Spaces vs 360dialog
360dialog is an official Meta partner that gives developers and software companies direct access to the WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), priced per number plus Meta's fees, with a Partner Platform for resellers and a hosted MCP server for managing WhatsApp accounts. Spaces is messaging infrastructure for AI agents: one REST API and one MCP server that let the agent you already use — in Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, Cursor or your own code — read and answer customer chats on Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger.
In one line: 360dialog is official WhatsApp infrastructure; Spaces is a multi-channel inbox for an AI agent you bring. Here is how they differ, and when each is the better choice. At very high WhatsApp volume, 360dialog can cost less — we show that below.
| Spaces | 360dialog | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Messaging API + MCP server for AI agents | Direct WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API) access, a marketplace of WhatsApp tools, and a Partner Platform for software companies |
| Built for | Developers and agent builders whose agent must answer customers on chat apps | Developers, software companies reselling WhatsApp, and businesses running WhatsApp at scale |
| Channels | Instagram, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and Messenger (inbox). TikTok posts and comments are live. Facebook Pages coming soon. | WhatsApp only. Instagram, Messenger and LinkedIn are not listed. |
| The number you already use, linked by QR code, and it keeps working on your phone. No Meta approval, no templates and no Meta message fees. New chats only to people who wrote before or opted in; no broadcasts. | Official Cloud API number with Meta business verification. Approved templates start conversations; Meta's fees passed on with no markup. Coexistence lets a WhatsApp Business App number stay on the phone too (QR scan in the app). | |
| Broadcasts | No — template broadcasts belong on the official platform | Yes — templates, campaigns, business-initiated messaging; 80 messages a second, up to 1,000 on Scale |
| MCP | Included on every plan, including Free. Built for conversations: read, reply, schedule, routines, approvals, pause. | Hosted MCP at mcp.360dialog.com for accounts, templates, webhooks and billing. "Messaging MCP" listed from Premium. |
| Safety | Per-channel daily limits, pacing, four-week warm-up, read-only keys, pause, optional human approval | Meta's rules: business verification, 24-hour window, quality rating, messaging limits |
| Free option | Free plan: 1 account, 50 actions a day, no card | Sandbox: test messages to your own number only, 25 max |
| Price | Free: $0, 1 account, 50 actions a day, no card. Pay as you go: $9 per connected account a month, with 1,000 actions a month per account (pooled), then $5 per 1,000 (less at high volume). Reading messages is always free. No seats, no yearly option. | Per number a month: Regular $59 (€49), Premium $119 (€99, adds the Messaging MCP), Scale $600 (€500) — plus Meta's fees. Partner plans from €250 a month plus €49 a channel. |
| 5 WhatsApp numbers, within included actions | $45 a month (5 × $9, 5,000 actions pooled) | $295 a month Regular or $595 Premium — + Meta's fees |
| Same 5 numbers, 100,000 replies a month | $520 a month ($45 + 95,000 extra actions × $5 per 1,000) | $295 Regular / $595 Premium + Meta's service-message fees (the first 1,000 per number a month are free) |
Example assumes five WhatsApp numbers — five branches or five sales reps — because 360dialog prices per number. On Spaces the five accounts could be any mix of WhatsApp numbers, Instagram profiles, LinkedIn profiles or Facebook accounts. At typical support volume Spaces costs less; at very high reply volume on WhatsApp alone, 360dialog's flat per-number fee can be cheaper, depending on Meta's fees in your market, which we do not estimate. 360dialog USD prices are from its docs and match the EUR list on its pricing page. The Spaces price does not include what your own AI agent costs to run.
Choose 360dialog if
- WhatsApp is your only channel and you want official Cloud API access with no markup on Meta's fees.
- You send approved templates, broadcasts and campaigns at volume — Spaces deliberately does not.
- You need official API features: business verification, Flows, calling, Meta Business Agent, very high throughput.
- You are a software company reselling WhatsApp to many clients.
- Your reply volume is very high on a few numbers, where a flat per-number fee beats per-action pricing.
Choose Spaces if
- Your AI agent must answer customers on Instagram, LinkedIn and Messenger as well as WhatsApp, through one API and MCP server.
- You want to link the WhatsApp number already in use by QR code without moving it onto the Cloud API.
- Most of the work is replying to people who wrote in and following up with people who know you.
- You want daily limits, pacing, warm-up, approvals and a pause switch built in.
- You want to start free and pay per connected account as you add more.
About how WhatsApp connects
For up to 24 hours after a WhatsApp account connects, reconnects, or is disconnected and connected again, Spaces does not start new chats or outreach. Replies in chats that already exist still go out. Other channels have no reply-only window: the warm-up limits apply from the first day, and replies to people who wrote in go out immediately.
Both can keep the business on the number customers know. 360dialog puts the number on Meta's Cloud API; with Coexistence, a WhatsApp Business App number joins the API by a QR scan in the app and stays usable on the phone, with messages mirrored. Templates are still needed to start conversations, Meta's fees apply, linked companion devices are unlinked during onboarding, and the app must be opened at least every 13 days.
Spaces does not use the Cloud API. It links the number you already use by QR code, the way you link WhatsApp on a computer. That number stays under WhatsApp's own automation rules: Spaces keeps every account inside limits, which lowers the risk without removing it. For large template broadcasts, the official platform — 360dialog's home ground — is the right tool. Sending limits · How Spaces keeps accounts safe · WhatsApp Business Platform vs QR code
Looking at other options too? See the best 360dialog alternatives.
Facts about 360dialog were checked on 11 November 2026 from 360dialog pricing, 360dialog docs pricing, 360dialog MCP docs and 360dialog Coexistence docs. Spaces facts are from spacesos.com/pricing, WhatsApp API and llms.txt. Prices and features change; their sites have the current version. 360dialog is a trademark of its owner.