# Why Walink > How Walink compares with free wa.me links, the WhatsApp Business Platform and generic link tools, and what each Walink product costs. 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. ## Walink vs wa.me links 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](https://walink.com/docs/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](https://walink.com/docs/analytics)) | | Several people answer | One number per link | [Smart Links](https://walink.com/docs/smart-links) route each click to the right account | | QR code with your logo | Not offered | Premium ([QR codes](https://walink.com/docs/qr-codes)) | | Collect details first | Not offered | [Forms](https://walink.com/docs/forms), answers written into the chat | | Branded page before the chat | Not offered | Premium ([landing page](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links/landing-page)) | A [free link](https://walink.com/docs/free-links) 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. ## Walink vs the Business Platform 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. > [!TIP] > The two work together. A wa.link can open a chat with a number connected to the Platform. The customer's first message opens the 24-hour window, so your bot or your team can reply with regular messages, not only templates. Walink's own [API](https://walink.com/docs/api) manages links, forms and pages from your software. It doesn't send WhatsApp messages. ## Walink vs generic link tools 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](https://walink.com/docs/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](https://walink.com/docs/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](https://walink.com/docs/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](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links/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](https://walink.com/docs/smart-links/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](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links/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](https://walink.com/docs/forms/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](https://walink.com/docs/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](https://walink.com/docs/free-links) | Free, on walink.com with no account, or up to 5 in a free account | | [Premium Links](https://walink.com/docs/premium-links) | $9 a year per link, with one free [Multilink](https://walink.com/docs/multilink) page each | | [Smart Links](https://walink.com/docs/smart-links) | Default destination included, then $5 a month per additional destination | | [Forms](https://walink.com/docs/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](https://walink.com/docs/billing). > [!NOTE] > If you cancel, the items that subscription paid for become drafts at the end of the paid period. Nothing is deleted, and you can publish them again later. While an item is a draft, its address is free for someone else to take. ## Sources - WhatsApp Help Center, [How to use click to chat](https://faq.whatsapp.com/5913398998672934) - WhatsApp Business, [WhatsApp Business Platform](https://business.whatsapp.com/products/business-platform) - Meta for Developers, [Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing) - Meta for Developers, [Send messages](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/send-messages) (the customer service window) - Meta for Developers, [Get started with the Cloud API](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/get-started) - Meta for Developers, [QR codes and short links](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/qr-codes)