Why the Business app stops working for broadcasts
If you've tried broadcasting from the free WhatsApp Business app, you've met all three walls. A broadcast list holds at most 256 contacts, so a 3,000-customer list means twelve manual sends. The message only reaches customers who have saved your number, for a typical store that's a small minority. And there are no reports: you can't see who received the message, who read it, or which broadcast actually produced orders.
The unofficial workarounds, modded apps and browser extensions that hammer the regular WhatsApp, get numbers banned every day, because Meta's systems are built to detect exactly that pattern. If the number on the line is the one your customers know, that's a bad trade. There's a longer write-up of how those bans work in our guide to why WhatsApp bans numbers.
What broadcast software on the official API does differently
Growcord sends broadcasts through the WhatsApp Business API, the same infrastructure Meta sells to banks and airlines. Messages go out as approved templates to customers who opted in, which is why there's no meaningful list-size cap and no ban roulette.
Your account has a Meta-assigned messaging tier (1,000 unique customers a day to start, rising automatically as you send with good quality) rather than a hard product limit; the messaging limits guide explains how tiers grow.
What you get in a Growcord broadcast
Segments, not spray
Send to tags and segments, repeat buyers, Diwali enquiries, COD customers, instead of one blast to everyone.
Scheduling
Queue the campaign for 11 am Sunday and go do something else. It sends itself.
Personalisation
Name, order number, due amount, any contact field can be merged into the template.
Per-campaign reports
Delivered, read and replied counts per broadcast, next to what the campaign cost in credits.
Replies land in a shared inbox
When customers answer, the conversation continues in the team inbox, or a chatbot picks it up.
Approved templates only
Broadcasts use Meta-approved templates, which is what keeps delivery rates and your number safe.
How a broadcast goes out
Import your opted-in contacts
Upload a CSV or sync from your store. Tag them as they come in, the tags become your segments.
Pick or create a template
Write the message with merge fields and submit it to Meta from inside Growcord. Approval usually takes minutes to a few hours.
Choose the audience and schedule
Select tags or the full list, set the send time, and review the estimated credit cost before confirming.
Watch the report, answer the replies
Delivery and read counts update live. Replies flow into the shared inbox where your team or a bot responds.
Business app vs API broadcast, honestly
| WhatsApp Business app | Growcord (official API) | |
|---|---|---|
List size | 256 contacts per list | ✓ No product cap, Meta quality tiers apply |
Reaches unsaved contacts | ✗ Only if they saved you | ✓ Every opted-in contact |
Scheduling | ✗ Not available | ✓ Any date and time |
Delivery/read reports | ✗ None | ✓ Per campaign and per contact |
Personalisation | ✗ Same text for all | ✓ Merge fields per contact |
Ban risk from bulk sending | High with workarounds | ✓ None. This is the sanctioned channel |
Cost | Free | From ₹99/mo billed yearly + Meta's conversation fees at cost |
App limits are Meta's published product behaviour; API behaviour as implemented in Growcord. Checked August 2026.
What a broadcast costs
Two parts, both visible before you press send. Growcord's plan fee starts at ₹299/month (₹99/month billed yearly) on Basic with 200 included conversations a month, and scales up, Startup at ₹799/month covers 1,000. On top, Meta charges per 24-hour conversation by category; a marketing conversation in India is roughly ₹0.78–0.88 depending on volume, so a 1,000-contact broadcast lands around ₹850.
Growcord bills that as credits at Meta's published rate with zero markup. The subscription is where we make money, not the message. The conversation pricing guide breaks the categories down, and the pricing page has every plan side by side. Subscriptions carry a 7-day unconditional money-back guarantee; unused credits stay in your wallet, though conversations Meta has already delivered can't be refunded.
For comparison, checked August 2026: Wati's entry Growth plan is listed at ₹2,499/month and AiSensy's Basic at about ₹1,500/month, both also add Meta's fees on top. If broadcasting is the only job you're hiring software for, you shouldn't be paying helpdesk-platform prices for it.
Staying on the right side of WhatsApp
Broadcasts work when people asked to hear from you. Collect opt-ins (a checkout checkbox, a keyword reply, a QR scan, the opt-in guide shows formats that hold up), keep an unsubscribe path in the message, and watch your quality rating in the dashboard.
Accounts that broadcast to purchased lists see their rating drop and their tier frozen; accounts that message people who want the messages watch the read rates sit far above email. Our WhatsApp vs SMS vs email comparison puts real channel numbers next to each other.
Send your first broadcast this week
Free tier includes 50 conversations a month, enough to prove it on a real segment before paying anything.
Start free, no card neededWhy Growcord
What you get here that you don't get elsewhere
Frequently asked questions
How many contacts can I broadcast to at once?
There's no product cap in Growcord. Your ceiling is Meta's messaging tier, new API numbers start at 1,000 unique customers per 24 hours and grow automatically to 10,000, 100,000 and beyond as you send with good quality. Most businesses reach the next tier within days.
Will broadcasting get my number banned?
Not through the API. Bans hit unofficial tools that automate the regular WhatsApp apps. API broadcasts use Meta-approved templates to opted-in customers, it's the channel Meta built for exactly this. What can hurt you is messaging people who never opted in; that shows up as blocks and a falling quality rating.
Do customers need to save my number to get the broadcast?
No. API messages reach every opted-in contact whether or not they saved you. This is the single biggest practical difference from the Business app's broadcast lists, which only deliver to people who have your number in their address book.
Can I schedule broadcasts for later?
Yes. Pick any date and time while creating the campaign and it fires itself. Nobody has to be logged in. Retailers typically queue Saturday-morning sends and pre-festival pushes days ahead, and you can stack several campaigns as a sequence: teaser, offer, last-day reminder. The delivery report starts filling the moment the send begins.
What does sending 1,000 broadcast messages cost?
Plan fee plus Meta's conversation charges. On the Startup plan (₹799/month, or ₹399/month billed yearly) with marketing conversations at roughly ₹0.85, a 1,000-contact broadcast costs about ₹850 in Meta fees. The exact estimate shows in Growcord before you confirm the send.
Can I send images, PDFs or buttons in a broadcast?
Yes. Templates carry an image, video or document header, a product photo, a rate-card PDF, plus interactive buttons for quick replies and links. Media templates go through the same Meta review as text ones, and you submit the sample media alongside. Buttons are the part worth planning: a "View catalogue" or "Track order" tap is a structured response you can count in the report.
Why businesses pick Growcord
Official WhatsApp Business API
Built on Meta's Cloud API, the sanctioned channel, not a modded app. No number-ban roulette.
Indian pricing, GST invoice
Plans from ₹99/month billed yearly. Paid in ₹ via Razorpay, with a proper GST invoice every time.
Free tier, no card needed
1 number and 50 conversations a month to prove it on real customers before paying anything.
Support from New Delhi, in IST
A real team on email and WhatsApp, Monday to Saturday 10:00–19:00 IST, not a ticket void.
Talk to us
Get set up on WhatsApp this week
Tell us what you sell and how many customers you message. We'll reply on WhatsApp with the plan that fits and, if you want it, walk you through the Meta approval step.
- No sales call unless you ask for one
- Answers from the team that builds it, in IST hours
- Free tier available. You can start before you decide
Keep reading
Related guides and comparisons
Last updated: 2026-08-07