WhatsApp now lets people without an account join calls via a link 🔗

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WhatsApp is widening what its audio and video calls can do. Meta’s messaging app now lets people without an account join a call through a link, straight from their computer’s web browser. In practice, that removes the need for a WhatsApp account, and therefore a phone number, to take part in a call. The company also plans to add calendar tools to make online meetings easier to organize.

One link is all it takes to join a WhatsApp call 🔗💻

Until now, joining a WhatsApp call meant having an account on the platform. Today, the organizer opens the Calls tab, taps the “+” icon and creates a link to share with whoever they choose.

For guests, the process is just as simple. They open the link in their computer’s browser, enter their name and wait in a lobby until the organizer lets them in. It works for one-to-one calls and group calls alike, with a cap of 32 participants.

That said, the opening-up has limits. Someone without a WhatsApp account can join a call but can’t start one: they need an invitation and must wait for the organizer’s approval. The organizer can also remove them at any time. Guests can’t see other participants’ phone numbers, send written messages or add new people to the call either.

Core call features still work 🔐🎥

Despite those restrictions, guest mode covers several essential WhatsApp call features. Participants can share their screen, react with emojis, and use the thumbs-up and raised-hand buttons to ask for the floor.

Calls also remain free and end-to-end encrypted, with no time limit, so conversations won’t be cut off by a timer.

With this update, WhatsApp edges closer to videoconferencing services like Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, which already let people join meetings through links. The idea isn’t new, either: Apple has long offered something similar with FaceTime, which lets people without an account or an Apple device join a call via a link.

Google Calendar and Outlook are next 📅🌐

Beyond account-free calls, WhatsApp is working on another feature aimed at simplifying how online meetings get organized. By the end of the year, the platform plans to roll out a calendar add-on. Once installed and linked to a user’s account, it is expected to let them drop a WhatsApp call link straight into an invitation created in Google Calendar or Outlook.

Invitees will then be able to join the meeting whether or not they have a WhatsApp account. The integration could make the app easier to use in a professional setting, by cutting the steps needed to organize a meeting and invite people from outside the platform.

WhatsApp keeps building out its web experience 💻📲

The update is part of a string of improvements to WhatsApp’s services. In late July 2026, the app had already launched audio and video calls on WhatsApp Web, including call handoff between devices, a waiting room and dedicated group-call controls.

Alongside that, the platform has introduced usernames that let people hide their phone number, opened sign-ups on iPad and prepared scheduled messages. Taken together, these changes show WhatsApp gradually expanding beyond classic messaging.

Letting people without accounts join calls, combined with the upcoming calendar integration, strengthens WhatsApp’s position in online communications, a market where ease of access and simple meeting setup matter a great deal.

Would you use WhatsApp calls for work meetings or video conferences, even with people who don’t have an account? Tell us in the comments.