Your users are in San Francisco, Jakarta, São Paulo, and Sydney. They have WhatsApp open all day. They check it before they check their SMS inbox. When your app sends an OTP to their phone number, it lands in a carrier SMS thread they barely look at. When it lands in WhatsApp, they see it instantly.

In this article, you will learn:

• Why WhatsApp OTP delivers better completion rates than SMS in high-penetration markets
• How Kinde delivers phone OTPs via WhatsApp when configured, with automatic SMS fallback
• What you need before you start: Twilio account, WhatsApp Sender, Kinde Pro
• How to configure Twilio Verify with a WhatsApp Sender
• How to connect your Twilio account to Kinde
• How to enable phone authentication in your Next.js app
• How to enable WhatsApp as the delivery channel in Kinde
• How to configure SMS as the automatic fallback
• How to test the full flow before going live
• What to watch for in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia specifically

Let's dive in!

Why WhatsApp OTP Is the Right Choice for Your Market

If your users are in Europe or North America, SMS OTP is a reasonable default. Delivery is reliable, carrier infrastructure is solid, and most users check texts promptly.

If your users are in Nigeria, Kenya, Indonesia, Brazil, India, or the Philippines, the calculation is different. WhatsApp penetration in these markets is near-universal. Users across sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia treat WhatsApp as their primary communication channel. SMS sits behind it, sometimes significantly behind.

The data on this is clear. Twilio has documented that in heavy WhatsApp countries, 20 to 40 percent of users pick the WhatsApp channel when given the option for OTP delivery. More importantly, WhatsApp OTPs arrive over Wi-Fi connections. A user whose cellular data signal is weak but who is on Wi-Fi still receives the WhatsApp message instantly. SMS requires telephony connectivity. In markets where cellular data coverage is more reliable than SMS delivery, WhatsApp is not just more convenient. It is more reliable.

There is also a cost argument. WhatsApp authentication messages cost 50 to 99 percent less than SMS in most markets globally. In developing markets where SMS costs are highest, the savings are largest. At any meaningful scale, the economics strongly favor WhatsApp.

The correct production setup is WhatsApp first with automatic SMS fallback for the minority of users who do not have WhatsApp. That is exactly what Kinde gives you.

How Kinde Handles WhatsApp OTP

Kinde supports phone number as both a primary authentication method and a secondary MFA factor. When phone authentication is configured, Kinde uses Twilio to deliver OTP codes. When you configure a WhatsApp Sender in your Twilio account and connect it to Kinde, Kinde automatically prefers WhatsApp for delivery and falls back to SMS when WhatsApp is unavailable.

This is Twilio's Verify WhatsApp feature working through Kinde's phone authentication layer. You do not write any message-routing logic. Kinde and Twilio handle it. When a user enters their phone number on your sign-in screen, the OTP arrives in their WhatsApp. If they do not have WhatsApp or the delivery fails, Twilio's Verify API automatically retries via SMS.

There are a few important constraints to know before you start:

Kinde Pro is required for production phone authentication. Kinde gives you 10 free SMS test sends per month on any plan to experiment with the feature, but production phone authentication (including WhatsApp) requires upgrading to the Pro plan or above.

The OTP message format is not editable. Kinde uses a standardized SMS/WhatsApp template that complies with OTP best practices. The message arrives as: 123456 is your verification code. followed by For your security, do not share this code. No app name, no URL, no hash. The sender name shown at the top of the WhatsApp chat comes from your registered Twilio business display name, not the message body. You cannot customize the message text or format.

A Twilio business account is required. You cannot use a personal or trial Twilio account for production A2P (Application-to-Person) messaging. You need a Twilio business account with a configured phone number or Messaging Service.

10DLC registration may be required in the US. If your users are in the United States, Twilio requires 10DLC registration for SMS. Check Twilio's guidelines and A2P messaging requirements for your target countries before setting up.

What You Need Before You Start

Before touching the Kinde dashboard, have the following ready:

A Twilio business account with your Account SID and Auth Token from the Twilio Console.

