Connecting WhatsApp to ServiceM8 is not one thing. There are two routes, they suit different businesses, and the choice is awkward to reverse once made — so it is worth ten minutes now.
Both end up in the same place: customer messages in ServiceM8, against the job, where the team can see them. What differs is who can reply, and from where.
The short version
One person answers the WhatsApp, and you want to keep the app they use? Coexistence.
Several people need to handle messages, each from their own phone, with a name against every reply? Cloud API.
That is the decision. The detail below is what catches people out.
Route one — Cloud API
Your number is registered directly to the WhatsApp Business Platform. It belongs to the system rather than to a handset.
What you need
- A phone number that is not currently in use on WhatsApp or the WhatsApp Business app. If it is, it has to be removed from there first.
- The ServiceM8 Inbox, so messages from people who are not yet customers have somewhere to land. See the note on plans at the end.
What you get
- Every engineer can reply, from their own phone. When a customer messages, we tag the right staff member on the job. Their phone buzzes, they tap the notification, and the job opens in the ServiceM8 app with the conversation on it. They reply from there.
- You choose who gets told. Name the people who should hear about customer messages, or leave it and we tell whoever is booked on the job. The office manager does not need to be woken by every message meant for an engineer.
- Every reply carries a name. You can see who said what to which customer.
- Everything is in ServiceM8. Nothing lives on a personal handset, nothing walks out of the door when someone leaves.
- No cap on sending rate, and the full platform underneath.
What to know first
- The WhatsApp app stops working for that number, on every phone. Whoever answers the business WhatsApp today loses the app they are used to. They are not losing the ability to reply from the van — they reply in ServiceM8 on the same phone — but it is a different app and it takes a week to get used to.
- Every reply is sent through the API, so every reply is billable. See the cost note below.
Route two — Coexistence
Your existing number connects to the platform and stays on the WhatsApp Business app. Messages sync both ways.
What you need
- The WhatsApp Business app (not standard WhatsApp), version 2.24.17 or higher.
- A phone number whose country code is supported for this route.
- A QR code scanned from the app during setup. Takes a minute.
What you get
- The app on that phone carries on working. Whoever answers the business WhatsApp carries on exactly as they do now, in the app they already know.
- Up to six months of your existing chat history can come across, if you choose to share it, so the job does not start empty. Your contacts come too.
- Messages are mirrored, so the office sees every conversation on the job even though the replying happens on the phone.
- Messages sent from the WhatsApp Business app are not charged. If most replying carries on happening in the app, this is a real saving.
- If a conversation has gone quiet for more than 24 hours, you can pick it up free from the phone, instead of paying for a template to reopen it.
What to know first
Connecting via coexistence switches some things off in the WhatsApp Business app permanently:
| Turned off in the app after connecting |
|---|
| Disappearing messages, on all one-to-one chats |
| View once, on all one-to-one chats |
| Live location |
| Broadcast lists — existing ones become read-only, and you cannot create new ones |
And some things keep working on your phone but will not appear in ServiceM8:
| Still works in the app · not visible in ServiceM8 |
|---|
| Group chats — not synced at all |
| Voice and video calls |
| Catalogue, orders and status |
| Away messages, greeting messages, quick replies and labels |
| Editing your business profile |
If your business leans on broadcast lists to tell customers about availability, or on quick replies and labels to stay organised, read that table twice. Those are the two that cause regret.
And the big one: coexistence is one number on one WhatsApp account. The app allows that account on five devices at most — one phone plus four linked — and every one of them sees every conversation. There is no way to assign a chat to a person, no routing, and no record of who replied. It is not a way to give each engineer their own WhatsApp. If that is what you are after, it is Cloud API you want, not this.
Two smaller ones: only the last six months of history syncs. And if someone messages you in the moments just before you connect, you can only reply to them with a pre-approved template, because no reply window was open yet.
Choosing
| Cloud API | Coexistence | |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp app keeps working on the phone | No | Yes |
| Existing chat history comes across | No | Last 6 months |
| Who can reply | Any staff you choose, each from their own phone | One shared account, max 5 devices |
| Replies show who sent them | Yes | No |
| Staff notified on their phone | Yes, and you pick who | WhatsApp rings as it does now |
| Whole team sees the thread on the job | Yes | Yes |
| Needs the ServiceM8 Inbox | Yes | Yes |
| Group chats visible in ServiceM8 | No | No |
| Broadcast lists, quick replies, labels | Not applicable | Switched off or hidden |
| Cost of a reply sent from the phone app | Not applicable | Free |
| Cost of a reply sent from ServiceM8 | Billable | Billable |
Coexistence suits a business where one person answers the WhatsApp — usually the owner or whoever is in the office — and the point of connecting is so that everyone else can see what was agreed without having to ask. The number nobody wants to change stays exactly where it is.
Cloud API suits a business where several people deal with customers. Each engineer gets told on their own phone about their own jobs, replies from the job in ServiceM8, and every reply has a name on it. That is the thing coexistence cannot do at any price.
There is a question underneath both, and it matters as much: seeing conversations and replying to them are separate things. On coexistence you can have the first without the second — every conversation lands on the job for the office to read, while replying carries on in the app. Adding the ability to reply from inside ServiceM8 is a further step. Tell us how your business actually works and we will tell you which combination fits.
A note on cost
Meta charges for WhatsApp Business Platform messages on its own published rates, separately from anything you pay us. From 1 October 2026 that includes replies you send inside the 24-hour window, which were previously free.
Under coexistence, replies sent from the WhatsApp Business app are not charged and do not affect that window at all. Only what goes out through ServiceM8 counts.
So the honest summary: reading costs nothing, and replying from the WhatsApp app costs nothing. Replying through ServiceM8 is the part with a cost behind it — and it is also the part that gives you several people handling messages, on the job, with a name against each one.
A note on ServiceM8 plans
Both routes need the ServiceM8 Inbox, which is not on every plan. A message from someone new lands there whichever way you connected.
Plans change, so check your own account rather than taking our word for it. If you are not sure which route your plan allows, ask us and we will tell you before you spend anything.
Where we are with this
Both routes are still in private beta. If you want to be part of it, tell us which route suits you and roughly how many jobs a week you run, and we will be straight with you about whether we can take you on yet.