🚀 New Product Update

Talk to your team without leaving the chat. Manage ten conversations like they're one.

Two small changes that add up: private notes your customers never see, and the ability to act on multiple conversations at once.

✨ What's new

📝 Private notes on any conversation
Leave context, updates, or instructions for your team, visible only to you — never sent to the customer.

✅ Bulk actions in Team Inbox
Select multiple conversations and assign them to an operator all at once instead of one by one — up to 15 at a time.

💙 Why you'll love it

Faster handoffs, less repetitive clicking, and a way to keep your team in sync mid-conversation.

Available on: Pro & Business

📚 Learn more: Private Notes · Bulk Actions

August 2026 was a pretty big month. WhatsApp Groups are live, inbound calls now land with the right person automatically, your AI assistant can take actions on Wati (not just read it), and we fixed a handful of things that were quietly annoying. Here's everything that we cooked in Aug:

🔔 Important Updates

Growth plan: multiple channels and full Instagram + Messenger automations

Why this matters
Growth plan customers were previously limited to a single channel, which meant having to choose one platform to manage in Wati rather than running WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger together.

The update
The single-channel restriction on Growth has been removed. New Growth signups and customers who joined on or after April 23 can now add multiple channels. Customers who joined before April 23 and already had multi-channel access now also unlock advanced automations for Instagram and Messenger: DM and comment-to-DM rules (posts, reels, story replies and mentions), and chatbot flows.

Note: The multi-channel change does not apply to GCR and LATAM regions, where the existing setup remains unchanged.

Plan: Growth

🚀 New Features

Create and manage WhatsApp Groups right from Wati

Why this matters
Managing group conversations meant juggling WhatsApp manually outside Wati. No visibility, no automation, no team coordination.

The update
Your WhatsApp Business number can now create groups, invite contacts, and manage conversations right from Team Inbox. Each group holds up to 7 contacts. There's also a Groups API to automate creation from your own system.

Plan: Business (OBA verification required · Pure API number only, not CoEx · Not available on free trial)

Learn more → · Watch demo →

Every inbound call now goes to the right person

Why this matters
Inbound WhatsApp Calls had no clear routing logic. Calls landed randomly, went missed, or sat unattended, frustrating customers and wasting response time.

The update
Every inbound WhatsApp Call now follows a clear routing chain: current assignee first, then contact owner, then your automation rules. Set up post-call automations too: send a follow-up on a missed call, or hand the conversation to your Astra AI agent until someone calls back.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Watch demo →

Button messages on Instagram

Why this matters
Instagram DM automations were text-only. Turning a comment into a lead required too many manual steps with no structured flow.

The update
Build Instagram message templates with up to 3 tappable buttons or website links. Add them to a chatbot flow, wire that flow into your comment-to-DM automations, and customers go from comment to qualified lead without typing a single word.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Watch video →

Your AI assistant can now act on Wati, not just read it

Why this matters
The Wati MCP Server was read-only. Your AI assistant could pull data but couldn't take action, so you still had to do the heavy lifting yourself.

The update
The Wati MCP Server now spans all your workspaces and supports write actions: update contact attributes in bulk, build audience segments by describing who you want, and send images, documents, or video into live chats without leaving your AI assistant. Switching between accounts is now one sentence in the conversation, not a full reconnection.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Watch demo → · Learn more →

WhatsApp Flows: send via templates, log every response, build better forms

Why this matters
You couldn't send a flow without a chatbot or an inbound message first. Submissions had no audit trail — no way to verify a response went through or check if someone filled the form twice. And building clean forms for long lists or multi-step journeys required workarounds.

The update
Four upgrades at once: attach a flow to a template as a CTA button and send it via Campaigns or the API — no chatbot required. A new Responses section logs every submission as its own row, filterable by date and exportable to CSV, with nothing overwritten on repeat fills. The listing page now shows Triggered vs. Completed counts at a glance. In the builder, two new input types — Dropdown and multi-screen — make longer forms cleaner and easier to navigate.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Watch demo →

🔧 Improvements

Finally see what's happening inside your chatbots

Why this matters
There was no visibility into chatbot performance. Drop-offs were invisible, and optimizing a flow meant guessing.

The update
Chatbot Analytics is now live for all customers. A new dashboard shows sessions, completions, drop-off rates, and reassignment rates across every bot. In Flow Builder, turn on "Show performance" to see exactly where contacts fall off right on the flow. Hit "Logs" to pull up every session, filter, export, or jump straight into a conversation in Team Inbox.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Learn more →

Chatbot Analytics Dashboard Demo ->

Chatbot Performance Demo ->

Connect Instagram directly, no Facebook Page required

Why this matters
Every extra step during setup is a chance for a customer to drop off before getting value from your product. Removing the Facebook Page requirement means more teams can get live on Instagram without depending on someone else's admin access.

The update
Instagram now connects directly from Wati Channels using an Instagram for Business login. No Facebook Page linking needed. Log in, approve access, done.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Learn more →
Watch Demo ->

HTTP links in contact attributes are now clickable

Why this matters
URLs in contact attributes showed as plain text. You had to copy, paste, and open them manually every time.

The update
Any URL stored in a contact attribute now opens with one click, in both the contact view and Team Inbox. No more copying and pasting.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Watch Demo ->

New Google Sheets row triggers a WhatsApp message automatically

Why this matters
The Google Sheets plugin needed a manual trigger after a new row was added. Automations required a nudge and weren't truly hands-free.

The update
Adding a new row now automatically triggers the WhatsApp message you've configured in the Google Sheets automation plugin. No manual action needed.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Watch demo →

🐛 Bug Fixes

Fixed: Template messages now auto-assign new conversations

Why this matters
When an agent sent a template to a new or unassigned contact, replies came in without an owner and sat unattended.

The update
When a template is sent to a new or unassigned contact, the conversation is now auto-assigned as soon as a reply arrives.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Learn More ->

July's headliner is an AI-powered campaign calendar that plans your next send for you, expanded MCP tools for AI assistants, a new Salesforce integration upgrade, and AI agents that watch your conversations. Here's everything that shipped.

