A WhatsApp message template is a message with a fixed format that Meta reviews and approves before your business can send it. You need one when you message a customer first, or when more than 24 hours have passed since their last message. Every template has a category (marketing, utility or authentication), and that category decides what each send costs.
Why templates exist
When a customer messages or calls your business, a 24-hour customer service window starts. If they write again before it ends, the clock resets to 24 hours. While the window is open, your business can reply with free-form messages (text, images, audio, video, documents, location, buttons and lists) with no prior approval.
Once the window closes, you can only send approved templates. That rule separates a conversation the customer started from a message your business starts. In both cases the customer must have opted in to hear from you. If you are weighing the app against the API, see WhatsApp Business app vs API. For consent and sending to many contacts, see the guide on WhatsApp bulk messages.
The three categories, with examples
Meta requires every template to have a category. Here is how each one looks in a hotel, a real estate developer and an online store:
Marketing
Promote and sell
The most flexible category: promotions, retargeting, news and customer relationships. If a template mixes content or its purpose is unclear, Meta treats it as marketing.
- Hotel: an offer for an extra night on your next stay.
- Real estate: a notice that a new phase of the project launched.
- E-commerce: an abandoned cart reminder with a coupon.
Utility
Tell the customer what they asked for
It cannot be promotional. It has to be specific to the customer, because they requested it or need it: a booking, a purchase, an appointment.
- Hotel: a booking confirmation with the check-in time.
- Real estate: a reminder of the visit to the show apartment.
- E-commerce: a notice that your order has shipped.
Authentication
One-time codes
The only category allowed for verification codes. It carries a code button and allows no links, media or emojis.
- Hotel: a code to enter the guest portal.
- Real estate: a code to access the buyer portal.
- E-commerce: a code to confirm a login.
A common mistake is adding a coupon to an order confirmation. That message stops being utility and Meta treats it as marketing, the most expensive category.
What a template is made of
Only the body is required. Everything else is optional:
- Header: text of up to 60 characters with one variable, or an image, video, GIF, document or location.
- Body: up to 1,024 characters.
- Footer: text only, up to 60 characters.
- Buttons: up to 10 in total. That can be up to 10 quick replies, up to 2 links, 1 call button and 1 copy-code button.
Variables are the data that changes on each send: the name, the booking date, the order number. They can be named ({{customer_name}}, lowercase with underscores) or positional ({{1}}, {{2}}, the default format). When you create the template you must provide an example value for each variable.
How approval works
Review is automatic, when you create or edit a template. A template in review can take up to 24 hours, and only approved templates can be sent. These are the statuses you will see in WhatsApp Manager:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| In review | Meta is evaluating it. It cannot be sent. |
| Rejected | It was not approved. |
| Active | Approved. It carries a quality rating: high, medium, low or pending. |
| Paused | Meta paused it because of repeated negative feedback or low read rates. It cannot be sent. |
| Disabled | Meta turned it off. It cannot be sent. |
| Appeal requested | You asked for the decision to be reviewed. |
A low-quality template is in danger of being paused or disabled soon. You protect quality by sending only to people who expect the message.
When Meta changes the category
If you submit a template as utility and Meta judges it to be marketing, it is approved as marketing and billed as marketing. If it was already approved as utility and Meta moves it to marketing, you get 1 day of notice; if you were already warned about misuse, the change is immediate. The status stays approved and you have 60 days to appeal in Business Support Home. The notice arrives by email, as an icon in the template manager and as the template_category_update webhook if you use the API.
If Meta moves a marketing or utility template to authentication, the category does not change and the template is rejected on the first day of the following month.
If Meta finds misuse of the utility category, it sends a written warning first. If it continues, it can cap your utility volume, turn your utility templates into marketing and block creating new ones for 7 days (30 if it happens again).
Quantity limits
With an unverified portfolio you can have up to 250 templates per messaging account. With a verified business and at least one number with an approved display name, up to 6,000. You can create at most 100 per hour per messaging account.
What each category costs
Meta charges per delivered message, based on the category and the customer’s country (the calling code of the destination number, not where your business is). These are the rates in US dollars per message, in force from 1 October 2026 and checked on 30 September 2026:
| Customer’s country | Marketing | Utility | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | US$0.0125 | US$0.0008 | US$0.0008 |
| Mexico | US$0.0397 | US$0.0085 | US$0.0085 |
| Argentina | US$0.0618 | US$0.0260 | US$0.0260 |
| Chile | US$0.0889 | US$0.0200 | US$0.0200 |
| Peru | US$0.0703 | US$0.0300 | US$0.0300 |
| Brazil | US$0.0625 | US$0.0068 | US$0.0068 |
Two changes from 1 October show in the table: Mexico raised marketing from US$0.0305 to US$0.0397, and Peru raised utility and authentication from US$0.0200 to US$0.0300. On utility and authentication, Meta also applies volume tiers by market, and only charged messages count toward them.
Utility inside an open window
Until 30 September 2026, a utility template sent while the 24-hour window was open was free. Since 1 October it is charged. The same goes for service messages, the free-form replies inside the window: each number gets 1,000 free per month and charging starts at the 1,001st. If your flow sends confirmations while the customer is chatting with your chatbot, those now add up.
To turn these rates into a monthly total for your volume and your country, use the WhatsApp API cost calculator. For the full picture of what a chatbot costs, read how much a WhatsApp chatbot costs (Spanish).
How to write templates that get approved
- An honest category. If there is an offer, it is marketing. Disguising it as utility only gets it re-categorised.
- Real examples in every variable. They are required when you create the template.
- One purpose per template. Mixing a notice with a promotion makes it marketing.
- Send only to people who expect it. Low quality and pauses come from negative feedback and low read rates.
- Watch marketing frequency. WhatsApp can limit how many marketing templates each person receives. If a send fails for that reason, the error is 131049 and you should wait at least 24 hours before retrying.
If your chatbot uses artificial intelligence, Meta’s rules are in the guide on AI chatbots on WhatsApp and Meta’s rules. A chatbot replies with free-form messages inside the window and needs templates when your business writes first or when the 24-hour window has closed, for example at a hotel, a real estate developer or an online store.
How Manoflow helps
Manoflow is an AI chatbot for WhatsApp that hands over to a person on your team when needed, with a shared inbox in the dashboard. Meta fees are charged at cost, with no markup. If you want to review which messages your business should send, book a call.