WhatsApp’s 24-hour rule, explained for business owners

By the Lazga team · 3 November 2026 · 4 min read

If your business uses the WhatsApp Business Platform, directly or through a provider, one rule shapes everything you can send. Many owners only meet it when a message refuses to go out.

The rule

When a customer messages or calls you, a 24-hour timer starts. Meta calls it the customer service window. If they write or call again before it ends, it goes back to 24 hours.

While it’s open, you can send normal messages: text, photos, video, documents, locations, buttons.
Once it closes, you can only send templates that Meta has approved in advance.

Either way, you can only message people who have opted in to hearing from you.

What this looks like on a normal day

A customer asks about a large booking on Friday at 10 p.m. The window is open until Saturday at 10 p.m. Your team sees the message on Sunday morning. Now nobody can simply type a reply. You need an approved template to restart the conversation, and a template is a poor way to answer a specific question.

The rule rewards answering quickly. The window is measured in hours, not working days.

Templates come in three kinds

Meta sorts templates by purpose:

Marketing: promotions, such as a weekend offer.
Utility: transactional or informational messages, such as an order update.
Authentication: identity checks, such as a login code.

Each one is written and approved ahead of time, with blanks for details like the order number. Don’t leave this until the day you need one. Write the few you know you’ll use, such as an order update and a booking reminder, and get them approved early.

What it costs now

This changed recently, so older guides may be wrong. According to Meta:

Messages from customers to you are never charged.
Since 1 July 2025, Meta has charged per message, and only when the message is delivered.
The rate depends on the message’s category and the country code of the person receiving it.
Since 1 October 2026, replies inside the window are charged again. Each business number gets 1,000 delivered service messages free per month. Utility templates sent inside an open window are charged too.

So “replies inside the 24 hours are free” is no longer the whole story. Check Meta’s current rate card for your country rather than relying on a number you saw somewhere.

If you run your own connection to the platform, also check that a payment method is on file. Meta said it would stop delivering service messages for accounts without one from 1 October 2026.

People who arrive from a Click to WhatsApp ad

There is one useful exception. When someone messages you through a Click to WhatsApp ad on Meta’s Android or iOS app, and you reply inside the customer service window, a free entry point window opens. It can stay open for up to seven days, and marketing, utility, authentication and service messages sent during it aren’t charged.

This rule doesn’t apply to the WhatsApp Business app

If you reply by hand from the WhatsApp Business app, none of this applies. Meta says messages from the app are free and aren’t subject to the window.

For one person with one phone, the app may be all you need. The platform is what you move to when you want an AI agent answering, an inbox for several staff, or automatic order updates.

Sending less is part of the rule

WhatsApp may limit how many marketing templates a person receives, based on signals like how recently they’ve been reading such messages. Marketing messages sent inside an open window don’t count towards that limit. A broadcast to people who have stopped reading may simply not reach them, and you can’t buy your way around that.

Five habits that follow from all this

Answer inside the window, including evenings and weekends, which is when many customers write.
Ask customers before you message them. Keep a record of who agreed.
Get your common templates approved before you need them.
Send marketing to people who want it, not to everyone you’ve ever spoken to.
Check your country’s rate card when you plan a broadcast.

How this works with Lazga

Lazga’s agent replies when the message arrives, so the customer gets an answer while the window is open, at any hour. Order updates for customers whose chat has gone quiet go out through WhatsApp-approved templates. Before a broadcast is sent, Lazga shows you what it will cost and asks you to confirm. See what’s included in each plan.