Rails
Every number runs on one of two rails. They have the same API and very different cost and what you can send. Njiwa labels which one each number is on, in the console and in the API.
The Web rail
Uses the WhatsApp multi-device protocol, the same one WhatsApp Web uses. You link an ordinary number by scanning a code. No approval, no business verification, no per message fee to Meta, and it works with the number you already have.
This is not Meta's official API, and Njiwa does not
describe it as one. It is the same protocol a linked desktop speaks, driven by a server
instead of a browser.
Keeping a number healthy: keep the pacing Njiwa applies by default, message people who are expecting to hear from you rather than a bought list, answer replies, and warm a new number up over a few days instead of opening at full volume.
Keeping a number healthy: keep the pacing Njiwa applies by default, message people who are expecting to hear from you rather than a bought list, answer replies, and warm a new number up over a few days instead of opening at full volume.
The Cloud rail
The official WhatsApp Business Cloud API. Template messages for anything outside a 24 hour service window, and a per message fee. It needs business verification and a number that is not already on the consumer app.
Choosing
| Web | Cloud | |
|---|---|---|
| Approval needed | none | business verification |
| Cost per message | none | Meta's rate |
| Uses your existing number | yes | no |
| Meta's official API | no | yes |
| Free form messages any time | yes | 24 hour window, then templates |
Same Njiwa API either way. Moving a number between rails does not change your code.