WhatsApp Message Templates: Categories, Rules and Examples
WhatsApp message templates are pre-approved messages a business uses to message customers outside the 24-hour customer service window. Every template is classed as marketing, utility or authentication, goes through Meta’s review before you can send it, and is charged per delivered message. Below are the rules, the reasons templates get rejected, and nine examples you can adapt.
When you need a template
The 24-hour customer service window opens each time a customer messages or calls you. While it is open, you can reply with any free-form message. Once it closes, the only way to message that customer is with an approved template.
That makes templates the tool for anything you start: order and delivery updates, appointment reminders, payment reminders, one-time codes, and offers to customers who opted in. Replies to a customer who just wrote to you do not need one.
The three categories
| Category | What it is for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Utility | Updates about something the customer already did or agreed to. | Order confirmation, delivery update, appointment reminder, payment reminder. |
| Marketing | Promotion, offers, new products, re-engagement. Also any mixed or unclear message. | Sale announcement, back in stock, win-back offer. |
| Authentication | One-time codes that confirm a customer’s identity. | Login code, account verification code. |
Meta classes mixed or unclear content as marketing. Since 9 April 2025, Meta can also re-categorise an approved template by default if it decides the content belongs in another category.
Source: Meta, Template categorization, checked 31 October 2026.
Review, rejection and quality
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Review time | A decision can take up to 24 hours. |
| Statuses | In review, rejected, active (quality pending, high, medium or low), paused and disabled. |
| Common rejection reasons | Malformed or non-sequential variables, a variable at the very start or end of the text, commerce or business policy breaches, abusive content, text that is too long, and duplicates of an existing template. |
| Appeals | A rejected template can be appealed with a sample. The decision comes within 24 hours. |
| Quality rating | Green, yellow, red or unknown, based on customer feedback. Yellow can lead to the template being paused. A paused template cannot be sent. |
| How many you can hold | 250 per account if unverified, up to 6,000 when verified with an approved display name. Templates unused for 12 months are archived. |
| Marketing frequency | WhatsApp may cap how many marketing templates one person receives. |
Source: Meta, Template review, Template quality and Message templates, checked 31 October 2026.
Our template approval guide covers the review step by step.
What templates cost
Meta charges per delivered template message, by category and by the recipient’s country. Marketing templates have a fixed rate per message with no free allowance or volume tiers. Utility and authentication templates get volume tiers per market, which reset monthly.
From 1 October 2026, utility templates sent inside an open customer service window are also charged. The one exception is the free entry point window after a customer messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on the Android or iOS app. If you reply within 24 hours, templates are free in that window for up to 7 days from your reply. Rates vary by country and are set in Meta’s rate cards.
Nine example templates
Each example keeps its variables in order and never starts or ends the text with one. Swap in your own wording, and submit each with sample values. Variables are shown as {{1}}, {{2}} and so on, with example values in brackets.
- Order confirmation (utility): Hi {{1}} (Sarah), thanks for your order {{2}} (#10482). We are packing it now and will message you when it ships.
- Delivery update (utility): Good news {{1}} (Sarah), your order {{2}} (#10482) is out for delivery today. Reply here if you need to change anything.
- Appointment reminder (utility): Hi {{1}} (Daniel), this is a reminder of your appointment on {{2}} (Tuesday 4 November at 3pm). Reply YES to confirm or RESCHEDULE to pick another time.
- Payment reminder (utility): Hi {{1}} (Mei Ling), invoice {{2}} (INV-2291) for {{3}} (US$240) is due on {{4}} (14 November). You can pay by replying to this message.
- Booking deposit request (utility): Hi {{1}} (Arjun), your booking for {{2}} (Saturday 8 November) is held. Please pay the deposit of {{3}} (US$20) to confirm it. Reply here and we will send the link.
- Back in stock (marketing): Hi {{1}} (Priya), the {{2}} (linen shirt in navy) you asked about is back in stock. Reply SHOW to see sizes, or STOP to stop these messages.
- Sale announcement (marketing): Hi {{1}} (Tom), our end-of-season sale starts on {{2}} (Friday). Members get early access for 24 hours. Reply STOP to stop these messages.
- Win-back offer (marketing): Hi {{1}} (Aisha), it has been a while since your last visit. Book this month and get {{2}} (15% off your next treatment). Reply BOOK to see times.
- Review request (marketing): Hi {{1}} (James), thank you for visiting {{2}} (Harbour Dental). Could you tell us how it went? Reply with a number from 1 to 5.
Authentication templates are for one-time codes only. When you create one, WhatsApp Manager shows the wording it allows, so start there instead of writing your own.
Meta decides the final category. A review request is close to the line, so expect Meta to treat it as marketing if it reads as promotion.
What this means for your business
Every message you start costs money and needs a template, so plan your templates around the moments that matter: order updates, reminders and payments first, offers second. Keep utility templates free of promotion, or Meta will class them as marketing and charge the marketing rate.
Quality is the other cost. Negative feedback from customers pushes a template’s rating towards yellow or red, and a paused template stops every reminder that uses it. Send marketing only to customers who opted in, and give them a clear way to stop.
Since replies to customers who write first need no template, a business that answers well inside the window sends fewer templates overall.
How AeroChat handles it
You can write a template in AeroChat, submit it to Meta for review, and see its status and any rejection reason in the dashboard. Templates you already have approved in WhatsApp Manager are brought into AeroChat, so you do not rebuild them. Broadcasts to opted-in customers are on the Growth plan and up.
Templates start the conversation, and the workflow handles the reply. A customer who answers a reminder can confirm or move the slot through reschedule and cancel. A reply to a payment reminder can get a link through payment reminders and collection. See also broadcasts to opted-in customers and opt-in and opt-out handling, with contacts kept in step in tools such as Klaviyo.
Questions
Do I need a template to reply to a customer?
No. When a customer messages you, the 24-hour customer service window opens and you can reply freely. You need a template only to message a customer after that window has closed.
Are WhatsApp templates free?
No. Meta charges per delivered template message, by category and country. Marketing templates have no free allowance. Since 1 October 2026, utility templates inside an open window are charged too. Templates are free only inside the free entry point window after a click-to-WhatsApp ad.
Can Meta change my template’s category?
Yes. Since 9 April 2025 Meta can re-categorise an approved template by default. Mixed or unclear content is classed as marketing, so keep utility templates to the update itself.
How many templates can I have?
Up to 250 per account if your business is unverified, and up to 6,000 once you are verified with an approved display name. Templates you have not used for 12 months are archived.
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Related guides: WhatsApp template approval and WhatsApp API pricing.