WhatsApp guest calling lets people join encrypted calls without an account

Anyone with a link can now join a WhatsApp call

Meta has switched on guest calling in WhatsApp, letting people join an end-to-end encrypted call by simply clicking a link — no app download and no account creation required. According to The Verge, which reported the rollout on October 14, the feature is aimed at situations where a caller wants to reach someone who is not on WhatsApp at all.

The feature builds on groundwork laid earlier this year, when Meta added calling support to the web version of WhatsApp, The Verge notes. Because calls now work in a browser, a guest can join from a desktop or laptop with nothing but the link.

How guest calling works

A host with a WhatsApp account starts a call and shares the link, and the recipient clicks through to join from the web. Guests are not relegated to a stripped-down experience: The Verge reports that they get access to standard call features including hand raising, screen sharing and emoji reactions, and the entire call — guest participants included — remains end-to-end encrypted.

The account requirement applies only to hosting. Someone has to be a WhatsApp user to start a call, but nobody needs to be one to attend it.

Guardrails on guest participants

Guests do not get free rein once they click the link. The Verge outlines several restrictions Meta has placed on them: every guest must be approved by the host, entering a waiting room until they are let in, and hosts can remove a guest from the call at any time. Guests also cannot see the phone numbers of other participants, cannot send messages, and cannot add anyone else to the call directly.

The phone-number restriction is notable in itself. WhatsApp identities are built around phone numbers, and shielding them from guests means someone joining a call from outside the platform gains no visibility into who else is on it beyond their presence in the call.

Calendar integrations are on the way

Meta also said it will launch Google and Outlook calendar integrations for WhatsApp calls later this year. According to The Verge, users will install a WhatsApp plugin and connect their account, after which they can attach a WhatsApp call link to their calendar invites. The pairing of guest links with scheduled invitations points clearly at organised, possibly work-related calls rather than spontaneous chats.

Why it matters

Link-based joining became the default way people organise calls during the Zoom era, but until now WhatsApp calls required everyone present to be a WhatsApp user. Removing that requirement turns one of the world's most widely used messaging services into a general-purpose calling tool that can reach people who have never signed up, while keeping end-to-end encryption across the whole call — a combination most mainstream link-based calling services do not offer by default.

The restrictions Meta chose tell their own story. Waiting rooms, host approval and the ability to eject guests echo the anti-intrusion measures other platforms adopted after open links became an abuse vector, suggesting Meta is trying to open WhatsApp's doors without repeating those problems. And the decision to hide participants' phone numbers from guests keeps a meaningful privacy boundary around a platform whose entire identity model rests on those numbers.

Taken together with the upcoming Google and Outlook integrations, the move signals that Meta wants WhatsApp to compete not just with chat rivals but with scheduled-call tools as well — using its enormous existing user base and default encryption as the differentiator.