📅 Campaigns

Let Wati's AI plan your campaigns — and send them from a calendar

Why this matters
Most users open Wati's campaign tab, see a list of past sends, and freeze. There's no prompt to send something today, and no idea what to send next.

The update
AI now figures out your website and your business, and uses your past campaign history to suggest new campaign ideas to you. The campaign list view is now a monthly calendar — color-coded at a glance: sent (green), scheduled (purple), and recommended (blue). Click a recommended campaign, and the objective, name, template, audience, and send time are all pre-filled. The calendar refreshes daily for the next 30 days.

Plan: Pro, Business
Watch demo → · Learn more →

🎓 Wati Academy — Free for Everyone

Everything your team needs to succeed with Wati — from first setup to advanced campaigns

Why this matters
Knowing a feature exists is different from knowing how to use it when you need it. Whether it's connecting your phone number, completing business verification, understanding what a Meta Business Portfolio even is, or setting up your first drip campaign — these are the moments where teams get stuck. Until now, the only option was to search help articles or wait for support.

What's new
Wati Academy is a free, interactive learning hub that covers everything from the basics of the WhatsApp Business ecosystem to hands-on walkthroughs of every Wati feature. It's not a list of what's new — it's a place your team can always come back to when they need to know how to do something specific. Guided courses walk through real product screens step by step, covering setup, campaigns, automations, integrations, Astra, and more. Available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Bahasa Indonesia.

Start learning for free →

🔌 Wati MCP Server [Early Access]

Your AI assistant can now route conversations, look up contacts, and answer analytics questions

Why this matters
The Wati MCP server already let AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT search contacts, send messages, and pull campaign stats. But it couldn't route conversations, organize contacts, or answer account-level questions — the kind of thing a real team member does.

The update
Seven new tools are live. Your connected AI assistant can now see all connected channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, TikTok), count contacts with date filters, look up a full contact profile (attributes, teams, segments, opt-in status), ask analytics questions in plain English, hand a conversation to a human operator or back to the bot, and assign contact teams. This release also includes security hardening for production Wati accounts. Reach out to our team for access.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business
Watch demo → · Learn more → · Wati MCP Server →

🔗 CRM & Integrations

Salesforce contacts now sync into Wati automatically

Why this matters
Getting Salesforce contacts into Wati used to mean clicking "Import" by hand, every time. And once synced, there was no way to choose which fields to bring over.

The update
When a Contact or Lead is created or updated in Salesforce, it syncs into Wati automatically — matched by phone number. Pick which fields to sync during setup; existing records get a one-time bulk import. Contacts created in Wati also sync back to Salesforce. Custom properties are now included too. A Salesforce admin needs to complete the setup.

Plan: Business
Learn more →

Multiple Phone Number Support for Zoho CRM

Why this matters
The Wati widget for Zoho CRM only worked with one WhatsApp number. If your business runs multiple lines across teams or regions, you were stuck.

The update
Operators can now select any connected WhatsApp Business line directly in the Zoho CRM widget, browse that line's templates, and send messages — without leaving Zoho. The chat thread automatically surfaces the most recent conversation, and you can resend a template from a different line any time.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Failed messages now retry automatically via API too

Why this matters
The auto retry feature for Meta's "chose not to deliver" error only worked through the Wati dashboard. API users had no way to use it.

The update
Auto retry is now available via API. When a message hits the 131049 error, it retries every 24 hours for up to 7 days — same behavior as the UI, now accessible programmatically.

Plan: Pro, Business
Learn more →

🤖 AI Agents [Early Access]

Meet AI Agents in Wati that watch your conversations and act on what they find

Why this matters
Getting insights from your Wati data today means digging through dashboards, exporting reports, and doing the analysis yourself. There's no way to say "tell me who's ready to buy" and get an answer.

The update
A new chat-based workspace inside Wati lets you work with AI agents. Pick an agent that spots purchase-ready contacts, flags spam conversations, alerts you to sudden spikes in demand, or surfaces trending topics across your inbox — or just describe what you need in plain English. In this first phase, agents can create segments, update contact details, tag conversations, draft replies, send messages, and search Wati's help docs. More capabilities (building automations via chat, creating campaigns, inbox productivity) are on the roadmap.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business (early access — reach out to our team for access)

🧩 Contacts & Automation

Compare dates against dates — not just fixed windows — in your segments

Why this matters
Custom segments could only compare a date to a constant ("last 30 days"). But real cohort analysis is per-contact — "did this person go quiet within 30 days of signing up?" — and no single fixed window works across the board.

The update
Four new operators let you compare one date signal to another date signal, plus or minus an offset. Build segments like "first conversation in January AND last reply less than 30 days after first conversation" — cohort churn, win-back audiences, and retention windows that were previously spreadsheet-only work.

Plan: Pro, Business
Learn more →

June brought two new TikTok channels, a full customer-intelligence layer for Shopify merchants, calling that finally works from your pocket, deeper CRM sync, and a big upgrade to Astra's voice agent. Here's everything that shipped.

💬 Channels

Introducing TikTok as a new channel on Wati

Why this matters

Merchants running TikTok Shop or TikTok Ads had no easy way to handle TikTok chats alongside their other channels — meaning a separate tool, or missed messages at scale.

The update

Connect a TikTok Business account and your TikTok chats now land right in the Wati inbox, same as WhatsApp or Instagram. Not available yet in the US, UK, EU, Switzerland, or India.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Demo: 

Send conversation outcomes back to TikTok as conversion signals

Why this matters
Marketing teams running TikTok Ads couldn't tell which ad conversations actually turned into sales — lead quality was invisible to the ad platform.

The update
Wati can now tell TikTok what happened after the click — whether it turned into a lead, a good conversation, or spam — so ad performance reporting gets more accurate over time.

