WhatsApp Flows

WhatsApp Flows are Meta's native forms inside a WhatsApp chat. Customers enter details across one or more screens, pick options or send a request without leaving the chat. All answers reach the business together, in a single reply.

What are WhatsApp Flows?

WhatsApp Flows are a feature of the WhatsApp Business Platform that lets a business offer a form right inside the chat. Instead of sending a link, the business sends a message with a button, and a form opens in WhatsApp: one or more screens with text fields, selection lists, a date picker, opt-in checkboxes and a button that goes to the next screen or submits the form.

Typical uses are appointment requests, lead capture, callback requests, sign-ups and feedback. The customer types, taps and submits without leaving the app. All answers come back together in one reply instead of a long back-and-forth of single messages.

A flow is sent through the WhatsApp Business API in one of two ways. Inside the 24-hour customer service window it goes out as an interactive message, for example from the inbox, an automation or the API. Outside the window, the business starts the flow with an approved message template that carries a Flow button.

WhatsApp Flows, flows and flow builders

The names sound alike but mean different things:

  • WhatsApp Flow: a form the customer fills in themselves inside a WhatsApp chat. It exists only on WhatsApp.
  • Flow: an automated sequence of messages and actions that runs in the background after a trigger, often across several channels.
  • Flow builder: the visual editor where you put such automations together.

The two work well together: an automation can send a WhatsApp Flow, wait for the answers and then carry on, for example by adding a tag or sending a confirmation.

Why WhatsApp Flows matter

Every switch between apps costs completions. Flows keep the customer in the conversation and lower the effort noticeably:

  • Fewer drop-offs: no jump to an external page, no website that has to load first.
  • Structured data: answers come back as separate, clean fields instead of free text.
  • Less back-and-forth: instead of asking six questions one by one, a flow asks them all in one form.
  • Mobile-native: the form feels like part of WhatsApp, not like a detour.

The answers then arrive in your shared inbox, where the team picks up the request straight away.

Practical example

A physiotherapy practice loses enquiries because nobody answers the phone outside opening hours. Patients do write on WhatsApp, but the follow-up questions drag on: which treatment, is there a referral, which days work?

Now everyone who writes "appointment" gets a short flow: type of treatment, preferred days and time of day, plus their name and an opt-in for appointment reminders. The next morning every request is complete in the inbox, and the team confirms a slot with one short reply.

WhatsApp Flows with SendSeven

SendSeven is a Meta Business Partner on the official WhatsApp Cloud API and has its own builder for WhatsApp Flows, currently in beta. You build forms in a visual editor, start from a template in English or German, or describe in your own words what the flow should ask and let the AI builder draft it (Professional and up; it uses AI Credits, only for successful runs). Flows you already built in Meta's own builder can be imported.

SendSeven writes the answers straight into contact fields, custom fields and tags, and saves the consent text with every opt-in. You can send a flow from the inbox, with a template that has a Flow button, in automations (Professional and up) or through the API. Analytics show how many customers completed it. Flows with live data from your own systems are available from the Scale plan; Coexistence numbers run static flows.

WhatsApp Flows is in beta. Completed flows are free during the beta. Every flow you send counts as one message from your plan's message allowance, just like any other WhatsApp message, and Meta's fees apply as usual. Once WhatsApp Flows is generally available, an additional charge per completed flow will apply. We'll let you know well in advance.

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