Make.com (formerly Integromat) has no official WhatsApp Business API module for most Indian BSPs, so you connect the two using Make's generic HTTP module pointed at your provider's REST API. That takes about fifteen minutes: create an API key on your BSP, add an HTTP > Make a request module in a Make scenario, POST the recipient and template, and your WhatsApp message fires on any trigger Make supports.
This guide covers the exact wiring, a working request body, the webhook path for inbound replies, and the real per-message cost in India so your automation does not surprise you on the bill.
Why Make.com needs an HTTP module for WhatsApp
Make ships 2,000+ app modules, but a first-party WhatsApp Business API app that works with Indian BSPs is not one of them. The WhatsApp modules you may see in the Make library are Meta Cloud API tiles that expect you to hold your own Meta app, phone number ID, and permanent token — fine if you went direct, useless if you use a BSP like RichAutomate, Wati, or AiSensy who hold the WABA for you.
The clean, provider-agnostic path is the HTTP > Make a request module. Every serious BSP exposes a REST send endpoint that takes a bearer key, a recipient number, and a template name or text body. Make posts to it; the BSP talks to Meta. You get Make's visual scenarios, routers, filters, and 1,500-app ecosystem without maintaining any Meta plumbing yourself.
What you need before you start
- A live WhatsApp Business API account on a BSP (RichAutomate gives you a 14-day trial with 100 free message credits, no card).
- An API key from that BSP's developer settings.
- At least one approved template — business-initiated messages outside the 24-hour service window must use a Meta-approved template.
- A Make.com account (the free tier's 1,000 operations/month is enough to test).
Step-by-step: send a WhatsApp message from Make
- Get your API key. In RichAutomate, open Settings → Developer API and copy the key. This authenticates every request.
- Add a trigger. Start your Make scenario with whatever fires the message — a new row in Google Sheets, a Razorpay payment, a Typeform submission, a scheduled clock.
- Add HTTP > Make a request. Method
POST, URL = your BSP's public send endpoint (e.g.https://richautomate.in/api/v1/public/messages/send). - Set headers. Add
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEYandContent-Type: application/json. - Set the body. Map the trigger fields into the JSON payload (recipient, template name, variables). Example below.
- Run once. Send a test to your own number, confirm delivery, then switch the scenario on.
A minimal JSON body for a template send looks like this:
{
"to": "919812345678",
"type": "template",
"template": "order_confirmation",
"language": "en",
"variables": ["{{1.name}}", "{{1.order_id}}"]
}The {{1.name}} tokens are Make's mappings from the trigger module. Numbers carry the country code and no plus sign or spaces. That is the whole integration for outbound.
Two details save you a support ticket. First, parse the response: switch the HTTP module to Parse response so Make reads the BSP's JSON reply and you can branch on a failed send instead of assuming every POST worked. Second, add an error handler — right-click the HTTP module, add a Resume or Break directive, so one rejected number does not halt a bulk scenario mid-run. For business-initiated sends you also pass the template's language code (en, en_US, or hi) exactly as approved in Meta; a mismatch there is the second most common cause of a silent non-delivery after a wrong number format.
Handling inbound replies with a Make webhook
To react when a customer replies, do the reverse: point your BSP's webhook at a Make Custom webhook trigger. Copy the webhook URL Make generates, paste it into your BSP's webhook settings, and every inbound message lands in Make as structured data you can route — log it, notify a rep, or fire an auto-reply back through the same HTTP module. Keep replies inside the free 24-hour service window to avoid template costs on the return leg.
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Run the webhook scenario once and send yourself a test WhatsApp message first — Make needs to see one real payload to learn the data structure before it can map fields like sender number, message text, and timestamp. After that first capture, add a router: one route logs every message to a sheet or CRM, another matches keywords ("price", "demo", "stop") and triggers the right template reply. Because inbound replies open the 24-hour service window, any auto-reply you send inside it is a free-form message with no per-template charge — only Meta's conversation rate applies, and often that conversation is already paid.
Make.com vs Zapier vs n8n for WhatsApp in India
| Factor | Make.com | Zapier | n8n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native WhatsApp BSP app | No (HTTP module) | No (Webhooks) | No (HTTP node) |
| Pricing model | Per operation | Per task | Self-host free / cloud |
| Visual builder | Yes, strong | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Complex branching | Simple 2-step Zaps | Developers, self-host |
| Free tier | 1,000 ops/mo | 100 tasks/mo | Unlimited self-host |
All three connect the same way — through a generic HTTP call — so the choice is about your automation style, not WhatsApp support. Make wins on multi-branch scenarios and cost-per-operation at volume. See our full Zapier WhatsApp integration guide and n8n WhatsApp integration guide for those routes.
What WhatsApp messages actually cost in India
Make bills you for its operations; WhatsApp billing is separate and set by Meta plus your BSP. RichAutomate keeps it usage-only — ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly floor — on two models:
- Client Pay: ₹0.10 per message on our side, and you pay Meta's per-conversation charge directly.
- SaaS Pay: all-in ₹1.20 per marketing message and ₹0.30 per utility or authentication message, Meta charges included.
There are no per-seat or per-scenario fees stacked on top. A quick worked example: a Make scenario that fires 2,000 utility messages a month (order and delivery updates) costs 2,000 × ₹0.30 = ₹600 on SaaS Pay, plus whatever Make charges for its own operations — well inside a paid Make tier. Swap those to marketing and it is 2,000 × ₹1.20 = ₹2,400. Model your own mix before you build with our WABA cost calculator, and see every tier on the pricing page. New accounts get a 14-day trial and 100 free credits to test the Make wiring end to end.
Common Make.com WhatsApp pitfalls
- 401 Unauthorized: the bearer key is missing or malformed in the header — check for a stray space.
- Template not found: the template name must match Meta's approved name exactly, including case.
- Message not delivered outside 24h: free-form text only works inside the service window; use an approved template otherwise.
- Wrong number format: country code, digits only — no
+, no leading zero, no spaces. - Operation limits: a busy scenario can burn Make's free 1,000 ops fast; add filters so only qualifying triggers fire the HTTP module.
Is Make.com the right choice for you?
If your WhatsApp flows branch on conditions — different templates by order value, region, or customer tier — Make's router and filter logic is worth it. For a plain "payment done, send receipt" one-step automation, Zapier or a direct BSP webhook is simpler. Make earns its place the moment a single trigger needs to fan out — send a WhatsApp template, update a Google Sheet, post to Slack, and only then charge a card — because its routers, filters, and error handlers keep that logic in one visual scenario instead of a chain of separate Zaps. Either way the WhatsApp side is a single HTTP call to a BSP that hides the Meta complexity. Start a free RichAutomate trial, grab your API key, and your first Make scenario can send live in fifteen minutes.