Plan: Pro, Business

Connect more than one Instagram or Messenger account

Why this matters

Wati only let you connect one Instagram or Messenger account — a problem if you run multiple brands or manage several pages for clients.

The update

Business plan customers can now connect several IG/Messenger accounts to one Wati account. Messages from all of them land in one inbox, you can filter by account, and replies go out from the right one automatically. You can also target specific accounts with automations.

Plan: Business

Learn more →

Bring website live chat into your Wati inbox [Beta]

Why this matters

Businesses using Wati for WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger still had to run a separate tool for their website chat, which meant scattered conversation history.

The update

A branded live chat widget for your website now lives inside Wati. You can customize the name, welcome message, colors, and avatar. Visitor chats land in their own inbox, in real time. Currently open to a small group of beta customers.

Plan: Pro, Business (beta)

Keep messaging customers even when they don't share a phone number

Why this matters

WhatsApp is rolling out usernames, so some customers will message you without ever sharing a phone number. Without support for this, those chats would break.

The update

Wati now recognizes customers by their WhatsApp username (not just phone number) across inbox, CRM, and automations, so the conversation keeps going either way. If you do need a number later (say, for OTP), you can request it inside a template. Update your mobile app to version 3.43.0 or later so you don't miss anything. Note: sign-in/verification templates and SMS/RCS fallback still need a phone number.

Plan: All plans

Learn more →

📞 WhatsApp Calling

Take and make WhatsApp Business calls from your phone

Why this matters

Calling only worked on the web. If you weren't at your desk, you'd simply miss the call.

The update

Calling now works on the Wati mobile app too, on both iPhone and Android. You can answer, make calls, and manage requests from your phone. Web and mobile stay in sync — answer on one, and it stops ringing everywhere else.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Every WhatsApp call now logs itself in your CRM

Why this matters

Call data used to stay stuck inside Wati. People either skipped logging it in the CRM or wrote rushed notes afterward, so deal records had gaps.

The update

Every WhatsApp call, answered or missed, now logs itself automatically in HubSpot or Zoho — with the recording, an AI transcript, and an AI summary attached. Just turn it on in Settings > Integrations.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

🛍️ Wati for Shopify

Build behavior-based journeys, not just cart recovery

Why this matters

Wati could only trigger automations off abandoned checkouts or completed orders. There was no way to act on a customer browsing a product without buying, or a brand-new signup.

The update

Three new triggers are live: Customer Created (a new signup, with the source they came from), Product Viewed, and Page Viewed. The last two need App Embed turned on; Customer Created works right away.

Plan: Pro, Business

Turn raw Shopify data into ready-to-use customer intelligence

Why this matters

There was no easy way to act on things like how often someone buys, whether they're at risk of churning, or what they tend to buy — so campaigns stayed generic.

The update

Wati now pulls in Shopify customers, orders, and behavior in real time and turns them into ready-to-use info: lifetime spend, how often they buy, their stage (New, Active, At Risk, Churned), and what they tend to buy. Use this to build VIP, at-risk, or win-back segments in a few clicks. Support agents see the same info — last order, tracking link, lifetime spend — right in Team Inbox.

Plan: Business

📊 Ads

Compare ad channels side by side, in one place

Why this matters

With several ad accounts connected, there was no easy way to see which channel actually drove qualified leads, or how long leads took to convert.

The update

See conversion rate and time-to-convert across all your connected ad accounts in one view, and pick specific accounts to compare.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

🔗 CRM & Integrations

Your Salesforce contacts now sync into Wati automatically

Why this matters

Getting Salesforce contacts into Wati meant clicking "Import" by hand, every time.

The update

Now it's automatic — when a Contact or Lead is created or updated in Salesforce, it syncs into Wati right away, matched by phone number. Pick which fields to sync during setup; existing records get a one-time import. A Salesforce admin needs to complete the setup.

Plan: Business

Learn more →

Multiple WhatsApp Numbers in HubSpot Integration

Why this matters

HubSpot only worked with one WhatsApp number, even if you had several connected in Wati.

The update

HubSpot now works with all your WhatsApp numbers. Pick which one to message from right in HubSpot's chat window, and set up automations to route by number, by contact owner, or automatically based on recent activity.

Plan: Business

🧩 Contacts & Automation

Build segments based on what customers actually do

Why this matters

Segments could only filter on fixed details like name or location — there was no way to ask "who actually engaged with my last campaign?"

The update

Wati now tracks how contacts engage — campaign opens, link clicks, messages, calls — and you can filter segments by this activity. Use these segments in automations and broadcasts too.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business (EU: all plans; other regions: Pro/Business now, Growth coming soon)

Learn more →

Run automations on your custom segments

Why this matters

You could build segments, but couldn't use them to trigger automations directly.

The update

Custom segments can now be used as a filter inside Automation Rules, so the right audience triggers the right workflow automatically.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

💡 Migration

Migrate from KnowBot to Astra in one click

Why this matters

KnowBot did its job, but Astra is where we're investing — a stronger knowledge base, more autonomous conversations, and full control over how your agent behaves.

The update

Moving from KnowBot to Astra is now one click. Your existing content gets pulled in automatically — no need to re-enter any URLs.

Plan: All plans

🤖 Astra

Astra now speaks 9 Indian languages, plus Cantonese

Why this matters

Deployments in India need an agent that speaks the language customers are most comfortable in. In Hong Kong, people naturally mix Cantonese and English in the same conversation.

The update

Astra Voice now covers 9 Indian regional languages, with natural switching between them mid-conversation. Cantonese is live too, built specifically for Hong Kong, with a real person able to monitor and step in if needed.

Plan: All Astra plans

Astra's voice agent now feels like a real conversation

Why this matters

Stiff turn-taking and messy transcripts made voice agents feel like an automated phone menu, not a real conversation.

The update

We're aiming for 500–800ms response time, so it feels closer to talking with a person. The agent now handles being interrupted mid-sentence gracefully, and transcripts are cleaned up — no more stray "haha" or breathing sounds.

