# What is a WhatsApp interactive message?

> A WhatsApp interactive message is an API message that gives your customer up to three reply buttons or a list of options, and each choice comes back to your software as a structured reply.

## The definition in two minutes

An interactive message is a message your software sends through the WhatsApp Business API that contains elements the customer taps: reply buttons or a list of options. The customer chooses instead of typing.

Meta files these messages under service messages: free-form messages, with no template to get approved, that a business can send while the 24-hour window is open.

## Reply buttons or a list

|  | Reply buttons | List |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Choices offered | Up to 3 buttons | Up to 10 rows, in one or several sections |
| How the customer chooses | They tap a button, shown under the message | They tap the message’s button, which opens the list, then pick a row |
| Text of each choice | Up to 20 characters per button | Up to 24 characters per row, with an optional description |
| What it is for | A question with two or three answers: yes or no, type of request | A wider choice: a service, a time slot, an area |

*Source: Meta, reply button messages and list messages, read on 20 October 2026.*

## What the customer sends back

When the customer taps, WhatsApp sends your software a reply message that carries the identifier you gave that button or row, and its text. In the API it is a message of type “interactive”, with a “button\_reply” or “list\_reply”.

- For a button: the identifier and the title of the button tapped.
- For a list: the identifier, the title and the description of the row chosen.

So your software does not have to guess what the customer meant. It reads an identifier and triggers what comes next: a label, a reminder, a handover to the team.

## Meta’s rules

- An interactive message goes out during the 24-hour window, which opens with each customer message. With the window closed, or for a first contact, only a Meta-approved template can go out. A template can carry its own buttons, but it is not an interactive message.
- It counts as the service category for billing, like other service messages.
- The customer must have agreed to receive the business’s messages.

Meta offers other messages of the same kind: a button that opens a link, a location request, a voice call and a Flow (see the WhatsApp Flows entry).

- [The 24-hour window explained](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-24-hour-window)

## What it means for a small business

Tapping a button takes less effort than typing a sentence, and the answer arrives in a form the software can process. To sort requests or offer time slots, three buttons or a list are often enough.

In WYP.chat, scenarios ask these questions with buttons or a list, and the customer’s answer decides what happens next. The same scenario adapts to the other channels.

- [WYP.chat WhatsApp scenarios](https://wyp.chat/en/features/workflows)
- [WhatsApp Business auto-reply: the guide](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-business-auto-reply)

## Example

Illustrative case: a garage replies to a customer who wants an appointment. Its software sends “What kind of work?” with three buttons: Service, Tyres, Other. The customer taps “Tyres”. The software receives that button’s identifier, adds the “Tyres” label to the conversation and offers the free slots.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many buttons can an interactive message have?

A reply button message has three at most. A list message shows up to ten rows, split across one or more sections.

### Can you send an interactive message to a customer who has not written to you?

Not as it stands. An interactive message goes out within the 24-hour window that follows the customer’s last message. To write first, or after that window, you need a Meta-approved template, with the customer’s consent.

### Is an interactive message charged?

Yes, as a service message. Your first 1,000 service messages each month, per number, are free; beyond that, Meta charges. The “Per-message billing” entry sets out the rules.

### Can the customer reply with something other than the buttons?

Yes, they can always type a free message. Plan for that case, for example a handover to the team.

### How is it different from a Flow?

An interactive message asks one question at a time. A Flow opens a form of several screens in the conversation, with fields to fill in.

## Related terms

- [24-hour window (customer service window)](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary/fenetre-24h)
- [Service message](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary#message-service)
- [Message template](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary/modele)
- [WhatsApp Flows](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary/flows)
- [WhatsApp Business API](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary/whatsapp-business-api)

**Read more**

- [WYP.chat WhatsApp scenarios](https://wyp.chat/en/features/workflows)
- [All glossary terms](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary)

## Sources

1. Meta, interactive reply buttons messages: [developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/interactive-reply-buttons-messages](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/interactive-reply-buttons-messages) ( checked on 20 October 2026)
2. Meta, interactive list messages: [developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/interactive-list-messages](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/interactive-list-messages) ( checked on 20 October 2026)
3. Meta, service messages: free-form message types: [developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/send-messages](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/send-messages) ( checked on 20 October 2026)

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Source: https://wyp.chat/en/glossary/message-interactif · Updated on 20 October 2026