---
title: "WhatsApp Chatbot Sandbox for Agencies | Wabery"
description: "Shared WhatsApp sandbox with no Meta setup. Free through September 30; wallet-funded at Meta's published service rate from October 1."
canonical: "https://wabery.com/whatsapp-sandbox/"
last-updated: "2026-09-20"
---

# Test a WhatsApp chatbot in sandbox, then go live on the client's number

Every Wabery project starts on a shared WhatsApp sandbox number with no Meta Business Manager or business verification. Text the project join code from your own phone, get the chatbot answering, and show the client a real WhatsApp thread the same afternoon. Sandbox messages are free through September 30, 2026. From October 1, Wabery deducts Meta's published destination-market service rate from your wallet without markup; the $2 starter credit is allocated after you add a card. When the client signs, connect their own WhatsApp Business number and flip the project to Live.

## What you get

- A shared sandbox WhatsApp number per project, joined with a code like `wab-ABC123`
- The same REST API, CLI, MCP server, and signed webhooks in Sandbox and in Live
- Draft and Live separation, so an external tool cannot publish to a client's number
- Free tier access: $0, one Live client project, no credit card

## How it compares

- **Meta test number**: free and official, but it only messages a handful of recipient numbers you add by hand, inside a Meta app you had to create first. A test harness, not a client demo.
- **Twilio sandbox**: shared number and join code, then you graduate onto a CPaaS sender. In most agency setups the number ends up attached to the agency, not the client.
- **Kapso sandbox**: a real developer product with a sandbox, CLI, and MCP server, billed per connected phone number. Built for adding WhatsApp to your own product. See https://wabery.com/alternatives/kapso/.
- **Wabery**: built for an agency demo first, then the client's own WhatsApp Business account, on the same project.

Do not use the sandbox for production customer traffic, template blasts, or as a permanent client number.

- Quickstart: https://wabery.com/docs/quickstart/
- Sandbox reference: https://wabery.com/docs/sandbox/
- Pricing: https://wabery.com/pricing/