A Twilio phone number or Messaging Service SID. Twilio gives you two options for identifying the sender: a specific phone number or a Messaging Service (a pool of numbers Twilio manages for deliverability). The Messaging Service is recommended for production because Twilio handles number rotation and deliverability automatically.

A WhatsApp Sender configured in Twilio. This is a WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) phone number registered with Meta and approved for authentication message templates. Twilio's Verify WhatsApp documentation walks through this process. You need Meta Business verification and an approved authentication template before WhatsApp delivery works.

A Kinde account on the Pro plan or above.

A Next.js app with the Kinde SDK installed. If you are starting fresh, the Kinde Next.js quickstart at docs.kinde.com gets you to a working auth setup in under ten minutes.

Note: You can complete the Kinde configuration and test with the 10 free SMS sends before completing the WhatsApp Sender setup in Twilio. This lets you verify the Kinde connection is working before adding WhatsApp to the mix.

Step #1: Configure Twilio for Phone and WhatsApp Delivery

Log in to your Twilio Console at console.twilio.com.

Get your credentials. From the Console Dashboard, copy your Account SID and Auth Token. Keep the Auth Token private.

Set up a Messaging Service (recommended) or phone number. If using a Messaging Service, navigate to Messaging → Services → Create Messaging Service. Give it a name, add your sender number to it, and copy the Messaging Service SID.

If using a specific Twilio phone number instead, navigate to Phone Numbers → Manage → Active numbers and copy the phone number in E.164 format (e.g. +12025551234).

Configure the WhatsApp Sender for Verify. This is the step that enables WhatsApp delivery. Navigate to Messaging → Senders → WhatsApp senders in the Twilio Console.

Select Add Sender. You will be prompted to connect a WhatsApp Business Account. This requires:

• A Meta Business Account (verified)
• A phone number registered as a WhatsApp Business number
• An approved WhatsApp authentication message template

Twilio auto-creates the authentication template in supported languages once you complete the WhatsApp Sender setup. The template uses the Copy Code format, which displays the OTP with a button users tap to copy it to their clipboard.

Note: WhatsApp Sender approval from Meta typically takes one to three business days. Plan your timeline accordingly. You can continue with the Kinde setup and test using SMS while waiting for WhatsApp approval.

Step #2: Connect Twilio to Kinde

With Twilio credentials ready, connect them to Kinde.

In your Kinde dashboard, navigate to Settings → Environment → Phone providers.

Enter your Twilio credentials:

• Account SID: from your Twilio Console dashboard
• Auth Token: from your Twilio Console dashboard
• Messaging service SID or Twilio phone number: enter whichever you set up in Step #1

If you want to use a fallback in case the primary Twilio service is interrupted, enable the fallback service option and configure a secondary provider.

Select Save.

Terrific! Kinde can now route phone OTP delivery through Twilio. The WhatsApp channel activates automatically once your WhatsApp Sender is approved in Twilio.

Step #3: Enable Phone Authentication in Kinde

With Twilio connected, turn on phone as an authentication method for your application.

Navigate to Settings → Environment → Authentication. In the Passwordless section, find the Phone tile and select Configure.

In the configuration window, toggle phone authentication on for the applications you want it active for. If you have multiple applications in your Kinde environment, you can enable it selectively per application.

Select Save.

Your sign-in screen now includes a phone number input option alongside the existing email input. Users can choose to sign in with their phone number and receive an OTP instead of entering a password or email code.

Step #4: Enable WhatsApp as the Delivery Channel

With phone authentication active and Twilio connected, the final step is confirming that WhatsApp is set as the preferred delivery channel.

In your Kinde dashboard, navigate to Settings → Environment → Phone providers. In your Twilio configuration, you will see the WhatsApp delivery option.

Enable the WhatsApp delivery option. Once enabled:

• Kinde sends the OTP via WhatsApp when the user's phone number is registered with WhatsApp
• If WhatsApp delivery fails (user does not have WhatsApp, or the delivery fails for any reason), Twilio's Verify API automatically falls back to SMS
• No code changes are needed in your application

The fallback happens silently. Your users do not see an error or need to request a retry. Twilio detects the WhatsApp delivery failure and retries via SMS automatically.

