The WhatsApp 24 hour window: what Meta allows and what it costs
The 24 hour window is the period in which you can reply freely to a customer on WhatsApp. Meta calls it the customer service window: it opens when the customer messages or calls you, and resets to 24 hours with each new message or call from them. Once it has closed, only a Meta-approved template can be sent.
When the window opens, and when it closes
According to Meta, when someone messages you on WhatsApp or calls you, a 24 hour timer starts. If they message or call you again before it runs out, the timer restarts at 24 hours.
For example, a customer writes at 10 am. You can reply freely until 10 am the next day. If they write again at 3 pm, the window runs until 3 pm the next day. If they say nothing more, it closes at 10 am.
- Only the customer opens or extends the window, with a message or a call.
- After 24 hours without a new message or call from the customer, the window is closed.
- A customer who writes just before your number is connected to the API opens no window on the API side, according to Meta’s coexistence documentation. You can then only reply with a template, or from the app.
A reminder from Meta’s documentation: you can only message people who have agreed to receive your messages.
Window open or closed: what you can send
| Window open | Window closed | |
|---|---|---|
| Free text | Yes | No |
| Images, videos, documents, voice messages | Yes | No |
| Reply buttons (three at most), lists, link buttons | Yes | No |
| Location, contacts, address, WhatsApp Flows | Yes | No |
| Meta-approved template | Yes | Yes |
A template is a message written in advance and validated by Meta, filed in one of three categories: Marketing, Utility, Authentication. It is the only type of message that can go out while the window is closed.
What the window changes on price
Meta charges per delivered message. Meta’s pricing page, updated on 30 September 2026, says what is free and what is not. These are the points that depend on the window.
- Service messages inside the window
- Meta gives 1,000 free service messages a month for each business phone number, since 1 October 2026. It charges from the 1,001st. Unused messages do not carry over, and the count resets every month.
- Utility templates inside the window
- Free from 1 July 2025 to 30 September 2026, they have been charged since 1 October 2026.
- Templates outside the window
- Charged by category and by the recipient’s country.
- Messages received from the customer
- Meta does not charge for messages a customer sends to a business.
- Free entry point window
- A customer writes to you from a Click to WhatsApp ad (Android or iOS app). If you reply within 24 hours, that message is free and opens a free window that can stay open for up to 7 days. Meta then charges nothing for marketing, utility, authentication or service messages.
- No payment method with Meta
- Meta delivers service messages within the free allowance of 1,000, but not once it has run out.
This page copies no price. Prices by country and category are in the price guide, with the date of its last check.
With the WhatsApp Business app (coexistence)
If you keep the WhatsApp Business app on the same number, Meta states that the 24 hour window only applies to messages sent through the API. A message written from the app is not subject to the window: it does not open it, does not extend it and does not change the price of API messages.
In practice, a customer who wrote to you two days ago can still be reached from the phone, but not with a free message from WYP.chat.
What WYP.chat does with the window
- WYP.chat counts the 24 hours from the customer’s last received message. The reply box shows the time left, for example “You can reply freely for another 20 h 11”.
- The window is checked before every free-form send, on the server. With the window closed, a free reply is refused, whether it comes from a team member, an AI agent or a scenario.
- With the window closed, the reply box is replaced by a notice and a “Choose a template” button: you pick a Meta-approved template, fill in its variables and send it. You can also write an internal note for the team.
- A marketing template does not go to a contact who has turned off your offers. As soon as the customer replies, the window opens again.
- A scenario that has to write with the window closed has a fallback of your choice: an approved template, do not send, or hand over to the team.
- A line under the reply box counts the 1,000 free replies of the month for each WhatsApp number. It is an estimate based on what Meta returns for each message.
WhatsApp Messenger and Instagram also have a 24-hour window, without templates. According to Meta, it can last up to 7 days when the customer first writes after clicking an ad to Messenger or to Instagram Direct (rule documented on 28 September 2026). WYP.chat counts 24 hours in every case, to be safe. Once the window has closed, you have to wait for the customer to write again. Website chat and email have no such limit.
How to do it in WYP.chat
Help centre articles that walk through each setting, screen by screen.
Sources
- Meta, Service messages (customer service windows): developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/send-messages
- Meta, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform: developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing
- Meta, Onboarding WhatsApp Business app users (coexistence): developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/embedded-signup/onboarding-business-app-users/
- Meta, Messenger Platform changelog (28 September 2026 entry): developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/messenger-platform/changelog
Pages checked on 16 October 2026.