How to create a WhatsApp Business community step by step on Android, iPhone and web, what to do if the app won't let you, and how to use it in sales.
Can you create a community in WhatsApp Business? Not from the Business app: the official WhatsApp help says it is not possible today. You can still have one on your business number in two ways: create it with the regular WhatsApp app and then register that number as a business, or create it with another number and transfer ownership to your WhatsApp Business number.
Updated: October 2026 · Written by Alex Sánchez, co-founder of Vixiees, who works daily with sales teams that sell over WhatsApp.
To learn how to create a WhatsApp Business community, you first need to understand why you cannot find the option: WhatsApp does not offer it in the business app. This guide covers the official steps on Android, iPhone and web, how to move the community to your business number, the current limits and how to use it in sales without confusing it with the API.
How to create a WhatsApp Business community step by step
The process has two parts: create the community in the regular WhatsApp app (the consumer one) and then move it to your business number. The steps come from the official WhatsApp help, checked in October 2026.
How to create a WhatsApp community on Android
Open WhatsApp (the regular app) and go to the Chats tab.
Tap the new chat icon.
Tap New community and then Get started.
Enter the community name (up to 100 characters). If you want, add a description and a photo with Add photo.
Tap the checkmark to create it.
How to create a WhatsApp community on iPhone
Open WhatsApp and go to Chats.
Tap the green add chat icon.
Tap New community and then the button to get started.
Enter the name and, if you want, a description. To set the image, tap Edit.
Tap Create.
How to create a community on WhatsApp Web
Go to the Chats tab and click the new chat icon.
Click New community and then Next.
Enter the name and description, and add the community image with the option to add a photo.
Click the checkmark.
When you create it, WhatsApp generates the Announcements group, where admins write to all members. If you work with the business app on your computer, we explain it in WhatsApp Business on a Windows PC.
Why can't I create a community in WhatsApp Business
WhatsApp's help states it plainly: creating a community in the WhatsApp Business app is not possible at the moment. Some guides claim otherwise, but the official source is clear. You can own a community in the Business app in two cases, both covered on that same page:
Option | When it fits | What you do |
|---|---|---|
Create it first, then register the number as a business | The number is not on WhatsApp Business yet | You create the community with that number in the regular app and then register the number on WhatsApp Business |
Transfer ownership | Your business number already uses WhatsApp Business | Someone else creates the community in the regular app and transfers ownership to your business number |
How to move the community to your WhatsApp Business number
If you choose to transfer ownership, these are the steps from the official help on transferring ownership. They are done by whoever created the community:
Add the business number to the community and make it an admin: ownership can only be transferred to an admin.
Open the community, tap the community icon and go into the community info.
Scroll down to the member list and press and hold the admin you want to hand it to.
Tap Assign as new owner and then confirm.
If the creator is the only admin, they first need to assign another one. A community has only one owner at a time, although it can have several admins. That is why making your business number an admin is necessary but not enough: until you complete the transfer, the community is not yours.
WhatsApp community limits
According to the official help, a community can have up to 100 groups and up to 2,000 members in total, counting subgroups and the Announcements group. Once it is full, nobody else can be added. If you see 50 groups or 5,000 members in other guides, they do not match today's official help.
What a WhatsApp community is and what it does for sales
Working definition
According to the WhatsApp help on communities, a community brings groups together by topic, new ones or ones you already had, under a shared Announcements group. In sales, it lets you segment your customers and talk to all of them from one place.
It is managed from the WhatsApp app, not from the WhatsApp Business API. They are two different products: below you will see what each one does.
What a WhatsApp community contains
Announcements group. Only admins post. According to the WhatsApp help on the Announcements group, members can react and reply to announcements and vote in polls. If someone leaves the Announcements group, they leave the community.
Privacy and order. Your number is only visible to admins, to people who have you saved and to people who already have it from other chats. Messages are end-to-end encrypted.
Group segmentation. Groups by customer type, product or area, so each person receives only what interests them.
Tools inside the groups. Events, polls, reactions, files and admin controls.
Management comparison: which channel to use for what
To know what to ask of each channel, we use the Rule of 3 channels (Broadcast, Group, 1:1 Chat):
Channel | What it is for in sales | What it is not for |
|---|---|---|
Broadcast (the community's Announcements group) | News, promotions or events posted only by admins; members react, vote and reply | Handling the sale for one specific person |
Group (a community subgroup) | Customers with a shared interest: a product, an area, an event | Following up on a lead, because nobody owns the reply |
1:1 Chat | Qualifying, presenting the price and closing | Sending the same message to hundreds of people |
Rule: the sale and the follow-up of each lead always live in the 1:1 chat, with a salesperson in charge. The community informs and starts conversations; the private chat converts them.
WhatsApp group for sales: group or community?
If you want a WhatsApp group for sales with customers of the same product, a regular group is enough. According to the official help on groups, a group allows up to 1,024 members and is created like this:
Tap or click the new chat icon and choose New group.
Select the contacts who have agreed to join.
Give it a name (up to 100 characters) and an image, and review the group permissions to decide who can write or invite.
Create it and, if you need to, share the group invite link only with people you trust.
A community pays off when you have several segments and want a shared announcement channel for all of them. In both cases the Rule of 3 channels applies: the group brings customers together and the sale is closed in private, with a salesperson in charge of each conversation.