Plan: All Astra plans

Astra now understands voice notes, and handles what it can't

Why this matters

Voice notes are one of the most common message types on WhatsApp. An agent that can't handle them quietly misses a big chunk of conversations.

The update

Astra can now listen to and transcribe incoming WhatsApp voice notes, and reply with voice notes too. For message types it still can't handle — video, documents, stickers, location — it now tells the customer clearly, in their own language, instead of just going silent.

Plan: Business

Preview your widget exactly as customers will see it

Why this matters

Publishing a web widget without previewing it first was a bit of a gamble — things that looked fine while testing sometimes broke once live.

The update

You can now test your Astra web widget in a built-in preview that matches what customers will actually see, before you publish it.

Plan: All Astra plans

To provide businesses with more predictability, Meta has standardized a quarterly pricing schedule. This means that Meta may choose to update messaging and voice prices on the 1st day of every quarter.

What is changing this quarter?

Effective July 1, 2026 at 12:00 AM IST, the following updates will take effect:

• Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – Higher marketing message rate
• Poland – Lower marketing message rate, and lower utility and authentication rates
• Hong Kong, Hungary, Qatar, Romania, and Singapore – Higher utility and authentication rates

This is an official change from Meta and will impact all Business Solution Providers, including Wati. We have automatically updated the rates for all our clients to reflect these changes. You can find all the details here:

Meta’s Pricing Changes and Previous Updates

Note: You can view the updated messaging rate cards in your Wati account after the effective date. Log in to your Wati account and click the Pricing Overview button under the wallet icon located in the top-right corner of the screen.

No Action Required

As your WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, Wati handles these technical updates for you. These changes will be applied to your account automatically on the effective date. No action is required on your part.

May was about depth. Shopify gets a full upgrade —> from cart recovery to a cleaner analytics dashboard. Astra's voice agent becomes a genuine conversational partner with interruption handling, cleaner transcripts, and 9 Indian languages. Here's everything that shipped.

🛍️ Wati for Shopify

Recover carts before they reach checkout

Why this matters

Abandoned checkouts only tell half the story. The shoppers most likely to convert are the ones who added items and disappeared before they even got to checkout — and until now, they were invisible.

The update

Wati now tracks Add to Cart events on Shopify. When a shopper adds items and leaves, a pre-built 3-step recovery sequence fires automatically on WhatsApp or RCS — at 30 minutes, 6 hours, and 24 hours. The sequence stops the moment they reply, start checkout, or place an order. Enable in one click — no building from scratch.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Learn more →

Build custom Shopify automation rules across any channel

Why this matters

Merchants who needed multi-step custom logic — branching conditions, fallback channels, non-standard timing — had to work around Wati's fixed automation options.

The update

Shopify events are now triggers inside Wati's Automation Rules engine. Build fully custom WhatsApp, RCS, or SMS workflows tied to any Shopify moment. Channel fallback is configurable within each rule, and attribution — Revenue, ROI, Conversion Rate — is tracked at rule level. Abandoned Checkout and Abandoned Cart rules ship pre-built and ready to enable.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Learn more →

Go from install to live automation the same day

Why this matters

Most merchants who installed Wati for Shopify never activated a single automation in their first two weeks. The setup flow buried the steps that actually mattered.

The update

Onboarding is rebuilt into a 2-stage Quick Start. A short questionnaire adapts the flow to your experience level. The setup dashboard then surfaces only the minimum steps to go live — showing your actual store data (revenue at risk, live abandoned checkout count) so there's a reason to act immediately.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

One consistent analytics view across all Shopify automations

Why this matters

Metric names changed between tabs, definitions were inconsistent, and there were no clear funnel indicators — making it hard to compare performance or trust what the numbers were saying.

The update

The Shopify analytics dashboard is fully redesigned with three consistent layers across every trigger: Hero Metrics (Spend, Orders, Revenue, ROI), Health Metrics (Sent, Delivered, Delivery Rate, Clicked), and trigger-specific funnel data. RCS is tracked alongside WhatsApp, and Automation Rules data feeds into the same dashboard.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Create contact segments via API

Why this matters

Teams managing large audiences at scale needed programmatic control over how contacts are grouped — without having to touch the Wati dashboard every time.

The update

Custom contact segments can now be created and managed via API, giving developers and power users full control over audience segmentation.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

📞 WhatsApp Calling

Every call recording, transcript, and AI summary — in one place

Why this matters

Recordings, transcripts, and summaries were scattered across views, making it hard for managers to review call quality, coach agents, or pull material for audits without digging around.

The update

The new Call Recording vault centralises every recording alongside its AI-generated transcript and summary. Filter by call type, operator, date range, or business number. Download individual recordings or export up to 50 at once for audits and reviews.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business (requires WhatsApp Calling)

Learn more →

Set a retention policy — Wati handles compliance automatically

Why this matters

In regulated industries, holding call recordings longer than required is a compliance risk. Managing deletion manually is error-prone and easy to forget.

The update

Admins can now configure an auto-deletion policy per account — choose a retention duration and Wati removes recordings automatically once they age past it. Auto-deletion is off by default; opt in based on your regulatory or internal requirements.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business (requires WhatsApp Calling)

Learn more →

📊 Ads

See the full funnel from Google and TikTok ads to WhatsApp

Why this matters

Customers running Google or TikTok ads had no visibility into what happened after a click — no way to see whether someone became a lead, started a conversation, or converted.

The update

Full-funnel conversion analytics are now live for whitelisted Google and TikTok ad accounts. View performance from ad click to lead qualification and purchase directly in Wati, and retarget high-intent contacts from the same view.

Plan: Business (available upon whitelisting — contact your CSM)

💡 Better AI Support Agent Capabilities

On Knowbot? Time to move to Astra.

Why this matters

Knowbot served its purpose, but Astra is where the AI roadmap lives — a more capable knowledge base, truly autonomous conversations, richer tool calling, and full control over agent behaviour.

