Per-message pricing is coming to MM Lite API! Starting July 1, 2025, Cloud API marketing rates will apply to messages sent via MM Lite API. See Pricing Updates to learn more.

Marketing Messages Lite API

Marketing Messages Lite API ("MM Lite API") is an easy-to-use solution for direct marketers built to enhance the customer experience, and drive equal or better results for businesses compared to marketing via Cloud API.

Key benefits

MM Lite API delivers comparable or a greater number of marketing messages than Cloud API. MM Lite API allows for more dynamic messaging limits, so marketing messages with high engagement (e.g. messages that receive more reads) can reach more customers. In India, MM Lite API marketing messages that receive higher engagement (e.g., reads) observed up to 9% higher messages delivered compared to Cloud API (1).
New features exclusive to MM Lite API and not available on Cloud API. For example, MM Lite offers exclusive comparison benchmarks showing your templates’ performance against similar templates in your region, personalized recommendations for how to improve performance metrics, expiring marketing messages for short-run promotions via a customizable via time-to-live, new conversion reporting to show web and app conversions, and more.
Easy-to-transition from Cloud API. Businesses can use existing WhatsApp Business Accounts, phone numbers, and marketing templates. Partners maintain the same billing model as Cloud API, and minimal integration burden.

Comparison: Using MM Lite API vs. Cloud API

Businesses can continue to use Cloud API for their Service, Utility, and Authentication messages and inbound messages from consumers; while taking advantage of MM Lite API for marketing messages.

	MM Lite API	Cloud API
Send messages endpoint (marketing)	/PHONE_NUMBER_ID/marketing_messages	/PHONE_NUMBER_ID/messages
Delivery optimization	New! exclusive Optimizations enable equal or higher delivery and read rates than Cloud API	None
Available metrics	Sent, Delivered, Read, Click metrics, via Business Management API, and WhatsApp Manager UI. New! exclusive Web and App conversion metrics (add to cart, purchase, purchase value, checkout, etc), via Ads Manager UI and Insights API.	Sent, Delivered, Read, Click metrics, via Business Management API, and WhatsApp Manager UI only.
Marketing Message time-to-live support	New! exclusive Time-to-Live (TTL) for Marketing template messages	Not supported for Marketing Template messages
Send message format	Same as Cloud API
Templates	Same as Cloud API (Templates are re-usable across Cloud API and MM Lite API)
Supported message types	Outbound: Marketing Template messages (improved) Inbound: n/a (send only API). Use Cloud API in conjunction to receive inbound messages.	Outbound: Authentication Template messages Utility Template messages Service messages (freeform) Marketing Template messages (legacy, should use MM Lite API) Inbound: Inbound messages from consumers
App Permissions	whatsapp_business_messaging whatsapp_business_management New! exclusive ads_read (if fetching metrics from Insights API)	whatsapp_business_messaging whatsapp_business_management
Error codes	Cloud API error codes + MM-lite specific error codes	Cloud API error codes

Footnotes

AB test conducted with ~12 million delivered marketing messages sent by advertisers in India between 1st Jan 2025 to 31st Jan 2025. It compared MM Lite API optimized delivery to standard CloudAPI delivery for high engagement messages only (i.e. more reads, clicks, etc.) and the analysis consisted of a t-test at 95% confidence.