two things to know. The bot replies inside the 24-hour window, so it can't start a conversation cold. Use a workflow with a template for that, and let the bot take over once they reply. And bot replies count as service messages, so since Oct 1, 2026 a busy bot uses up the 1,000 free messages per number per month faster than you'd think. HighLevel's own announcement tells agencies to audit high-volume Conversation AI accounts. For the full booking build, see Build an AI appointment setter.

Most of these come down to one rule: a number can only be live in one WhatsApp place at a time, unless you're on Coexistence.

Check the number's status in Settings > WhatsApp first. If it's Pending or disconnected, nothing comes in. On Coexistence, right after setup the old chats need the phone online with WhatsApp open until the sync finishes, which can take hours. Also check the subscription: while it's inactive, messages can't be sent or received, though your numbers and templates come back when you resubscribe.

If the contact has more than one phone number, HighLevel keeps a separate WhatsApp conversation per number, and in an active conversation it locks the From number to the one in the current 24-hour session. So the message is often there, just under the other number.

With Stripe connected, you set the client's monthly WhatsApp price under Agency Dashboard > Reselling, and message costs get rebilled with a multiplier you control under Agency dashboard > Reselling > WhatsApp > Manage. Since the per-message rates moved on Oct 1, 2026, check that multiplier now.

The easy pitch is appointment reminders and an AI that answers WhatsApp after hours, for a clinic, salon or real estate team in a country where customers already message businesses there. You could build this for a local business and charge a monthly fee you set, and people do. Pair it with Click to WhatsApp ads and the first 72 hours of every new lead's chat are free.

One more date: Meta stops delivering marketing messages through the Cloud API on Oct 13, 2027, and HighLevel wants marketing moved to its MM Lite setup before then. Templates and numbers carry over.