The update

Migrating from Knowbot to Astra is now one click. Context is auto-extracted — no manual URL input required. Reach out to our support team to get your migration scoped and scheduled.

Plan: All plans

Demo: Watch demo →

🤖 Astra

Your Astra agent can now handle audio messages

Why this matters

Voice notes are one of the most common message types on WhatsApp. Agents that couldn't process them were silently missing a significant chunk of incoming conversations.

The update

Astra agents now support WhatsApp audio messages — automatically downloaded and transcribed via Astra's internal ASR — so your agent can handle voice notes the same way it handles text, both incoming and outgoing.

Plan: Business

Your voice agent now speaks 9 Indian languages — with natural code-switching

Why this matters

India-market deployments need agents fluent in the language customers are most comfortable in. Coverage of 6 languages was a start — 9 with native code-switching is a step change.

The update

Astra Voice previously supported 6 Indian languages via Sarvam ASR and TTS. This month adds Telugu, Gujarati, and Marathi — bringing total coverage to 9 regional languages, all with native code-switching so agents handle mixed-language conversations naturally.

Plan: All Astra plans

Cantonese and English in the same conversation

Why this matters

Hong Kong users naturally switch between Cantonese and English mid-conversation. An agent that handles only one language at a time breaks the flow.

The update

Astra Voice now handles bilingual Cantonese/English conversations, purpose-built for Hong Kong deployments where code-switching is the norm.

Plan: All Astra plans

Interrupt mid-sentence — the agent actually listens

Why this matters

Rigid turn-taking makes voice agents feel like automated phone menus. Real conversations involve interruptions, and agents that can't handle them lose the user's trust fast.

The update

Astra Voice now handles mid-sentence interruptions gracefully — detecting when a user wants to cut in and yielding the floor instead of talking over them.

Plan: All Astra plans

Cleaner transcripts — no more filler noise

Why this matters

Transcripts cluttered with "haha", heavy breathing, and filler sounds made them hard to use for coaching, audits, or records.

The update

Voice transcription now filters out non-verbal noise and filler sounds, producing clean, readable transcripts that are actually usable downstream.

Plan: All Astra plans

Supervise live AI conversations and step in when it counts

Why this matters

AI handles most conversations well — but when edge cases arise, supervisors need a way to intervene without disrupting the customer experience.

The update

Managers can now monitor AI-handled conversations in real time and take over mid-conversation when needed. Full human-in-the-loop control, without breaking the interaction.

Plan: All Astra plans

Test your web widget agent before it goes live

Why this matters

Deploying a web widget agent without previewing its real behaviour has always been a leap of faith — fonts look different, backgrounds shift, and what looked fine in staging breaks in production.

The update

You can now test your web widget agent in an integrated playground directly inside Astra, with true-to-life UI/UX previews — including optimised default backgrounds and screenshot fallbacks for visual consistency — before it goes live on your site.

Plan: All Astra plans

Demo: Watch demo →

Faster from idea to live agent

Why this matters

The agent creation and deployment flow had unnecessary friction — too many steps between configuring an agent and getting it in front of customers.

The update

A new agent creation flow, widget position controls, and an optimised save-and-deploy button cut the steps from first draft to live deployment. The Wati MCP server now ships official plug-and-play connectors for Slack, HubSpot, and Shopify — less custom code, more out-of-the-box capability from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible AI tool.

Plan: All Astra plans

Demo:

Graceful handling when a message type isn't supported

Why this matters

When an agent went silent on an unsupported message type — video, document, sticker, location — customers had no idea why. It eroded trust fast.

The update

Astra now responds with a clear, polite fallback whenever an agent receives a message type it can't process — in the user's own language. No more silent drops.

Plan: All Astra plans

April was one of the biggest shipping months of the year. Drip campaigns finally landed, WhatsApp Calling got a full intelligence layer, Instagram comments became a proper conversion channel, and Astra took a major leap forward — with a new default AI agent and a voice engine that sounds like a real person. Here's everything that shipped.

🎙️ Quarterly Product Webinar

We walked through all of April's updates live — watch the full recording to see everything in action.

Watch the April Product Webinar →

📣 Campaigns

Drip Campaigns

Why this matters
Every other marketing platform has had drip sequences for years. Wati didn't — and marketers were either building workarounds with Sequences or doing it manually. That's over.

The update
You can now create multi-step WhatsApp message campaigns with timed delays between each message. Set a stop-on-reply condition so customers don't get the next step after they've already responded. Auto-retry keeps your inter-step timing consistent even when a message needs a resend. Campaign analytics are available at both the campaign level and per individual message, with export.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business
Demo: Watch demo

Smart Campaign Pacing

Why this matters
Meta silently applies pacing restrictions when it detects high-volume or risky messaging patterns — campaigns would slow down, partially fail, or stop entirely with no explanation and no way to recover cleanly.

The update
High-risk campaigns are now automatically staggered before sending, reducing the chance of Meta stepping in. If pacing still kicks in, the campaign stops cleanly with a clear in-product notification instead of failing silently. From there, you can pick a new template, retry only the contacts who didn't receive the message, or use AI to suggest template fixes before retrying.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business
Demo: Learn more

💬 Team Inbox

Typing Indicator for WhatsApp Chats

Why this matters
When a customer sends a message and hears nothing back, they don't know if anyone's there. That uncertainty kills the experience — especially when a human or AI agent is already composing a reply.

The update
WhatsApp now shows a live "typing…" indicator to your customers whenever an operator or Astra agent is composing a reply. Enable it from Settings → Team Inbox → General Settings. Available on Pro and Business now, rolling out to Growth in May.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business
Demo: Learn more

📸 Instagram

Instagram Comments in Team Inbox + Comment-to-DM Automation

Why this matters
Comments on your Instagram posts are warm leads sitting in plain sight — but without a structured way to follow up, most businesses either miss them or manually reply with no context.

