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Comparison

Evolution API, WAHA or hosted:
what self-hosting WhatsApp really costs

Evolution API and WAHA are free, open-source WhatsApp APIs you run on your own server. The software costs nothing; the server, the database, the updates and the QR codes to re-scan do. Here is the full bill, the licence details, and when running it yourself is still the right choice.

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The short answer

Is self-hosting Evolution API really free?

The licence is free, the running is not. Evolution API costs $0 to download, but it needs Node.js 20+, PostgreSQL or MySQL, and Redis is recommended. WAHA, its closest rival, asks for at least 2 CPU and 4 GB of RAM even for a single session. Add updates, monitoring and QR re-linking, and the real price is your server plus your time.

Both projects are popular and alive. Evolution API has about 10,000 stars on GitHub and WAHA about 7,800 (November 2026). Evolution API grew out of CodeChat and Baileys and adds integrations with Typebot, Chatwoot, Dify, OpenAI, RabbitMQ and Kafka. WAHA wraps four engines behind one HTTP API: two drive a real browser, two talk to WhatsApp over a WebSocket.

What nobody puts on the README is the work around them. Whenever WhatsApp changes its web protocol, the library underneath has to be patched and you have to redeploy. When a session drops, someone has to notice and scan a new QR code. Linked devices are also logged out when the main phone stays offline for 14 days. That is fine for a team with an ops habit, and a hidden cost for everyone else.

Unlimited Messaging is the hosted route: the same linked-device approach for WhatsApp (we run whatsmeow, a Go library, in our own service), plus email from your mailbox and SMS from your Android phone, behind one REST API. You run nothing, and pay a flat plan or nothing at all. Figures below come from each project's GitHub and docs, checked in November 2026.

Related comparisons: GREEN-API vs UltraMsg vs Unlimited Messaging, how to avoid a WhatsApp ban and what a WhatsApp REST API is.

Illustration: a terminal running curl and getting 201 Created, with the headline “Is self-hosting really free?”.

The comparison

Evolution API vs WAHA vs Unlimited Messaging

Two self-hosted open-source servers and one hosted API. All three link a WhatsApp number unofficially; the difference is who runs the server and who fixes it when WhatsApp changes.

Evolution API vs WAHA vs Unlimited Messaging
Evolution APIself-hosted, Node.jsWAHAself-hosted, DockerUnlimited Messaginghosted, flat price
Software price$0$0 (optional $5/mo community donation)Free plan, or Medium €19/mo and Max €29/mo
LicenceApache 2.0 with extra conditions: keep the logo in its frontend, show a usage notice in closed-source systems, or buy a commercial licenceApache 2.0, every feature free since version 2026.6.1Proprietary SaaS, free plan with no card
What you runNode.js 20+, PostgreSQL or MySQL, Redis recommendedA Docker container, 2 CPU / 4 GB RAM recommended even for one sessionNothing
WhatsApp engineBaileys (TypeScript, WebSocket), or Meta's official Cloud APIWEBJS or WPP (browser), NOWEB (Baileys) or GOWS (Go)whatsmeow (Go), run by us
Updates when WhatsApp changesYou pull and redeploy. Last stable 2.3.7 (Dec 2025), 2.4.0 in release candidate since May 2026You pull and redeploy. 24 releases in 2026Done by us, nothing to redeploy
Disconnections and QR re-linkingYou monitor sessions and re-scanYou monitor sessions and re-scanStatus visible in the app and the API, you re-scan from the app
Official Meta Cloud APIYes, as a second connection type (Meta fees apply)No, unofficial engines onlyNo, linked device only
Email and SMSNot built inNo, WhatsApp onlyEmail from your mailbox, SMS from your Android phone
IntegrationsTypebot, Chatwoot, Dify, OpenAI, n8n, RabbitMQ, Kafka, SQS, S3n8n, Typebot, Chatwoot, MCP, a web dashboardPython and TypeScript SDKs, n8n node, hosted MCP server, web app
Ban riskUnofficial on the Baileys side: spam gets numbers bannedUnofficial: its own docs say it is not totally safeUnofficial: spam gets numbers banned, messages are paced like a person
Where data livesYour serverYour serverOur servers in the EU

Evolution API and WAHA data from their GitHub repositories, licences, releases and docs, checked on November 9, 2026. WAHA resource figures come from its own FAQ. Ban risk exists with any unofficial WhatsApp client, self-hosted or hosted.

