WhatsApp 24-Hour Rule: When Can You Message Customers?

Most businesses that move to the WhatsApp Business API get stuck in the same place in the first week: "I want to message the customer but the message won't go through." The cause is often the WhatsApp 24-hour rule. In its official documentation, Meta calls it the customer service window. The rule is simple. But if you don't know the details, you lose customers and wrestle with templates for no reason.

What exactly does the WhatsApp 24-hour rule say?

When a customer sends your business a WhatsApp message or calls you, a 24-hour timer starts. During that time you can write to them however you like: plain text, images, files, location, messages with buttons. Meta calls these "service messages" and doesn't require prior approval.

When the timer ends, the door closes. From then on you can only reach the customer with template messages that Meta has approved in advance. In short: free-form messages are for replying, not for taking the first step.

When does the window open and when does it close?

Every new customer message resets the timer

The customer's message opens the window. Each time the customer sends a new message or calls, the clock goes back to 24 hours. Messages you send don't extend it.

Let's look at an example. The customer wrote at 10:00 a.m., you replied at 3:00 p.m., and they didn't write again. The window closes the next day at 10:00 a.m., not at 3:00 p.m.

You can't open the window yourself

There's a misunderstanding we see often. Some businesses think that sending a template earns them 24 hours of free-form messaging. It doesn't. If the customer replies to your template, the window opens only at that moment.

One more detail: the window works on the relationship between your number and the customer. It doesn't matter which agent uses the number. Everyone sees the same window.

If the window has closed, how do you write to the customer?

There's only one way: a template message. You prepare the template in advance, submit it for Meta's approval, and use it whenever you like once it's approved. You can personalize it with variables like a name or order number, and add buttons and links.

Meta splits templates into three categories:

• Marketing: campaigns, discounts, new product announcements, win-back messages.
• Utility: information about an action the customer took, such as an order confirmation, shipping status or appointment reminder.
• Authentication: one-time login and verification codes.

Choosing the wrong category is one of the common reasons templates get rejected. We went through what to watch for when preparing them in our article Why WhatsApp templates get rejected.

The WhatsApp 24-hour rule with practical examples

Example 1: A product question, answered the same day

A clothing store gets the message "Do you have this jacket in size L?" on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. The agent replies at 11:20, sends a photo and shares the payment link. Each time the customer writes, the timer renews. No template is needed.

Example 2: A message that arrives on Friday evening

The customer writes on Friday at 7:00 p.m., and the team starts work on Monday at 9:00 a.m. The window closed on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. You can no longer send a free-form message like "Hello, we're getting back to you about your question on Friday." You need an approved template. If the customer replies to the template, a new window opens and the chat returns to its normal flow.

This is the scenario where the most customers are lost. Having a bot give the first reply outside business hours is the most practical way not to waste the window.

Example 3: Order and shipping notification

The customer bought from your site but never wrote to you on WhatsApp. There's no open window. So the order confirmation and shipping information go out as an approved template in the utility category.

Example 4: Campaign announcement

You're announcing a holiday discount. There are hundreds of people on your list, and most of them haven't written to you in the last 24 hours. You make this send with a marketing template, and only to people who have given permission.

Is there a 72-hour difference for customers who come from an ad?

There is, but only on the pricing side. When a customer writes to you from an ad that leads to WhatsApp or from a call-to-action button on your Facebook page, using the WhatsApp app on their phone, and you reply within 24 hours, Meta opens a 72-hour free entry point window. Messages you send during this time aren't charged.

The point to note: the 72 hours don't extend the free-form messaging time. To write free-form, you still have 24 hours from the customer's last message. After that time is up, you can write for free with a template for the rest of the 72 hours.

What changed on the pricing side in 2026?

What you can send inside the window hasn't changed. The price of some messages has. According to Meta's developer documentation, from October 1, 2026, utility templates sent inside the window are also counted among the charged messages. For service messages, a monthly free allowance has been set.

Unit prices vary by country and message category, and Meta updates them from time to time. That's why we don't give a figure here. The current table is on Meta's WhatsApp pricing page. Chatopya adds no commission to the template message fee, and whatever Meta's unit price is passes through to you. Before a campaign, we work out the estimated cost together with you. For packages, see the pricing page.

What can you do to avoid missing the window?

The window is 24 hours. A customer's patience for waiting is usually even shorter. To make good use of this time in Chatopya, we suggest this setup:

• Give the first reply quickly. The AI answers frequent questions around the clock from your business's own information. It also hands a conversation it can't resolve to an agent along with the chat history.
• Define business hours. In the Bot Center you set business hours and the handover rule. That way a message that arrives outside hours doesn't go unanswered.
• Bring the team together on one number. Several agents use the same number, and chats are assigned and handed over. One person being on leave doesn't make you miss the window.
• Prepare templates in advance. You create follow-up, order, shipping and appointment templates in the dashboard and submit them for Meta's approval. We prepare the content with you so it follows the rules. Order, shipping and appointment notifications are also triggered automatically from the integration.
• Keep permissions on record. Consent records, opt-out requests and send history are stored in the dashboard.

You can see the details of the bot and agent setup on our WhatsApp customer service and AI chatbot page.

Frequently asked questions