The update
Instagram comments now surface directly in Team Inbox alongside your DMs, so agents can view and reply without leaving Wati. With Comment-to-DM automation, when someone comments with a keyword you define — like "Price?" or "How to order?" — Wati automatically opens a private DM with them, moving a public interaction into a structured conversation. Comments in Team Inbox are available on all plans; Comment-to-DM automation requires Pro or above. Both work on mobile.

Plan: All Plans (comments); Pro, Business (automation)
Demo: Watch demo

📞 WhatsApp Calling

Call Recording, Transcription & Summarization

Why this matters
Without recorded calls and automated notes, context gets lost between agent handoffs, managers can't review performance, and there's no reliable way to sync voice conversations into your CRM.

The update
Every WhatsApp call can now be recorded automatically, with full manual pause and stop controls for operators. Recordings are transcribed with speaker separation and timestamps. AI Summarization generates a post-call summary with intent classification, sentiment analysis, call outcome, and action items — visible per contact directly in Team Inbox. Developers get a complete REST API suite and a real-time Call Completion Webhook to sync call data into external tools. Storage: first 1,000 minutes free per month. Transcription: 3 credits per call. Summarization: 1 additional credit per call. Call recording dashboard and retention policy controls coming soon.

Plan: Pro, Business
Demo: Watch demo

🤖 Astra

Astra is Now Your Default AI Agent

Why this matters
Knowbot was the starting point for AI on Wati — but it was a product built for a different era. Astra is more capable, more configurable, and where all new AI development is going.

The update
New Wati accounts and existing accounts that hadn't configured an AI agent will now start with Astra instead of the AI Support Agent. All entry points across the product lead to Astra setup. Existing configured AI Support Agent subscribers are unaffected — your setup continues working exactly as before.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Voice 2.0: Clone Your Voice for AI Calls

Why this matters
Generic AI voices break trust the moment a customer notices they're talking to a bot. The most effective AI agents don't just answer correctly — they sound familiar, warm, and human.

The update
Astra's Voice Agent can now clone any voice by recording a sample or uploading audio files. The cloned voice carries your tone and warmth into every AI-handled call — available 24/7 without sounding robotic. Emotion-aware responses let the agent understand how a customer is feeling and adjust its tone naturally. The agent guides conversations proactively rather than just reacting, and background sound fills silence to keep calls feeling natural, while interruption suppression filters out noise.

Plan: Pro, Business
Demo: Watch demo

This quarter, we have made tremendous progress on AI, released voice agents that sound like you, Copilot that shows exactly which topics and agents need work, and agents that test themselves before your customers find the bugs. Plus custom segments, campaigns that launch themselves, and Shopify recovery on every channel. Read along:

🌐 Multichannel Conversations

Start using Wati without a WhatsApp Business Account

Why this matters

Requiring a WhatsApp Business Account to even explore Wati was a wall before the front door — it killed first impressions and slowed down sales.

The update

Sign up with Instagram or Messenger first and get full platform access from day one — Team Inbox, automations, AI Copilot. Add WhatsApp later when you're ready. No WABA setup required to get started.

Plan: All Plans

Instagram Comments and Automation in Team Inbox

Why this matters

Comments on your posts are warm leads sitting in plain sight — most businesses have no way to follow up at scale, so those leads just decay.

The update

Team Inbox now shows comments on your own Instagram posts and lets you DM any commenter in one click. When they reply, a 24-hour automation window and 7-day conversation window opens. 

Plan: All Plans

WhatsApp Calls: Dialer List

Why this matters

Meta's call permission expires after 7 days. Without a centralized view, outbound teams miss open windows they didn't know existed.

The update

The new "Request Accepted" view in WhatsApp Calls shows every contact who has granted call permission within the valid 7-day window — updated in real time, with missed inbound calls included automatically. One click opens the full chat context.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Contact Owner-Based Routing for Calls and Chats

Why this matters

Round-robin and automation rules were overriding agent ownership — a salesperson's established lead would get routed to someone else when they messaged back.

The update

A new admin toggle — Contact Owner-Based Routing — ensures inbound always goes to the contact's owning agent before any automation or round-robin kicks in. Assignee and contact owner stay in sync automatically.

Plan: Pro, Business

RCS at Scale: 200K Broadcasts

Why this matters

RCS broadcasts were limited in scale and lacked the rich interaction options that make RCS more effective than standard messaging.

The update

Send RCS to 200,000 contacts in one campaign. New quick actions include Dial Phone, Request Location, and Create Calendar Event. A new "Seen" metric gives real engagement visibility, and a capability check improves delivery rates.

Plan: All Plans

WhatsApp Flows for All Connected Numbers

Why this matters

Multi-number accounts could only create and manage Flows for the primary number — secondary numbers were left without Flow support entirely.

The update

Create, update, and delete WhatsApp Flows for any connected number. Failed flow publications now auto-retry in the background.

Plan: All Plans

User-Level Number Access Control

Why this matters

In multi-number accounts, agents could see all connected numbers — making it easy to act on the wrong one and creating unnecessary access overhead.

The update

Admins can now restrict number visibility by user, so agents only see what's relevant to them. Admins retain full access across all numbers.

Plan: Business

Inbox Analytics for Multiple WhatsApp Number

Why this matters

Multi-number accounts had no way to measure the performance of secondary numbers — analytics were only available for the primary one.

The update

View inbox performance metrics for each connected WhatsApp number individually. Filter and track per number without flying blind on secondary channels.

Plan: Business

Learn more →

WA Calling Open APIs and Webhooks

Why this matters

Sales and support agents had to switch between their CRM and Wati to make a call — a fragmented workflow that created data silos and slowed response time.

The update

New open calling APIs and webhooks expose the WhatsApp calling layer so engineering teams can build native click-to-call workflows in Salesforce, Zoho, or any CRM — or route call audio directly to an AI voice agent.

Plan: Business

🤖 AI at Wati

Astra AI Agents: Voice 2.0 — Clone Any Voice

Why this matters

Generic AI voices feel impersonal. The moment a customer hears a robot, trust drops and conversations end faster.

