How a custom integration works
Almost every WhatsApp integration is a mix of three patterns. Knowing which ones you need is most of the scoping work.
1. Your system starts the conversation
Something happens in your system, and WhatsApp tells the customer. An order is dispatched, an invoice is ready, an appointment is tomorrow, a claim changes status. Your system sends a webhook to an authenticated address on our platform, and that starts the right conversation for the right customer.
Messages like these are usually sent as Meta-approved templates, because the customer may not have messaged you in the last 24 hours. Meta describes utility messages as "transactional or informational", which is where order and appointment updates usually fit (Meta's pricing page). We create the templates in your account and submit them to Meta for review.
2. WhatsApp asks your system mid-conversation
The customer asks something only your system knows. "Has order A-2291 left yet?" "What's my balance?" "Do you have the 32GB one in stock?" The conversation calls your system's API, gets the answer and replies, all in the same chat. When the customer gives you information, such as a lead's details or a booking, the conversation writes it back to your CRM or database the same way.
Free-form (non-template) replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are service messages. Since 1 October 2026, Meta gives each business phone number 1,000 free service messages a month, then charges for each one after that (Meta's pricing page).
3. Forms in the chat that use your live data
WhatsApp Flows are multi-screen forms inside WhatsApp. With a Flow endpoint, each screen can ask your system for data while the customer fills it in: available slots, a quote price, the vehicles on a policy. Meta calls this data_exchange, and it requires an encrypted HTTPS endpoint that answers quickly. Meta advises aiming to respond in under one second, and throttles or blocks Flows whose endpoints are slow or failing.
Source: Meta, Implement endpoints for Flows and Flows health and monitoring (opened 26 Oct 2026).
A customer asks on WhatsApp whether their order has left. The conversation looks up the order in your ERP, asks your courier's API for the arrival time, and replies with both. When the courier marks it delivered, its webhook triggers a "delivered" message. Your team doesn't need to step in unless the customer asks for a person. See order status and delivery updates.
What a build looks like
- We map the process with youWhich events should send a message, which questions WhatsApp should answer, what goes back into your system, and when a person takes over. We also check what your system's API can and can't do.
- You connect your own WhatsApp accountThrough Meta's Embedded Signup. The account stays yours, and you add your own payment method so Meta bills you directly.
- We build and test against your systemThe conversation logic, the API calls, the webhooks and any Flows. We test with your sandbox or a test record before anything touches real customers.
- We create your templates and go liveTemplates go to Meta for review. Once approved, we switch the integration on and watch delivery and failure reports in the first weeks.
- We keep it runningAPIs change, fields get renamed and Meta updates its rules. Running the integration is part of what we charge for.
What it costs
There are two separate bills, and they never mix:
- Meta's message charges. Meta bills you directly, on your own WhatsApp account, per message and by category. In South Africa from 1 October 2026, per delivered message: marketing $0.0379, utility and authentication $0.0095, and service messages $0.0095 after the first 1,000 free per number each month. Messages customers send you are free.
- Our charges. Building the integration, from R15,000 ex VAT, plus R7,500 per integration, and running it, from R4,950 ex VAT a month. We add nothing to Meta's message costs.
Source: Meta, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (opened 26 Oct 2026). Meta's rates are in US dollars. See our pricing page for rand estimates and worked examples.
An integration doesn't change Meta's rate for any message. It changes which messages you send: an order update from your ERP is a utility template; a free-form answer to a customer's question inside the 24-hour window is a service message.
What we don't do
Being clear about this saves everyone time:
- No connector marketplace. There is no list of one-click apps to switch on. Apart from the eight systems above, each integration is built by an engineer.
- No do-it-yourself builder. Our engineers write and change the conversation logic. You tell us what should happen; we build it.
- Zapier and Make through webhooks only. They work the same way as n8n: they call our webhook, or we call theirs.
- No WhatsApp Business app on the same number. The number you connect is used through the API and our shared inbox.
- No ready-made AI knowledge base. Claude can sort, extract and draft. Answering from your documents or product data is something we build per client, with the facts coming from your system.
- No automatic chat assignment. Your team works from one shared inbox, and automation pauses when someone replies. We don't route chats to specific agents.
Where integrations show up in real use cases
- Lead capture into your CRM: property, vehicle and education enquiries qualified in the chat and created in HubSpot, Salesforce or Zoho.
- Payment collection: deposits, call-out fees and balances paid by Paystack or Yoco link.
- Ordering on WhatsApp: browse, order and pay, with the order landing in Shopify, Ecwid or Pilot POS.
- Invoice and payment reminders: invoice-ready and overdue messages with a pay link.
- Claims and applications: the claim details collected in the chat and a Flow, then sent to your claims system via its API (a custom build).
- AI support with human handover: Claude sorts and drafts, your team takes over in the shared inbox.
- Voice-note transcription: so your team reads voice notes instead of listening to them.
See all use cases.