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Choose your channel: WhatsApp Web, Cloud, Meta or TikTok

Every channel you connect becomes a “session”, and all its chats arrive in Cortex Chat. Channels differ in how they connect, their messaging window and the features they offer. This page compares them and points you to every feature.

7 min

How it works

In Corteksa, every connected number or account is called a session. The session is the bridge between the channel and Cortex Chat, and it decides who sees the chats and which Cortex Unit new contacts are saved in.

Compare the channels

Feature
WhatsApp Web (Cortex Chat)
WhatsApp Cloud API
Facebook Messenger
Instagram
TikTok
How it connects
Scan a QR code, or an 8-character pairing code
The Meta embedded signup window
Facebook login
Facebook login
TikTok login
Messaging window
No window
24 hours from the client’s last message, then approved templates only
24 hours, and up to 7 days for a teammate’s reply if it’s turned on for your account
Same as Messenger
Not enforced by the system
Meta-approved templates
—
✓
—
—
—
Quick reply buttons, lists and link
—
✓ (3 buttons, a list, a link button)
✓ (13 buttons, a link button)
✓ (13 buttons, a link button)
—
Edit a message and delete it for everyone
✓ (edit within 15 minutes, delete within 60 hours)
—
—
—
—
Emoji reactions
✓
✓
✓
❤️ only
—
Voice messages
✓
✓
—
—
—
Groups and polls
✓
—
—
—
—
Call history and automatic rejection
✓
—
—
—
—
Comments as chats
—
—
✓
✓
✓
Counts toward your plan’s session limit
✓ once connected only
—
—
—
—

The simple rule for choosing

If your clients start the conversation and you want a quick connection from your phone, start with WhatsApp Web. If you message clients who haven’t written to you for more than a day, or you send campaigns and reminders in bulk, you need WhatsApp Cloud API with approved templates. You can connect both.

WhatsApp Web: every setting

What you want to do
Guide
Connect the number by scanning the code
Connect with an 8-character code instead of scanning
Connect quickly without a name first
Session states: start, stop, restart, log out
Who sees the session and its chats
The unit where contacts are saved
The default session
Auto-read
Load old chats and messages
The session activity log
Rename the session
Delete the session, and what stays of its chats
The plan’s session limit
The one-number-per-session rule
Sending speed and protecting the number
Limits on starting new chats

WhatsApp Web: groups, polls and calls

Feature
Guide
An overview of the extra features
Turn on groups and import them
Add, remove and promote members
A group’s name, description, photo, admin settings and invite link
Create and leave a group
Mention members (@)
Read receipts for each member, and group notifications
Polls
Call history
Reject calls automatically
Automatic reply to callers

WhatsApp Cloud API

Feature
Guide
Connect through the Meta window
Several numbers in one business account
The 24-hour window
Buttons, lists and the link button
Clients who stopped marketing messages
Use the WhatsApp Business app on the same number
Delivery ticks and reasons for failure

Message templates

References

Every number and limit is in Every WhatsApp and template limit in one place, and every error message with its fix is in Fix WhatsApp and template problems: every error and its fix.

Note: Cortex AI on WhatsApp works from Corteksa’s own number, not from your sessions. You link your personal number to it from your settings. See Cortex AI: the assistant in Corteksa.

A real example

Basma Clinics
The situation

The clinics take bookings on WhatsApp, and want to remind every patient 2 days before their appointment, even if the patient hasn’t written for a week.

What they did
  1. They connected the reception number through WhatsApp Web for day-to-day replies.
  2. They connected a second number through WhatsApp Cloud and got an “Appointment reminder” template approved in the Utility category.
  3. They built an automation that sends the template automatically.
The result

Reminders arrive outside the 24-hour window because they’re approved templates, and day-to-day replies stayed on the usual number.

A made-up company, to show the idea. The numbers are rounded.

Good to know

One WhatsApp number can be linked to only one session in the workspace.
A WhatsApp Cloud account or a Facebook page can be linked to only one workspace.
The number of connected WhatsApp Web sessions is limited by your plan and the add-ons you’ve bought. A session that isn’t connected yet doesn’t count.
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