The update

Upload a 10-second audio sample and your Astra AI Agents voice agent speaks in that voice across every call — with context-aware tone, natural intonations, and silence-filling audio while tools execute in the background.

Plan: Astra Add On

Astra AI Agents: Guided Onboarding and Agent Testing at Scale

Why this matters

A blank agent configuration screen is where good intentions go to die. Most teams never ship because they don't know where to start — and untested agents fail in front of customers.

The update

Pick a goal — lead qualification, support, bookings — and get a pre-named, pre-configured agent ready to deploy. The evaluation suite auto-generates test cases, scores accuracy against expected answers.

Plan: Astra AI Agents (Add-on)

Topic Insights and Operator Insights

Why this matters

CX scores tell you how you're doing, but not why — which topics are failing, which agents need coaching, and where training gaps live.

The update

Topic Insights auto-categorizes your conversations so you see what's working and what's not. Operator Insights gives weekly per-agent performance breakdowns compared to the previous week.

Plan: Pro, Business

Astra AI Agents: Deep Agent Cloning

Why this matters

Rebuilding agents from scratch every time you expand to a new channel wastes hours and risks inconsistency across your customer experience.

The update

Copy any Astra AI Agents agent to a new channel in one click — all training data, instructions, and knowledge base content carries over automatically. No manual rebuilds, regardless of document count.

Plan: Astra Add On

Astra AI Agents: CRM Auto-Sync 

Why this matters

When lead data lives only in WhatsApp conversations, your CRM is always out of date and follow-up falls through the cracks.

The update

When a new lead is captured or a conversation ends, Astra AI Agents automatically syncs contact details and conversation summaries to HubSpot or Pipedrive with dynamic field mapping.

Plan: Astra AI Agents

Copilot: AI Translation Improvements

Why this matters

Agents handling multilingual conversations couldn't tell which language was active — leading to replies sent in the wrong direction.

The update

Clearer two-way translation indicators now show which language is active at all times. In-product prompts surface the feature automatically so teams discover it without digging through settings.

Plan: All Plans

📣 Sales & Marketing Automation

Custom Contact Segments

Why this matters

Filters couldn't be saved — marketers had to rebuild the same audience from scratch before every campaign, and keeping segments fresh across a growing contact list wasn't scalable.

The update

Create segments from any filter combination. Active segments update automatically as contacts qualify; static segments are a fixed one-time snapshot. Run next month's campaign to the same audience in two clicks.

Plan: Pro, Business

Auto-Launch Campaigns on Template Approval

Why this matters

You'd create a campaign, wait for Meta to approve the template, then remember to hit send — by then, the moment was gone and the window had closed.

The update

Set up a campaign with a pending template and it fires automatically the moment Meta approves. Works for immediate and scheduled sends; the system monitors for up to one hour and notifies admins on rejection or timeout.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

Linking Campaigns to Automation Actions

Why this matters

A customer tapping a quick reply button in your campaign triggered nothing automatically — someone had to build a separate automation to handle each response.

The update

A new section in the campaign builder lets you map each quick reply button to an action — send a custom message, start a chatbot, or trigger a flow. No separate setup needed.

Plan: Growth, Pro, Business

CTWA Reporting Enhancement

Why this matters

CTWA reporting was rigid — one conversion template, one phone number, no way to slice data by Campaign, Ad Group, or Ad level.

The update

The CTWA report now supports custom dimensions (Campaign, Ad Group, Ad) and metrics including ROAS, CPM, and Purchase Value — across multiple connected phone numbers.

Plan: Business + Ads Add-on

Higher Broadcasting Speeds

Why this matters

Flash sales, OTP blasts, and time-critical promotions lose their edge when messages take too long to deliver at scale.

The update

Sustained high-speed sending at 500+ messages per second is now available on request — for moments where timing is the whole point.

Plan: Business Plans (available on request)

Custom Branded URL Tracking

Why this matters

A recent Meta update made tracking URLs visible in message previews — and the generic Wati format looked like spam, hurting click-through rates and brand trust.

The update

You can now customize your tracking URL to show your own brand (e.g., yourbrand-whatsapp.wati.io). The default tracking URL has also been updated to whatsapp.wati.io across all accounts.

Plan: Pro, Business

Learn more →

Zero-Tap Authentication Templates

Why this matters

Zero-Tap auth templates had to be created outside Wati, adding friction for teams that rely on fast, high-intent verification flows.

The update

Build and edit Zero-Tap authentication templates directly in Wati — supporting one-tap or no-tap verification for your highest-intent users.

Plan: All Plans

Multi-BM Support for Click-to-WhatsApp Ads

Why this matters

Agencies and businesses with ad accounts spread across multiple Business Managers had to manage everything across different Wati accounts — no single view of all their CTWA activity.

The update

You can now connect ad accounts from multiple Business Managers under one Wati account. Manage all your ad accounts and view analytics from one place.

Plan: Business

Learn more →

🛒 Ecommerce Growth Engine

Shopify Automation Goes Multichannel

Why this matters

Abandoned checkout recovery only works if the customer is reachable on WhatsApp. If they're not — you lose the sale. No fallback, no second chance.

The update

All major Shopify triggers — abandoned checkout, order confirmation, fulfillment — now support RCS and SMS as fallback channels. Ready-to-run sequences auto-generate when you connect your Shopify store, with templates that include coupon codes, checkout links, and attribution windows.

Plan: All Plans

Revenue you were leaving on the table now comes back through the next available channel. 

That's about it for now. Please watch this space for next updates. 

To provide businesses with more predictability, Meta has standardized a quarterly pricing schedule. This means that Meta may choose to update messaging and voice prices on the 1st day of every quarter.

What is changing this quarter?

Effective April 1, 2026 at 12:00 AM IST, the following updates will take effect:

• Saudi Arabia – Higher marketing message rate.
• India – Higher authentication-international rate.
• Pakistan – Higher utility and authentication rates. No change to the authentication-international rate.
• Turkey – Lower utility and authentication rates.