Step #5: Configure Phone Auth as MFA (Optional)

If you want to use WhatsApp OTP as a second factor rather than (or in addition to) a primary authentication method, configure it at the MFA level.

Navigate to Settings → Environment → Multi-factor auth.

In the Additional authentication methods section, toggle on SMS. Per the Kinde docs, the SMS MFA option delivers via WhatsApp when configured, with automatic fallback to SMS. The WhatsApp preference follows from your Twilio configuration in Step #4 automatically.

Set MFA to Yes (mandatory) or Optional depending on your product's security requirements:

• Yes: every user is required to set up MFA on first sign-in. For products targeting enterprise customers or handling sensitive data, this is the right default.
• Optional: users are prompted to set up MFA but can skip it. They can enable it later from their profile settings.

Note: if your primary authentication method is already phone OTP (email OTP), do not set phone SMS as the secondary MFA factor. Kinde recommends against using the same channel for both primary and secondary factors. If your primary auth is email OTP, use phone SMS or authenticator app for MFA. If your primary auth is phone OTP, use email or authenticator app for MFA.

Select Save.

Step #6: Wire Phone Authentication Into Your Next.js App

Kinde's hosted sign-in screen already includes the phone number input once you enable phone authentication. Your Next.js app does not need code changes to show the phone sign-in option. It appears automatically on the Kinde-hosted auth pages.

However, if you want to pre-fill the phone number for users coming from a known context (for example, users you have invited via phone number), use the login_hint parameter to reduce friction:

// app/api/auth/[kindeAuth]/route.ts
// Standard Kinde auth setup — no changes needed for basic WhatsApp OTP

// For login with pre-filled phone number hint:
// Pass login_hint in the authorization URL when you know the user's phone number
// This skips the phone number entry step

import { handleAuth } from "@kinde-oss/kinde-auth-nextjs/server";
export const GET = handleAuth();

For inviting users with a known phone number and pre-filling the sign-in form:

// components/PhoneInviteButton.tsx
// Pre-fills the phone number on the Kinde sign-in screen
// Useful when you know the user's phone number before they authenticate

import { LoginLink } from "@kinde-oss/kinde-auth-nextjs/components";

interface PhoneInviteButtonProps {
  phoneNumber: string; // E.164 format e.g. "+2348012345678"
}

export function PhoneInviteButton({ phoneNumber }: PhoneInviteButtonProps) {
  return (
    <LoginLink
      authUrlParams={{
        // login_hint pre-fills the identity field on the Kinde sign-in screen
        // The user sees their phone number already entered and just confirms it
        login_hint: phoneNumber,
        // connection_id routes directly to phone authentication
        // Skips the method selection screen
        connection_id: "phone",
      }}
    >
      Sign in with phone
    </LoginLink>
  );
}

For protecting API routes on the server, the existing getKindeServerSession approach works identically regardless of whether the user authenticated via email or phone:

// app/api/example/route.ts
// Phone-authenticated users produce the same session as email-authenticated users
// No changes needed to protected route logic

import { getKindeServerSession } from "@kinde-oss/kinde-auth-nextjs/server";
import { NextResponse } from "next/server";

export async function GET() {
  const { isAuthenticated, getUser } = getKindeServerSession();

  if (!(await isAuthenticated())) {
    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Unauthorized" }, { status: 401 });
  }

  const user = await getUser();

  // user.phone is populated when the user authenticated via phone number
  // user.email is populated when the user authenticated via email
  // Both may be present if the user has linked both identities

  return NextResponse.json({
    userId: user?.id,
    phone: user?.phone,
    email: user?.email,
  });
}

Amazing!

Step #7: Test the Full WhatsApp OTP Flow

Before going live, test three scenarios in your Kinde non-production environment.

Test 1: WhatsApp delivery to a WhatsApp-registered number

Enter a phone number that is registered with WhatsApp. Kinde should route the OTP through Twilio Verify to WhatsApp. The code arrives in your WhatsApp with your Twilio-registered business name as the sender.

Note: Kinde provides 10 free SMS sends per month for testing. These 10 free sends apply to SMS delivery. WhatsApp delivery tests use your Twilio Verify credits.

