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Most of what you can and cannot do on WhatsApp is decided by Meta, not by us. Reading this section once will save you a rejected template, a paused number, or a campaign that costs three times what you expected.
Where a rule comes from matters. If a limit is ours, we can change it. If it is Meta’s, nobody in this building can — and the only useful response is to work with it. Each page here says which.

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The four rules that shape everything

The 24-hour window

A customer messages you; you get 24 hours of free-form replies. Outside it, only an approved template reaches them.

Every template is reviewed

Meta approves or rejects each one, usually in minutes. Rejection has specific, fixable causes.

Quality is scored, continuously

Blocks and reports lower your rating. A low rating pauses templates and caps how many people you can reach.

Verification gates the rest

Business verification unlocks higher limits, one-time passwords and publishable forms.

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The shape of it

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What Meta decides

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The one mistake that costs the most

Mis-categorising marketing as utility. It looks like a way to reach people who opted out, and it works exactly once.Meta scores template categories against their actual content. A promotional message submitted as utility is rejected as TAG_CONTENT_MISMATCH if you are lucky, and lowers your quality rating if it slips through and gets reported. Enough of that and your number is restricted — which costs you the channel, not just the campaign.Utility means order confirmations, delivery updates and receipts. If you would call it a campaign, it is marketing.

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Where to go next

Windows and pricing

What is charged, what is free, and the 72-hour free entry point.

Template review

Writing one that gets approved, and fixing one that did not.

Quality and limits

Ratings, tiers, pauses and how to climb.

Business verification

What it unlocks and how long it takes.