Build a WhatsApp chatbot with n8n + WaSphere (self-hosted, no Meta approval)

A developer has published a quick-start guide for building a self-hosted WhatsApp chatbot by pairing the open-source workflow automation tool n8n with WaSphere, an MIT-licensed, self-hosted WhatsApp API. The setup runs on any Docker-capable VPS and avoids Meta's business verification, template approvals and per-conversation pricing, with inbound messages delivered to n8n as HMAC-SHA256-signed webhook payloads. WaSphere supports 14 message types, including text, media, polls, buttons and lists.

Want a WhatsApp chatbot without going through Meta's business verification, template approvals, and per-conversation pricing? Combine n8n the open-source workflow automation tool with WaSphere — an open-source MIT , self-hosted WhatsApp API — and you get a fully self-hosted chatbot stack on your own server. No Meta approval, no per-message platform fees, and your conversation data never leaves your infrastructure. Any VPS with Docker works. This is the actual quick start from the GitHub repo https://github.com/wasphere/wasphere : git clone https://github.com/wasphere/wasphere.git cd wasphere cp .env.example .env docker compose up -d Then open the dashboard at http://your-server:3004 , register your first admin account, set the WA Server URL to http://wa-server:3001 plus your WA TOKEN under Settings, and pair your number under Sessions by scanning the QR code. In n8n, add a Webhook node — this gives you a URL like https://your-n8n/webhook/whatsapp-in . In WaSphere, point your webhook settings at that URL. Every inbound message and status event now arrives in n8n as JSON, signed with: X-WaSphere-Signature: v1,sha256=<hmac X-WaSphere-Timestamp: <unix-seconds The signature is the HMAC-SHA256 of {timestamp}.{rawBody} with your webhook secret — verify it in a Function/Code node before trusting the payload. Route on the message text with a Switch node, look up answers in a database or an LLM call, then send the reply. Add an HTTP Request node: POST /docs/wa-server on your own instance documents every route Authorization: Bearer wsk … your WaSphere API key WaSphere supports 14 message types — text, image, video, audio, documents, stickers, location, contact, polls, buttons and lists, reactions — so your bot isn't limited to plain text. If you've been putting off WhatsApp automation because of the Meta approval maze, this is the shortcut: a self-hosted WhatsApp API plus n8n, deployed before your coffee cools.