Test 2: Automatic SMS fallback

To test the fallback, enter a valid phone number that is not registered with WhatsApp, or temporarily disable WhatsApp in your Twilio account. Twilio Verify should detect the WhatsApp delivery failure and automatically send via SMS. The OTP code is the same in both channels.

Test 3: MFA flow (if configured)

If you have set phone SMS as an MFA factor, sign in with email OTP first. On the second factor screen, Kinde prompts for the phone-based code. Enter your phone number if not already registered, and confirm the WhatsApp delivery.

Country-Specific Notes for African and Southeast Asian Markets

Nigeria and Ghana: WhatsApp penetration is extremely high, above 90 percent of smartphone users. SMS delivery is inconsistent in some areas. WhatsApp OTP is strongly recommended as the primary channel. Twilio's A2P messaging in Nigeria requires pre-registered sender IDs. Check Twilio's Nigeria SMS guidelines before launch.

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda: WhatsApp is widely used but M-Pesa and other mobile money services mean users are accustomed to SMS-based verification from financial services. WhatsApp OTP delivers a better experience but SMS fallback is particularly important in rural areas.

Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam: Near-universal WhatsApp (and Line, in some markets) penetration. International SMS is expensive from most providers. WhatsApp OTP delivers significant cost savings at scale here.

India: WhatsApp has over 500 million users. However, Meta has implemented messaging limits for WhatsApp Business in India. Review the current Meta Business Platform limits for Indian traffic before projecting volume. Twilio's documentation covers the current limits.

Brazil: One of the highest WhatsApp penetration rates globally. WhatsApp OTP is effectively the standard for authentication flows built for Brazilian users.

For all markets: always test with real numbers in the target country before launch. Carrier behavior, number formatting requirements (always use E.164 format), and delivery timing vary by region.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

OTP not received via WhatsApp

Check that your WhatsApp Sender is approved in Twilio and that the authentication template is active. An unapproved or suspended sender silently fails delivery. Check Twilio's delivery logs for error codes. Error code 63024 from Twilio means the phone number is not associated with a WhatsApp account and the fallback to SMS should have triggered.

OTP received via SMS instead of WhatsApp

This is the expected behavior when WhatsApp delivery is not available. If you expected WhatsApp delivery but got SMS, check: Is the destination phone number registered with WhatsApp? Is the WhatsApp Sender active and approved in Twilio? Has the user blocked your business sender in WhatsApp?

"You need to enter your Twilio account details" message in Kinde

This appears when Kinde's phone authentication is configured but Twilio credentials have not been saved, or the credentials are invalid. Navigate to Settings → Environment → Phone providers and re-enter your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token.

Users in the United States not receiving SMS

US carriers require 10DLC registration for A2P SMS. If your Twilio account is not 10DLC registered for US traffic, messages to US numbers will fail. Complete 10DLC registration in Twilio before enabling phone authentication for US users.

Phone number formatting errors

Kinde and Twilio both require phone numbers in E.164 format (e.g. +2348012345678 for a Nigerian number). If users enter numbers without country codes, the OTP send will fail. Kinde's hosted sign-in screen includes a country code dropdown to help users format numbers correctly. If you are pre-filling numbers via login_hint, always format them in E.164.

Putting It All Together

Here is a summary of the full setup:

Conclusion

In this article, you connected Twilio Verify to Kinde, registered a WhatsApp Business Sender, enabled phone authentication, and configured WhatsApp as the preferred OTP delivery channel with automatic SMS fallback. Users in markets where WhatsApp dominates now receive their authentication codes in the app they check first, over Wi-Fi when needed, at a fraction of the SMS cost.

The setup is the same for phone as primary auth and as MFA. Once your Twilio credentials are in Kinde and your WhatsApp Sender is approved, the routing is handled entirely by Twilio Verify. Your application code does not change. Kinde issues the same JWT regardless of whether the OTP arrived via WhatsApp or SMS.

Kinde is free for up to 10,500 monthly active users. Phone authentication and WhatsApp OTP require the Pro plan. Create your account at kinde.com and meet your users where they already are.