Related comparisonGREEN-API vs UltraMsg vs Unlimited MessagingThe hosted unofficial WhatsApp APIs side by side: price per instance, free plans, SDKs, MCP and hosting, with WAHA for reference.Read the comparison

In brief

The three at a glance

  • Evolution API

    A full-featured WhatsApp server from the Evolution Foundation in Brazil, with a large community and the widest list of integrations here. It is the only one of the three that can also drive Meta's official Cloud API. Mind the licence: Apache 2.0 plus conditions on its logo and a usage notice. The same foundation also publishes Evolution Go, a newer Go server.

    Evolution API

  • WAHA

    WhatsApp HTTP API in one Docker image, with a choice of four engines and a dashboard. Since version 2026.6.1 the paid WAHA Plus features (unlimited sessions, media, storages, security) are part of the free Core image. Its FAQ gives honest numbers: 400 MB of RAM per session with a browser engine, about 200 MB without.

    WAHA

  • Unlimited Messaging

    A hosted API: link your WhatsApp number with a QR code, connect your mailbox over IMAP/SMTP and your Android phone for SMS, then send from the REST API, the Python and TypeScript SDKs, n8n or Claude and ChatGPT through the MCP server. Free plan, then flat monthly plans, hosted in the EU.

Fair play

When is self-hosting the right call?

Running Evolution API or WAHA yourself is the better choice in several real cases. If one of these is a hard requirement, self-host.

  1. Data must never leave your infrastructure

    With a self-hosted server, messages, media and session keys stay on machines you control. A hosted API, even one in the EU, means trusting a third party with them.

  2. You already run servers for a living

    If your team has Docker, PostgreSQL, monitoring and on-call in place, one more container is cheap. The cost of self-hosting is mostly the habit, and you already have it.

  3. You link dozens or hundreds of numbers

    WAHA's own figures put 100 sessions at 4 CPU and 8 GB of RAM with its NOWEB engine. At that scale, one server you size yourself can cost less than any per-number or per-plan price.

  4. You want to modify the code

    Open source means you can patch an endpoint, add a custom integration or fork the project. A hosted API gives you what it exposes, no more.

  5. You need Meta's official Cloud API in the same server

    Evolution API can run both an unofficial Baileys connection and the official Cloud API side by side. Unlimited Messaging and WAHA only offer the linked-device route.

The hosted side

When is a hosted API the cheaper option?

For one to a few numbers, the server is the small part of the bill. The hours spent keeping WhatsApp connected are the big one.

No server, no database, no Redis

WAHA recommends 2 CPU and 4 GB of RAM even for one session; Evolution API needs PostgreSQL or MySQL. With a hosted API none of that exists on your side.

Protocol changes are not your weekend

When WhatsApp changes its web protocol, the fix ships on our side. No release notes to read, no image to pull, no migration to run.

  1. Free to start, flat after

    The Free plan costs nothing and needs no card. Medium (€19/mo) and Max (€29/mo) remove the footer and add webhooks. No per-message fee on any plan.

  2. Email and SMS in the same request

    One POST /message sends by WhatsApp, email or SMS, or by several at once. Neither Evolution API nor WAHA sends email or SMS.

  3. Your number, as with self-hosting

    You still send from your own WhatsApp number, linked as a device. Contacts see your name and photo, and replies come back to one inbox.

  4. Ready for AI assistants

    A hosted MCP server lets Claude or ChatGPT read and send messages on all three channels, without a bridge to run on your machine.

FAQ

Questions about Evolution API, WAHA and the alternatives

Sources

Sources & references

To check the information in this article for yourself:

  1. Evolution API repository (README, prerequisites, connection types, integrations)GitHub
  2. Evolution API licence (Apache 2.0 with additional conditions)GitHub
  3. Evolution API releases (2.3.7 stable, 2.4.0 release candidates)GitHub
  4. WAHA repository and releases (Apache 2.0)GitHub
  5. WAHA FAQ: how much CPU and memory does WAHA need?WAHA
  6. WAHA Plus is now part of WAHA Core (version 2026.6.1)WAHA
  7. WAHA engines: WEBJS, WPP, NOWEB, GOWSWAHA
  8. Evolution Go repositoryGitHub
  9. About linked devices (logout after 14 days without the main phone)WhatsApp Help Center
Ilian, senior software engineer

Written by

· Senior Software Engineer

A senior software engineer, he founds and runs several tech companies. He builds products around messaging APIs, automation and AI integration, and shares here what he learns while building.

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Skip the server. Keep your number.

Link your WhatsApp number with a QR code, add your mailbox or your Android phone, and send your first message by API, free to get started.

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