This is an official change from Meta and will impact all Business Solution Providers, including Wati. We have automatically updated the rates for all our clients to reflect these changes. You can find all the details here:

Meta’s Pricing Changes and Previous Updates

Note: You can view the updated messaging rate cards in your Wati account after the effective date. Log in to your Wati account and click the Pricing Overview button under the wallet icon located in the top-right corner of the screen.

No Action Required

As your WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, Wati handles these technical updates for you. These changes will be applied to your account automatically on the effective date. No action is required on your part.

January was a big one. We've been heads-down building toward a simple idea: your customers don't live on one channel, and your tools shouldn't either. This month's release moves us closer to that reality — with faster performance, smarter AI, and a Wati that works from the moment you sign up.

Here's everything that's live in your dashboard today.

Tl;Dr: Wati now works across every major channel, your AI Copilot just got significantly smarter, and we've got a free playbook to help you grow faster in 2026.

📖 WhatsApp Growth Playbook 2026: Free for All Wati Users

Why this matters: Knowing what to send is only half the battle. Knowing when, to whom, and with what AI assist is what separates growing businesses from plateauing ones.

The Update: We've put together the WhatsApp Growth Playbook 2026 — a practical guide to running AI-powered conversation-growth campaigns across every stage of your customer journey: acquisition, engagement, conversion, and retention. It's free, actionable, and built on what actually works across thousands of Wati customers.

👉 Grab the WhatsApp Growth Playbook 2026

🌐 Go Multichannel — Meet Your Customers Everywhere

RCS Just Got Serious — 200K Broadcasts + Rich Actions

Why this matters: RCS is carrier-grade messaging with the richness of an app. If you've been waiting to run it at scale, the wait is over.

The Update: You can now send RCS broadcasts to up to 200,000 contacts in a single campaign. We've also added new message action types: Dial Phone, Request Location, and Create Calendar Event: so your messages can drive real actions, not just reads. A new "Seen" metric gives you visibility into actual engagement, not just delivery.

Shopify + RCS: Full-Funnel Tracking for Rich Campaigns

Why this matters: You're already using Shopify to run campaigns. Now those campaigns can run over RCS — and you can measure exactly what they drive.

The Update: Shopify ROI tracking now extends to RCS broadcasts. Abandoned checkout and order messages can include dynamic product images and discount codes, with full revenue attribution so you know which campaigns are actually converting.

Team Inbox Analytics: Now for Every WhatsApp Number

Why this matters: If you're running multiple WhatsApp numbers for different teams, regions, or brands, you shouldn't have to fly blind on any of them.

The Update: Inbox Analytics now covers all your connected WhatsApp numbers — not just the primary one. Filter, compare, and track performance across every number from one place.

Learn More here: Managing multiple WhatsApp numbers in Wati

🤖 Work Smarter with AI

AI Copilot: Now Your Inbox Writing Partner

Why this matters: Your agents are writing dozens of messages a day. Copilot now helps them write better, faster — without leaving the inbox.

The Update: AI-powered writing assistance is now built directly into Team Inbox. Copilot can fix grammar, match the tone of the conversation, and generate responses pulled directly from your knowledge base. Less tab-switching. Better replies.

AI Translation — Now Easier to Discover and Use

Why this matters: Your customers speak different languages. Your agents shouldn't need to speak all of them.

The Update: We've improved the AI Translation experience with clearer two-way translation indicators, so agents always know which direction the translation is running. We've also added in-product prompts that surface the feature automatically when you're chatting with a contact in a different language.

Marketing Templates: 1024-Character Limit, Restored

Why this matters: Meta has reduced the character limit for marketing templates from 1024 to 550, causing messages to fail silently. That restriction is now lifted.

The Update: You can create and send marketing templates with up to 1,024 characters again. No more failed deliveries from exceeding a limit you didn't know existed.

Find updated highlights here: WhatsApp template message guidelines

Language Auto-Update by Region

Why this matters: Global teams shouldn't have to manually configure their language settings every time someone joins from a new region.

The Update: Wati now automatically detects your region via IP address and sets the interface language accordingly. No manual setup required for new users — the platform speaks their language from the first login.

💳 Sell & Pay Smarter

WatiPay Now Accepts Apple Pay

Why this matters: Checkout friction kills conversions. Apple Pay removes the biggest one for iOS users — no card details to type, no forms to fill.

The Update: Apple Pay is now a supported payment method within WatiPay on both web and mobile. Your customers can complete purchases in one tap, directly within the WhatsApp conversation.

Outbound Calling List in Team Inbox

Why this matters: Your sales team needs to know exactly which contacts have opted in to receive calls — without digging through filters.

The Update: Team Inbox now has a dedicated "Calling List" that shows only contacts who have granted call permission. One click to see who's ready to hear from you, so your team can focus on calling instead of qualifying.

⚡ Under the Hood: Performance You'll Feel

We don't usually lead with infrastructure, but this one is worth calling out.

We've completed a major infrastructure upgrade that significantly improves messaging reliability and speed for high-volume users and large-scale broadcasts. We've also migrated to a global CDN, cutting page load times dramatically — the dashboard is now noticeably faster everywhere, especially outside of primary data center regions.

🔐 New Login Options — Rolling Out Now

We've launched Google SSO and Email OTP login, along with a new Account Switcher, for customers in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada. We'll soon be rolling this out to other countries.

🎬 Google SSO walkthrough 

🎬 Email OTP walkthrough

🔜 Coming Soon: Start Wati Without a WhatsApp Number

We're removing the requirement to connect a WhatsApp Business Account before exploring Instagram, Messenger, and RCS channels. Sign up, pick your channel, and start conversations from day one — no prerequisites.

Stay tuned — this is rolling out soon.

Try a Higher Plan

Want to test features that are on a higher tier? Activate a 14-day free trial directly from your Wati dashboard. Click the ⬆️ icon next to the infinity symbol [Meta] to get started.

Regards, 

Team Wati