How it connects
WhatsApp works by linking your own WhatsApp account to AlphaTill through WhatsApp Web: you scan a QR code once from the phone that owns the number. Messages come from your number, not from us.
It needs the internet and that phone reachable on WhatsApp. It is the one part of AlphaTill that is not local-first.
- 1Open Settings → WhatsApp in AlphaTill.
- 2A QR code appears. On the phone that owns your business number, open WhatsApp → Linked devices → Link a device, and scan it.
- 3AlphaTill keeps that session on this PC, so you scan once rather than every morning. If WhatsApp logs the session out, you scan again.
Read this before you use it: it is an unofficial client
This uses an unofficial WhatsApp Web client, not one of Meta’s approved Business APIs. It is not endorsed by WhatsApp, it can break when WhatsApp changes its web app, and heavy or unsolicited messaging can get a number restricted or banned by WhatsApp. Send to people who expect to hear from you.
We are telling you this up front because the consequence lands on your number, not on ours. If your business cannot tolerate any risk to its WhatsApp number, use AlphaTill’s messaging for conversations customers have asked for — order ready, appointment reminder, invoice — and not for cold marketing.
Any WhatsApp or Meta charges are separate from AlphaTill and are between you and them.
What each plan can send
One-to-one messaging is on every plan, including free Solo. Broadcasts, campaigns and automations are the paid step up — and the table below is generated from the same feature gates the app enforces, not typed in by hand.
| Capability | From |
|---|---|
| Open a chat with a customer from their recordGET /whatsapp/open-chat-url | Solo |
| Send a message or a saved template to one personPOST /whatsapp/send, /whatsapp/send-template | Solo |
| Read the conversation history stored on your machineGET /whatsapp/messages/:contactId | Solo |
| Send the same message to many recipients (broadcast)POST /whatsapp/send-bulk | Professional |
| Campaigns and automations triggered by eventsPOST /whatsapp/campaigns, /whatsapp/automations | Professional |
Full plan comparison is on pricing.
With no internet
With no internet or no linked session, sending fails and AlphaTill records it as failed. Nothing is queued to send later, so a message you need to go out is one to check.
Everything else in AlphaTill keeps running offline — see the offline capability table on the home page. WhatsApp is the exception, because the message has to leave your shop.