How do you implement WhatsApp Business communities for sales?
Structured steps to run the system
Creation and transfer to your business number. Create the community in the regular app and move it to WhatsApp Business as explained above.
Preparation and segmentation. Decide what the community is for (current customers, a promotion, an event), which subgroups it will have and who manages it.
Consent before adding anyone. Add only people who have agreed to receive your messages. We explain it in opt-in on WhatsApp Business.
Path to the 1:1 chat. Every announcement with commercial interest invites people to write privately, and every private reply has a salesperson in charge.
Follow-up and alerts. Schedule reminders so the conversations that start in the community get a reply.
Do not confuse the community with the WhatsApp Business API
The community is an app feature: you do not need the API to have one. The WhatsApp Business API is for talking to customers from your own system and has its own rules, such as the 24-hour window. If you are unsure which version you need, start with what WhatsApp Business is and how it boosts B2C sales.
Message examples
Community welcome: "Hi, welcome to the [Name] community. Here we will post [news, events...]. If you have a question, message us privately."
Specialist assignment: "Our [product/service] specialist will be with you shortly."
Post-contact follow-up: "Were we able to resolve your question? We are here to help."
You will find more examples in WhatsApp follow-up templates.
Group structure and role definition
Distinct roles: admins (community and announcements), salespeople (1:1 chat and closing), support (resolving questions).
Clear protocols: write down how a query is assigned, escalated and handed off between teams.
What risks and objections should I plan for?
Security and regulatory compliance
Keep ownership of the community on a business number, not on a salesperson's personal WhatsApp: that way, if someone leaves, the community stays with the company. Add only people who have given their consent and check with your advisor what the data protection law in your country requires.
Scalability
If your base exceeds the 2,000-member cap, you will have to split it across several communities. The more members, the more private replies each announcement generates, and someone has to answer all of them.
Team training and adoption
Before launch, assign the roles with the team and check with data during the first few weeks whether the private conversations are being handled.
How do you make sure the team executes and scales sales?
Integrated systems versus isolated tools
With isolated tools, information gets lost between them. That is what happened at Aroma Cafetero, a Colombian company selling coffee machines to businesses, with 20 advisors: each one ran their work from their own WhatsApp and their own Excel. Their sales director, Yuly Paulin Moná, puts it this way: to audit an advisor she had to say "lend me your phone to review your interactions." They digitized the process they already had, without redesigning it, and with 100% of conversations traced they multiplied their conversion by 4 and grew 18% a year as a company with fewer leads (data reported by Aroma Cafetero in its success story).
CapMédica, the largest hair transplant clinic in the Canary Islands, started from something similar: each salesperson's personal WhatsApp and an assignment spreadsheet with duplicates. With one-by-one assignment, it went on to contact around 80% of its leads and handle 100% (data reported by CapMédica, March to October 2025).
A community organizes announcements, but each 1:1 conversation still sits on the phone of whoever handles it. The same happens with leads duplicated between salespeople or with the leads of a salesperson who goes on vacation. That is why it pays to set a common process: same first contact, same follow-up and same closing criteria, whoever takes the conversation. To decide which leads deserve the call, see what a qualified lead is and how to identify it.
Essential KPIs for execution
Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
Average response time to private messages | Whether the conversations the community generates are handled on time |
Unanswered private conversations | Whether every reply has an owner |
Conversation-to-sale conversion | Whether the community brings customers or just noise |
Community exits after each announcement | Whether the announcements add value or tire people out |
Set your targets with your own data from the first few weeks, not with generic figures.
Does your team know what happens with every WhatsApp conversation?
Vixiees gives each salesperson their next task according to the priorities you set, with WhatsApp and calls inside the same process, and without switching CRM. That way every conversation that starts in your community has an owner and a next step.
Keep reading: WhatsApp for small businesses within an omnichannel cadence and a sales execution layer without switching CRM.
Alex Sánchez's take, co-founder of Vixiees: a WhatsApp community is good for making announcements and for letting your customers raise their hands. The problem starts when it is used as a sales system. Every announcement generates private conversations, and those conversations end up scattered across each salesperson's phone, with no clear owner and no way to review them. Before setting up the community, decide who answers each private message, how fast and where it gets recorded.
Frequently asked questions
Can you create a community in WhatsApp Business, or why won't it let me?
You cannot do it from the WhatsApp Business app: the feature is not available in the business app. The solution is to create it in the regular WhatsApp app and then register that number as a business, or to transfer ownership of the community to your WhatsApp Business number.
How many groups and members can a WhatsApp community have?
Up to 100 groups and up to 2,000 members in total, counting the subgroups and the Announcements group. Once it is full, nobody else can be added.
Can I add a group I already have to a community?
Yes. According to the official WhatsApp help, in a community you can create new groups or add groups that already exist.
Do I need the WhatsApp Business API to have a community?
No. The community is managed from the app. The API is for talking to customers from your own system and is a different product.
Does a WhatsApp Business community replace a CRM?
No. The community organizes the conversation, but it does not force anyone to follow up: that depends on the salesperson choosing to reply. That is why it pays to combine it with an execution layer that enforces the process, instead of just recording it.
