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WhatsApp bulk messages: how to send without getting banned

A broadcast list is free, but it only reaches people who have saved your number. To reach everyone without risking the number there are two paid official routes, at €0.0585 a message in Spain.

Published
September 30, 2026
Last reviewed
September 30, 2026
Next review
January 1, 2027
Current

In 30 seconds

  • A broadcast list is free, but it does not reach everyone. It takes up to 256 contacts and only delivers to people who have your number saved in their address book.
  • To reach everyone there are two official routes, and both are paid per delivered message. They are business broadcasts in the WhatsApp Business app, only in some countries, and campaigns on the official API. In Spain, €0.0585 per marketing message.
  • On the API you can only write to people who gave you their consent. And there is a daily limit: a new portfolio starts at 250 people every 24 hours and can reach unlimited.
  • Unofficial extensions and programs break WhatsApp's rules. The Business app terms, in force since 23 September 2026, forbid using applications that interact with it without written permission.
  • What puts you at risk is blocks and reports. A template with many complaints is paused for 3 hours, then 6, and the third time it is disabled.

What are the ways to send a WhatsApp message to many customers at once?

There are four, and only three are official.

Route Who it reaches Cost Risk
Broadcast list (WhatsApp Business app) Up to 256 contacts per list, only if they saved your number Free Low with customers who know you
Business broadcasts (WhatsApp Business app) Your contacts, whether they saved you or not Per delivered message, by the recipient's country. Only in some countries Meta reviews each send. With many reports, 3 days without broadcasts
Campaign on the official API People who gave you consent, up to your daily limit: from 250 to unlimited €0.0585 per marketing message in Spain Controlled: Meta pauses a template with complaints before it hurts the number
Unofficial extension or program No official limit, because it is not authorised Whatever the program charges High: WhatsApp can suspend or close the account

Business broadcasts are the paid version Meta is adding to the WhatsApp Business app, under Tools. They also reach people who have not saved your number, and they take a photo, video or document and a button. You pay for each message delivered within 5 days of sending. As its rate card, Meta links the same price sheet as the API. For now they are only available "in limited countries", with no published list, and they do not work on a number connected to the API.

Unofficial extensions and programs automate WhatsApp Web or the app to send from your number. WhatsApp's Messaging Guidelines forbid unofficial clients and bulk or automated messaging that harms WhatsApp or its users. If WhatsApp detects it, it can limit, suspend or close the account.

Why doesn't my broadcast list reach everyone?

Because WhatsApp only delivers it to people who have your number saved in their phone's address book. If someone has not saved you, they get nothing. WhatsApp's fix is to ask them to add you to their contacts.

There are more reasons it falls short:

  • 256 contacts per list. You can create as many lists as you like, but each one takes 256 at most.
  • Phone only. Broadcast lists do not work on WhatsApp Web or on a computer.
  • A monthly limit in some countries. In the regular WhatsApp app, Meta is gradually rolling out a monthly broadcast limit. Its help page puts it at 35 free broadcast messages a month. For the Business app it publishes no figure.
  • Coexistence. If you connect the number to the API and keep the app, broadcast lists are turned off and the ones you had become read-only. Campaigns replace them: see the coexistence guide.

In some countries, the app offers to turn the broadcast into a paid business broadcast, sent only to the people who did not receive it.

What does a campaign on the official API need?

Three things: an approved marketing template, each recipient's consent and room in your daily limit.

1. An approved marketing template. Once 24 hours have passed since a customer's last message, the API only lets you write with a template. Meta reviews it when you create it, within up to 24 hours. The template carries variables, such as {{name}}, filled in with each customer's details. How to write them: templates guide.

2. Each recipient's consent. The WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy only lets you write to people who gave you their number and agreed to receive your messages, knowing they come from your business. You can collect it on your website, on paper, by SMS or by phone. Every opt-out is honoured, whether it is asked for on WhatsApp or elsewhere. In Spain, the e-commerce law (LSSI, article 21) also bans electronic advertising without prior permission. The exception is your own customers, for products similar to what they bought, and always with a simple, free way to opt out. The detail is in the GDPR guide.

3. Room in your daily limit. Meta limits how many different people you can write to outside the 24-hour window, in a rolling 24 hours. The limit belongs to the business portfolio: all your numbers share it.

Limit Different people every 24 hours How you get there
Starting 250 Every new portfolio starts here
First step 2,000 Verify the business, or deliver high-quality templates to 2,000 different people in 30 days. Meta then reviews your quality and approves it or not
Automatic 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited High quality and at least half the limit used in 7 days. It goes up one step within 6 hours

The full detail is in the limits guide.

