evolution-api
Open-source REST API for WhatsApp and multi-channel messaging.
About evolution-api
Evolution API is a self-hostable, open-source backend service that enables WhatsApp integration via a RESTful interface. It supports message sending, receiving, and management across WhatsApp and other channels as part of the Evolution Foundation ecosystem.
The tool is designed for developers and teams needing programmatic access to WhatsApp Business capabilities without relying on proprietary cloud APIs. It integrates with infrastructure components like RabbitMQ, Pusher, and Typebot, and is compatible with automation platforms such as n8n and Chatwoot.
It is not a frontend application or end-user chatbot itself, but a foundational API layer used to build custom chatbots, CRM integrations, and customer support workflows.
Key Features
- REST API for WhatsApp message sending and receiving
- Support for multi-channel messaging beyond WhatsApp
- Self-hostable architecture with RabbitMQ and Pusher integrations
- Compatibility with n8n, Chatwoot, and Typebot for workflow automation
- Built-in support for OpenAI and Dify for AI-powered message handling
- WebSocket and real-time event notifications
- Webhook-based inbound/outbound message routing
Pros & Cons
Pros
- • Fully open-source and self-hostable, giving full control over data and infrastructure
- • Designed for extensibility and integration with popular low-code and AI tools
- • Actively maintained with strong community adoption (9.5k+ GitHub stars)
Cons
- • Requires technical expertise to deploy and maintain (no managed cloud offering)
- • No official documentation on licensing — license type is unspecified in available material
- • No built-in UI; intended as a backend API, not an end-user application