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Why Walink

How Walink compares with free wa.me links, the WhatsApp Business Platform and generic link tools, and what each Walink product costs.

Updated November 11, 2026 View as Markdown

Walink is for businesses that sell and serve customers in WhatsApp chats: a shop taking orders, a clinic booking visits, a team answering sales questions. Every Walink product ends in a chat with the account you already use, on WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business. The customer writes first, and you reply in WhatsApp like any other chat.

WhatsApp's own click to chat is free and official. A link like wa.me/14155550123 opens a chat with that number, on a phone or on WhatsApp Web, without saving the contact, and ?text= adds a pre-filled message. The number and the message are part of the link, so it can't change once shared.

wa.me link Walink
Cost Free Free links are free. Premium Links: $9 a year per link
Pre-filled message Yes Yes, every link
The address Your phone number wa.link/tiendaluna with Premium, a random one with a free link
Change the number or message No, both are in the URL Yes, with Premium. Printed QR codes keep working
Click analytics Not offered With Premium: by day, country, source and device (Analytics)
Several people answer One number per link Smart Links route each click to the right account
QR code with your logo Not offered Premium (QR codes)
Collect details first Not offered Forms, answers written into the chat
Branded page before the chat Not offered Premium (landing page)

A free link sits close to wa.me: it's free and fixed, with no analytics. Its address is short and doesn't show your number, and it comes with a QR code. A free link kept in your Walink account can be upgraded to Premium later, at the same address.

The WhatsApp Business Platform (often called the WhatsApp Business API) lets your software send and receive messages: templates, bots, order updates, CRM integrations. It's built for messaging at scale, and Walink doesn't replace it.

WhatsApp Business Platform Walink
What it does Sends and receives messages from your software Opens a chat the customer starts
Who writes first Your business can, with pre-approved templates The customer, with your pre-filled message
Setup A Meta business portfolio, an app and a business number, plus a developer or a Meta partner Sign in with your email or Google
Cost Per delivered message, by message category and country Per link, destination or form. Nothing per message
Your WhatsApp A number connected to the Platform Any WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business account
Links and QR codes Short links with an editable message, no analytics Your own address, routing and analytics

Meta has charged per delivered message since July 1, 2025. The rate depends on the message's category (marketing, utility, authentication or service) and the recipient's country. Messages customers send you are free, and each business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month: the regular replies you send inside the 24-hour window that opens when a customer writes. Outside that window, the Platform can only send pre-approved templates.

Choose the Platform when your software has to send messages on its own. Choose Walink when customers come to you: from a bio, an ad, a flyer or your website.

Walink's own API manages links, forms and pages from your software. It doesn't send WhatsApp messages.

A URL shortener can shorten a wa.me link and count its clicks. A link-in-bio page can hold a WhatsApp button. A form builder can collect answers. Each is built for any kind of link, so the WhatsApp part is left to you.

You'd use It gives you Walink adds
URL shortener A short link, often with click counts Premium Links: a message with variables, a username instead of a number, catalog, channel and group links
Link-in-bio page One page for all your links Multilink: WhatsApp buttons that open the chat with the message written, free with each Premium Link
Form builder Answers in a spreadsheet or an inbox Forms: answers arrive in WhatsApp as the first message, ready to reply

What Walink does because every click ends in WhatsApp:

  • Message variables. Write {{product}} in the message and add ?product=Mugs to the link: the chat opens with "Mugs" already in it. See message variables.
  • Routing. One link sends each click to the right account by business hours in your time zone, the visitor's country, the referral source or a random split. See routing.
  • In-app browsers. Apps like TikTok and Snapchat open links in their own built-in browser, where WhatsApp often can't open. A Premium Link can move those clicks to the phone's regular browser, or guide the visitor there step by step. See in-app browsers.
  • Forms that end in a chat. Up to 20 questions, questions that show only after a certain answer, and rules that send a response to a different WhatsApp account. See form logic.
  • Analytics for WhatsApp links. QR scans counted apart from taps, clicks per destination, and the requests Meta and other services make to build link previews filtered out. See analytics.

Start free, pay per item

Every paid product starts as a free draft: build it, preview it, and pay only when you publish.

Product Price
Free links Free, on walink.com with no account, or up to 5 in a free account
Premium Links $9 a year per link, with one free Multilink page each
Smart Links Default destination included, then $5 a month per additional destination
Forms $10 a month per published form

Each product is its own subscription. You choose how many items it covers and change that number anytime: Stripe prorates the difference. See billing.

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