Compliance on WhatsApp isn't just legal box-ticking — it's what keeps your number healthy and your messages delivering. Two ideas sit at the centre: getting opt-in before you message, and honouring opt-out the moment someone asks to stop.

Opt-in: get permission first

The WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy lets you contact someone only if they have given you their phone number (or WhatsApp username) and agreed to receive messages from your business. Opt-in can be collected many ways — a checkbox at checkout, a form, a keyword, a website widget — as long as it is clear.

  • State clearly that the person is opting in to hear from your business.
  • Name your business, so consent is informed.
  • Say it will be on WhatsApp, and consider separate opt-ins for different kinds of messages (for example order updates and offers).
  • Follow the law of the countries you message, and keep a record of when and how each contact opted in.

Opt-out: make stopping easy

You must respect every request to stop — whether it comes on WhatsApp or anywhere else — and give clear instructions for opting out of specific kinds of messages. In practice that means recognising “STOP”-style replies, offering a simple way to unsubscribe, and — the part that matters — actually not messaging them again.

WhatsApp also gives people their own switch: a customer can turn off marketing messages from your business inside the app. After that, marketing templates to them are refused. Meta does not act on “STOP” replies for you, though — that part is your job (or your provider's).

If you automate replies inside the 24-hour window, the policy also expects a clear way to reach a human — an agent in the chat, a phone number, an email address or a web form.

Why this protects you, not just the customer

WhatsApp judges your messages by how people react. Every block and report from an unwanted message pulls your quality rating down: low-quality templates get paused, a low rating stops your messaging limit from growing, and repeated problems can get your account restricted. Respecting consent isn't a tax on growth — it's what allows growth on this channel. See broadcast rules and limits.

How walpio enforces it for you

walpio treats opt-out as a hard rule, not a suggestion. A customer whose whole reply is STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE — or the Arabic for unsubscribe, إلغاء الاشتراك — is opted out automatically, and one who replies START is opted back in. You can also mark a contact opted out yourself. Either way, walpio blocks every send to them — direct messages and broadcasts alike — enforced on the server across all of your connected numbers, so it can't be bypassed by a stray line of code. Marketing is also held for customers who switched it off in WhatsApp.

What walpio can't do is collect opt-in for you: consent is gathered on your side, before a number ever reaches the API.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Always follow Meta's current WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy and the laws of the markets you message.