Meta's rules decide what any WhatsApp tool can do — the 24-hour window, template approval, quality ratings. These pages explain the mechanics, so you can judge any platform against them, including this one.
Meta changes prices, tiers and category rules regularly, so these pages describe how things work rather than quoting figures that go stale. For current numbers, go to Meta's own documentation.
What is the WhatsApp 24-hour window?
The 24-hour window is the period after a customer messages your business during which you can reply with free-form messages. It opens each time the customer sends you a message and closes 24 hours after their most recent one. Outside it, you can only send a template Meta has approved.
Read moreWhat is a WhatsApp message template and why does it need approval?
A WhatsApp message template is a pre-written message, reviewed and approved by Meta before you can send it, that lets a business start a conversation outside the 24-hour window. Templates contain placeholders you fill in per recipient, so one approved template serves every customer.
Read moreWhat is the WhatsApp quality rating and how do I keep it green?
The quality rating is Meta's score for how recipients react to messages from your number, shown as green, yellow or red. It is driven mainly by blocks and reports. A falling rating reduces how many people you can message per day, and a red rating can restrict the number entirely.
Read moreDo customers need to opt in before I message them on WhatsApp?
Yes. Meta requires that people have opted in before a business sends them template messages, and separately your local privacy law may require its own consent. Opt-in can be collected anywhere — a form, a checkout, a website widget, or the customer messaging you first — but you must be able to show it was given.
Read moreWhat is the difference between the WhatsApp Business app and the API?
The WhatsApp Business app is a free phone app for one person managing one number. The Cloud API is an interface other software connects to, so a team can share one number, automate replies and message at scale. The app has an interface; the API does not — you use it through a platform.
Read moreHow do I get the green tick on WhatsApp?
The green tick marks an Official Business Account, granted by Meta to brands it considers notable. It is not something you buy or unlock by verifying your business — Meta decides, largely on whether the brand has meaningful third-party press coverage. Most businesses will not get one, and it changes nothing about what you can send.
Read moreWhat are WhatsApp messaging limits and how do you increase them?
A messaging limit is the number of unique customers your business number can start a conversation with in a rolling 24 hours. It applies only to conversations you initiate — replies inside an open customer service window are not counted and are never capped. Numbers start on the lowest tier and move up automatically as you send more without your quality rating falling.
Read moreWhy was my WhatsApp template rejected?
Most rejections come from one of four things: the template does not match the category it was submitted under, it contains a variable with no sample or a variable doing work the text should do, it reads as promotional while claiming to be a utility message, or it breaks a formatting rule such as starting or ending with a variable. Meta returns a reason with the rejection, and fixing the text is faster than appealing it.
Read moreWhat is the difference between a WhatsApp broadcast and a group?
A broadcast sends the same message to many people as separate one-to-one chats: nobody sees the other recipients, and replies come back privately to you. A group puts everyone into one shared conversation where all members see each other’s numbers and every reply. For messaging customers, a broadcast is almost always what you want and a group almost never is.
Read moreHow does WhatsApp Business API pricing work?
Meta charges the business, not the customer, and the price depends on the category of what you send and the country of the number you send it to. Categories carry different rates because they carry different value: marketing costs more than utility or authentication. Customer-initiated conversations — where someone messages you first and you reply — are the cheapest case, and replying inside the service window has been free under every version of the pricing model so far.
Read moreWhat is the difference between the WhatsApp Cloud API and the On-Premises API?
The Cloud API is hosted by Meta: you call their endpoint and they run the infrastructure. The On-Premises API was a container you hosted and maintained yourself. New integrations use the Cloud API — it is free to access, receives features first, and removes the hosting work — and Meta has been retiring the On-Premises version.
Read moreWhat phone number can you use for the WhatsApp Business API?
You need a number you control, that can receive a verification code by SMS or voice call, and that is not currently active on the WhatsApp consumer app or the WhatsApp Business app. A landline works as long as it can take the verification call. Once a number is registered to the Business Platform it can no longer be used in either phone app.
Read moreWhat are WhatsApp template categories, and how do you choose the right one?
Meta sorts every message template into one of three categories: Marketing, Utility or Authentication. The category is decided by what the message does for the recipient, not by what you call it, and it determines both what you are charged and how strictly the template is reviewed. Marketing is the broadest and most expensive; Utility covers messages about a transaction the customer already entered into; Authentication is for one-time passcodes only.
Read moreWhat is Meta Business Verification and do you need it for WhatsApp?
Business verification is Meta confirming your business is a real legal entity, using documents like a certificate of incorporation or a utility bill in the business name. It is separate from the green tick and from your quality rating. You can start on the WhatsApp Business Platform without it, but you stay on the lowest messaging limits until it is done.
Read moreWhat happens when customers block or report your WhatsApp business number?
Blocks and reports are the main input to your quality rating. As that rating falls, Meta lowers your messaging limit — so the practical cost of annoying people is not lost goodwill, it is a hard cap on how many people you can reach at all. A number that keeps collecting them ends up restricted.
Read moreCan several people answer the same WhatsApp business number?
Not on the WhatsApp Business app in any workable way — it is built around one phone, and linked devices mirror that phone rather than giving anyone their own account. On the WhatsApp Business Platform the number is not tied to a handset at all, so any number of agents can work it through a shared inbox, each with their own login.
Read moreHow do WhatsApp click-to-chat links (wa.me) work?
A click-to-chat link opens a WhatsApp conversation with your number without the person having to save it as a contact. The format is https://wa.me/<number>, where the number is in full international form with no plus sign, spaces, brackets or dashes. Adding ?text= pre-fills a message they can edit before sending.
Read moreHow do WhatsApp QR codes work for a business?
A WhatsApp QR code is a click-to-chat link in printable form. Scanning it opens a conversation with your number, optionally with a message pre-filled. It contains no data beyond that link, which is why any QR generator can make one from a wa.me URL.
Read moreHow do WhatsApp away messages and greeting messages work?
Away messages and greeting messages are features of the WhatsApp Business app, configured on the phone. They do not exist on the WhatsApp Business Platform — there is no equivalent setting, because the Platform is an API and expects the software connected to it to decide what to reply. The behaviour is easy to reproduce, but you build it rather than switch it on.
Read moreWhat is the difference between WhatsApp labels and CRM tags?
Labels are a feature of the WhatsApp Business app: a small fixed number of coloured markers applied to chats on one phone. CRM tags are records in a database, unlimited, shared across a team, and usable as an audience for sending. Labels do not transfer when a number moves to the Business Platform.
Read moreWhat are WhatsApp Flows?
Flows are Meta’s way of putting a structured, form-like experience inside a WhatsApp chat — screens with inputs the customer fills in without leaving the conversation. They are built and hosted through Meta’s tooling, and they are a genuinely different thing from sending messages, which is why not every tool supports them.
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