What is the WhatsApp 24-hour window?
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The 24-hour window is the period in which you can reply to a customer on WhatsApp Business with free-form messages, without a template. It opens when the customer sends you a message or calls you, and restarts the 24-hour count with each new message from them. When it closes, you can only write to them with templates approved by Meta.
Rules and prices checked on October 14, 2026 in the official Meta documentation. This window applies to the WhatsApp Business API, used by tools such as Manychat. Meta calls it the "customer service window".
When does the window open and close?
The window opens when the customer writes to you or calls you on WhatsApp. From that moment you have 24 hours to reply with free-form messages. If the customer writes again before the window closes, the counter restarts at 24 hours.
An example:
- The customer writes on Monday at 10:00. The window stays open until Tuesday at 10:00.
- You reply at 11:00 and the customer writes again at 18:00. The window now closes on Tuesday at 18:00.
- The customer does not write again. On Tuesday at 18:01 you can no longer send free-form messages.
Your messages do not reopen the window. Only the customer's message or call reopens it.
What can you send inside the window?
With the window open you can send any type of free-form message:
- text, audio, video, documents and stickers;
- contacts and locations;
- interactive messages, such as reply buttons, forms (WhatsApp Flows) and location requests;
- reactions to customer messages.
You can also send templates inside the window. You can use automation or an AI assistant to reply, as long as the customer has a way to reach a person: handoff in the conversation, phone, email, form or your website. The guide on the Meta rules for chatbots details these obligations.
What can you send outside the window?
Only templates. These are messages you write in advance and submit to Meta for approval. Each template has a category:
- Marketing: promotions, news, event invitations.
- Utility: appointment reminders, payment confirmations, order updates.
- Authentication: verification codes.
Outside the window these rules also apply:
- You can only contact people who gave you their number and authorized receiving messages from you on WhatsApp.
- A new business portfolio can only send templates outside the window to 250 different people in each 24-hour period. The limit can rise to 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited, depending on the quality of your templates and the volume you send.
- Meta rates the quality of each template (green, yellow or red) based on blocks, reports and read rate. A template with many negative reactions can be paused or disabled.
How does the window for ads that open WhatsApp work?
When a customer arrives through a Meta ad that opens a conversation on WhatsApp (click-to-WhatsApp) or through the action button on your Facebook page, Meta opens a second window, called the free entry point window. The conditions are these:
- The customer writes from the WhatsApp app on Android or iOS. Desktop and web versions do not count.
- You reply within the 24 hours of the customer service window.
- Your reply is not charged and opens the free entry point window from that moment.
While this window is open, Meta does not charge marketing, utility, authentication or service messages. Replies from Meta Business Agent, Meta's AI assistant, continue to be charged.
How long does it last? The free entry point window stays open for 72 hours from your reply. During this period you can send any type of message, including templates, with no delivery cost.
The two windows are independent. Even with the free entry point window open, if the customer has not written for more than 24 hours you can only send templates. The difference is that those templates are not charged.
How much does each message cost in each window?
Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges service messages and utility templates sent within the 24-hour window. For customers with Portuguese numbers, the prices in euros are these:
| Situation | What you can send | Cost per delivered message |
|---|---|---|
| 24-hour window open | Free-form messages and templates | Service: free for the first 1,000 of the month, then €0.0142. Templates: category rate. |
| 24-hour window closed | Templates only | Marketing €0.049. Utility and authentication €0.0142. |
| Free entry point window open (ads) | Depending on the state of the 24-hour window | €0, except Meta Business Agent replies. |
The WhatsApp Business API pricing guide has the full table and calculation examples.
How to use the window without overpaying?
- Reply while the window is open. A free-form reply within the 24 hours costs €0.0142 after the 1,000 free ones. Outside the window, a marketing message costs €0.049.
- Put the information in one message. Each delivered message counts toward the free limit and, after it, toward the invoice.
- End with a question when it makes sense. If the customer replies, the window reopens for another 24 hours.
- Choose utility for reminders. An appointment reminder approved as utility costs less than a third of a marketing template.
- Reply fast to customers who come from ads. If you pass the 24 hours, you lose the free entry point window.
What happens if you try to reply after 24 hours?
Meta does not deliver the free-form message. To resume the conversation, you have to send an approved template and wait for the customer to reply, which opens a new 24-hour window. The guide how to connect Manychat to WhatsApp explains the setup.