The cost. Meta charges each delivered marketing template by the recipient's country. In Spain, €0.0585: 1,000 messages come to €58.50, before VAT. Work out your own case with the calculator in the pricing guide.

Per-person limits. WhatsApp may deliver fewer marketing templates to people who read few of them (error 131049). Meta used to exclude Europe, but its current page (updated on 17 June 2026) lists no country exceptions: assume it applies to you. And it does not deliver marketing templates to United States numbers.

Why does WhatsApp ban a number for spam, and how do you avoid it?

Because people block it or report it. WhatsApp measures the quality of your messages by what recipients did with them in the last 7 days: blocks, reports, muted or archived chats and the reasons they give when they block you.

On the API, the consequences come in steps:

  • First, the template. Each template has a quality rating: high, medium or low. A new marketing template may go out to part of the audience first, and if the reactions are bad Meta does not send the rest. If it reaches low quality, it is paused for 3 hours; the second time, 6; the third, it is disabled. Trying to send a paused template is not charged and does not use up your limit.
  • Then, the number. If you keep sending templates that end up at low quality, the number can be affected. Meta limits the sending of businesses whose quality stays low.
  • Finally, the account. Repeated spam brings restrictions that grow longer: 1 or 3 days without templates, then 5, 7 or 30 days without sending anything. After that, an indefinite lock that only an appeal lifts, and a permanent ban.

In the app, business broadcasts follow similar logic: a warning first and, if you carry on, 3 days without broadcasts and no appeal.

How to avoid it:

  • Only write to people who agreed, and tell them when you ask what kind of messages they will get.
  • Personalise. Meta recommends messages that are "highly personalized and useful": their name, their appointment, what they bought.
  • Do not send too many a day, or welcome messages with no concrete reason.
  • Offer an opt-out in every message and apply it straight away. Better an opt-out than a block.
  • Remove people who have not heard from you in a while. Meta advises it for business broadcasts, and it holds for the API too.
  • Check the quality before every large send. WhatsApp Manager shows it for each template and for the number.

How do you send WhatsApp bulk messages from Excel?

On the official routes, the spreadsheet is just the list of recipients. You upload it, choose the template and each column fills a variable.

  • In the WhatsApp Business app. From WhatsApp Web, under Tools, you can upload a CSV or XLSX file with two columns, name and phone number, as the audience for your business broadcasts. Meta does not document per-person variables in them.
  • On the API. With a tool on the API such as BlueMarlin, you import the Excel or CSV file into a list, and each column becomes a field on the customer's record. In the campaign you choose which field fills each variable, who it goes to and when it goes out. Anyone who replies "stop" or taps the opt-out button is left out of the next campaigns. And before sending, BlueMarlin warns you if the audience does not fit in your limit for the day. That is how BlueMarlin campaigns work.

Before you upload it, check the file:

  • Phone numbers with the international prefix, such as +34 600 000 000. Without the +, Meta adds your business number's country code, and the message can reach someone else.
  • One row per person. The app flags duplicates as errors.
  • A column for consent: when and how it was given. If anyone asks, it is your proof.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send WhatsApp bulk messages for free?

Yes, with broadcast lists in the WhatsApp Business app: up to 256 contacts per list, at no cost. But they only reach people who have your number saved. Reaching everyone through an official route is paid per delivered message: in Spain, €0.0585 per marketing message.

What is the WhatsApp broadcast list limit?

256 contacts per list, and you can create as many lists as you like. The other limit is that the message only reaches people who have your number in their address book.

How do I send a bulk WhatsApp message to people who haven't saved my number?

With business broadcasts in the WhatsApp Business app, where Meta offers them, or with a campaign on the official API. Both are paid per delivered message, and both need each person's consent.

Can my number get banned for using a bulk-sending extension?

Yes. WhatsApp's rules forbid unofficial clients and automated bulk messaging, and the Business app terms forbid using applications that interact with it without written permission. WhatsApp can limit, suspend or close the account.

What do I do if WhatsApp has banned my number for spam?

On the API, the restriction shows in Meta's Business Support Home, with the steps to request a review. Some spam restrictions cannot be appealed, and you have to wait for them to end. In the app, the business broadcasts suspension lasts 3 days and cannot be appealed.

If I connect my number to the API, do I lose my broadcast lists?

Yes, if you connect it with coexistence, the app and the API at the same time. The lists are turned off and the ones you had become read-only. Sending to many then happens through campaigns, which also reach people who have not saved your number.

Sources

Everything above was checked on 30 September 2026 against the official WhatsApp and Meta pages, and the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE):

Change history

  • 30 September 2026: first version.

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