One number, app and API
WhatsApp coexistence: keep your number and your chats while Tiram sends
In one line
Coexistence is Meta's feature that connects your existing WhatsApp Business app account to the Cloud API, so the same number keeps working in the app on your phone — staff reply to customers by hand exactly as they do now — while Tiram sends invoices, receipts, and campaigns through the API. It is the flow Tiram's Connect with Facebook actually uses, which is why you do not delete your WhatsApp Business account or move customers to a new number. Meta only permits coexistence onboarding through a verified Solution Partner or Tech Provider.
What coexistence is, precisely
- One number, two ways in
- Your WhatsApp Business app keeps working on the phone for one-to-one replies, while the Cloud API sends automated and bulk messages. Meta keeps the messaging history in sync between both sides, so they are one conversation, not two mailboxes.
- It requires a verified partner
- Meta permits coexistence onboarding only through a Solution Partner or Tech Provider. Tiram is a verified Tech Provider, which is what makes the flow available at all — it is not something any app can switch on.
- WhatsApp Business app 2.24.17 or newer
- Coexistence needs a reasonably current app on the phone. Update WhatsApp Business from your phone's app store before you connect, or the flow will not offer your number.
- Up to 6 months of history can sync
- All chat messages from the most recent six months, plus every contact with a WhatsApp number, can be synchronised. The sync has to finish within 24 hours of onboarding, or you offboard and start again. Group chats are not synchronised.
Why this matters for a shop
For an existing business, coexistence is the difference between adding automation and starting over. Here is what it changes on your counter.
You keep the number your customers already know
No new number to reprint on boards, bills, cards, or the shopfront, and nothing to explain to customers. The number people have had saved for years keeps working exactly as it did.
Tiram's Connect with Facebook runs Meta's WhatsApp-Business-app onboarding flow specifically, so the number you connect is the one already running on your phone.
Your staff keep replying by hand
A customer who answers an invoice with "is it in stock?" is replied to by whoever is on the counter, in the WhatsApp Business app they already use. Automation and human conversation stop being an either/or choice.
Meta keeps message history in sync across the app and the API, so a reply typed on the phone and an invoice sent by Tiram sit in the same thread with that customer.
Nothing gets deleted to make room
The other way onto the API registers a number that is not on WhatsApp at all — which, for an existing shop number, means deleting the account and losing its history first. Coexistence skips that entirely.
Up to six months of chat history and all your WhatsApp contacts can be carried across during onboarding instead of being discarded.
One number builds one reputation
Sending limits, quality rating, and eligibility for the green Official Business Account tick all accrue to the number you actually trade on — not split between a shop number and a separate "automation" number nobody recognises.
Coexistence attaches the API to your existing WhatsApp Business Account rather than provisioning a parallel one alongside it.
It costs nothing extra with Tiram
Coexistence is a Meta capability, not a Tiram add-on or an upsell. There is no separate fee for it, and Meta still bills you directly for messages at its own conversation rates.
Tiram adds no per-message fee on any plan, and the only spend ceiling on your account is the optional one you choose to set yourself.
Coexistence or a dedicated API number?
Both paths exist in Tiram and both are legitimate — they suit different situations. This is how they differ.
| Coexistence (Connect with Facebook) | Dedicated API number (manual setup) | |
|---|---|---|
The number | Your existing WhatsApp Business number | A number not currently in use on WhatsApp |
Your existing chats | Kept — up to 6 months can sync | Not applicable; the number starts empty |
Replying by hand from the phone | Yes, in the WhatsApp Business app | No — the number is API-only |
Setup | A Facebook login popup | Create a Meta app, copy four values across, about ten minutes |
Sending speed | Fixed at 20 messages per second | Scales with your Meta messaging tier |
Group chats, voice and video calls | Not supported on that number | Not applicable — no one chats from it |
Best for | A shop whose customers already message that number | A separate, purely automated sending number |
Which Tiram plan includes WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is included from the Gold plan and on Platinum. The Silver plan does not include WhatsApp.
Coexistence is not a separate add-on or an extra charge — it is simply how Tiram's Connect with Facebook works on every plan that includes WhatsApp. Meta's per-conversation message charges are billed to you by Meta directly and stay separate from your Tiram subscription.
What you give up on a coexistence number
Sending speed is fixed at 20 messages a second
Meta caps throughput on a coexistence number so the phone app stays usable. For a shop sending invoices and periodic campaigns that is far more headroom than you will use; for very large blasts, a dedicated API number scales higher with your messaging tier.
Some WhatsApp features switch off
On a coexistence number Meta turns off disappearing messages, view-once messages, and live location for one-to-one chats, and you can no longer create new broadcast lists. Group chats, voice and video calls, and Channels are not supported on the number.
Group chats do not sync
Only one-to-one conversations and contacts are carried across during onboarding. If your shop runs customer groups, those keep working nowhere but the app — they are outside what the API can see or send to.
Two linked-device exceptions
Every WhatsApp companion client keeps working except WhatsApp for Windows and WhatsApp for WearOS. Any companion devices already linked are unlinked when coexistence activates, and need re-linking once afterwards.
Keep opening WhatsApp Business on that phone
Meta disconnects a coexistence number if the primary device goes unused for roughly 14 days (about 30 days for a companion device). Tiram does not get a proactive alert when that happens, so the symptom you will actually see is sends beginning to fail — reconnect from Settings → WhatsApp if it does.
Common questions
- What is WhatsApp coexistence?
- Meta's feature that lets one phone number run on the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API at the same time, so people keep chatting by hand while software sends automated messages on the same number.
- Do I have to delete my WhatsApp Business account to connect Tiram?
- No. Tiram's Connect with Facebook uses Meta's coexistence flow, which onboards the number already running on your WhatsApp Business app. Only the manual setup path needs a number that is not on WhatsApp.
- Will my old chats and contacts carry over?
- Chat messages from the most recent six months and all contacts with a WhatsApp number can be synchronised during onboarding. Group chats are not synchronised, and the sync must finish within 24 hours.
- Can my staff still reply from the phone after connecting?
- Yes. One-to-one replies continue in the WhatsApp Business app as before, and Meta keeps that history in sync with whatever the API sends.
- My number is on the normal WhatsApp app, not WhatsApp Business. What then?
- Switch that number to the free WhatsApp Business app first — coexistence onboards WhatsApp Business app numbers. Switching keeps your chats; it is not the same as deleting the account.
- Why can't any billing app offer this?
- Meta permits coexistence onboarding only through a verified Solution Partner or Tech Provider. Tiram is a verified Tech Provider, which is what makes the flow available.
- Does Tiram show my WhatsApp chat history?
- No. Tiram sends invoices and campaigns and tracks their delivery; it is not a chat inbox. Your conversations stay in the WhatsApp Business app, which is where the synced history lives.
Read next
- Why Tiram can offer coexistence at allMeta gates coexistence on verified partner status. What our Tech Provider verification covers, and what it does not.
- Part 1 — What to prepare on MetaThe Meta-side groundwork: a Business account, business verification, a current WhatsApp Business app, and a payment method.
- Part 2 — Connect with Facebook in TiramThe two-minute popup that runs the coexistence flow, plus how to confirm sending really works afterwards.
Add automation to the number you already use
Keep your WhatsApp Business number, its chats, and your staff's replies — and let Tiram send the invoices. 30-day free trial, no card needed; WhatsApp is included from the Gold plan.
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