In 30 seconds
- You need a template to write first. On the official WhatsApp API, once 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message you can only send templates approved by Meta.
- There are three categories. In Spain, marketing costs €0.0585 per delivered message; utility and authentication, €0.0166.
- Utility is only what sells nothing. An appointment reminder is utility. Add an offer to it and Meta approves it as marketing.
- Meta decides within 24 hours. The most common rejections come from badly placed variables ({{1}}, {{2}}…), asking for sensitive data, or products its policy prohibits.
- An approved template can change. Meta can move it to marketing with 1 day's notice, and if people complain it pauses it for 3 hours, then 6, and the third time it disables it.
When do you need a WhatsApp template?
When you write first, or when more than 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message. It is a rule of the official WhatsApp API, the one that tools for answering as a team use.
Every message or call from the customer opens a 24-hour window, and every new message resets it. Inside it you reply however you like: text, photos, documents or voice notes. Outside it, only with templates: messages written in advance, with gaps for the name or the date, which Meta approves before you use them.
| Situation | Do you need a template? |
|---|---|
| The customer wrote to you 3 hours ago | No: reply with free text |
| They wrote 2 days ago and you want to pick the conversation up | Yes |
| Reminding someone of tomorrow's appointment | Yes, a utility one, unless they wrote to you in the last 24 hours |
| A promotion to your customers | Yes, a marketing one |
| A code to sign in to your website or app | Yes, an authentication one |
Two caveats:
- The WhatsApp Business app has no templates. On the phone you write to anyone with free text, also when the number is connected to the API through coexistence. What each option costs is in the WhatsApp pricing guide.
- A template does not replace permission. WhatsApp's policy requires that the person gave you their number and agreed to receive messages from you. That permission has to name your business and comply with the law.
What are the WhatsApp template categories?
Three: marketing, utility and authentication. You choose one when you create the template, Meta checks that the text fits, and the category sets the price.
| Category | What it is for | Example | Price in Spain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Anything that promotes or seeks a sale: offers, news, renewals, abandoned carts, greetings | "20% off everything in store this week" | €0.0585 |
| Utility | Something specific to that customer that sells nothing: their order, their appointment, a payment | "A reminder of your appointment tomorrow at 10:00" | €0.0166 |
| Authentication | One-time codes only | "482119 is your verification code" | €0.0166 |
Price per delivered message, excluding VAT, from 1 October 2026, set by the country of the number that receives it. From that date a utility template is also charged inside the 24 hours, where until now it was free.
How Meta decides:
- Utility needs two things at once: it promotes nothing, and it is about something of the customer's own or something they asked for (their order, their account, their appointment), or it is essential, like a safety alert.
- Marketing is everything else. That includes mixed content, like an order update with a discount, and unclear content, like a template that only says "Congratulations!". Recommending a product or asking for a renewal is marketing even if the customer asked for it.
- A satisfaction survey is utility only if it asks about a specific order or visit.
- Authentication is created from Meta's template library, with a button to copy or autofill the code, and allows no links, photos or emoji.
How is a template approved, and why is it rejected?
Meta reviews every template when you create it and every time you edit it, with automated systems and manual review. It decides within 24 hours and tells you by email and in WhatsApp Manager. Only an approved template can be sent: templates in review, rejected, paused, disabled or archived (12 months unused) do not go out.
What it has to meet:
- Name and language. The name uses lowercase letters, digits and underscores (
appointment_reminder). Meta translates nothing: each language is another template, with its own review. - Lengths. Body text of 1,024 characters at most. Optional: a header (60 characters, or a photo, video or document), a footer of 60 characters and up to 10 buttons of 25 characters.
- Variables numbered in sequence: {{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}, with no gaps and no symbols like # or %. The text cannot start or end with a variable, two variables need text between them, and there cannot be too many for the length of the message.
- A sample for each variable, such as "Ana" or "Thursday 10 at 10:00", so the reviewer sees how it reads.
What Meta rejects for its content:
- Asking for full sensitive data: card, bank account or national ID numbers. The last 4 digits are allowed.
- Threatening the customer, for example with legal action.
- Selling what WhatsApp's policy prohibits: firearms, alcohol and tobacco, drugs, medical and healthcare products, real-money gambling or payday loans, among others. Some are allowed only in certain countries.
- Duplicating another of your templates with the same body and footer.
The reason comes with the notice:
| Reason | What it usually is | What to do |
|---|---|---|
INVALID_FORMAT |
Variables numbered wrongly, stuck together, at the start or at the end | Fix them and resubmit |
INCORRECT_CATEGORY |
The text does not fit the category chosen | Change the category or take out what sells |
PROMOTIONAL, ABUSIVE_CONTENT, SCAM |
Meta thinks it breaks its policies | Rewrite it or appeal |
A rejected template can be edited and resubmitted as often as needed, or appealed from WhatsApp Manager, and Meta decides within 24 hours. In BlueMarlin, the template editor checks the format rules before sending it to Meta and tells you what to fix.
Can Meta change a template's category?
Yes, when you create it and after it is approved. Almost always from utility to marketing, and in Spain that raises each message from €0.0166 to €0.0585.
- At creation. Since 9 April 2025, if you submit it as utility and Meta thinks it is marketing, it approves it straight away as marketing instead of rejecting it.
- Later. Meta regularly reviews the templates in use. If a utility one should be marketing, it gives you 1 day's notice and changes it; it stays approved but is charged as marketing. If it should have been authentication, it becomes rejected on the 1st of the following month.
- How you find out. By email to whoever has full control of the WhatsApp Business account, in WhatsApp Manager and by webhook.
- What you can do. Ask for a review in Business Support Home, Meta's support centre, within the next 60 days. Or take out what sells and create it again: the category of an approved template cannot be edited.
- If it keeps happening. A business that labels marketing as utility again and again loses the notice, gets a cap on utility messages for at least 7 days and, if it goes on, has all its utility templates moved to marketing for 7 to 30 days.
WhatsApp message template examples by sector
The real-estate ones come from BlueMarlin's real-estate pack, and the first clinic one is the one its calendar creates. The rest are examples written for this guide under Meta's rules. None is guaranteed approval: Meta reviews every text.
Clinic
| Template | Category | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "Hi {{1}}, a reminder of your appointment: {{2}}. {{3}} Can you confirm you'll come?" Buttons "Confirm" and "Cancel" | Utility | It is their own appointment and offers nothing. {{3}} is a sentence like "Ana will take care of you" |
| "Hi {{1}}, from October we also open on Saturday mornings. If that suits you better, reply and we'll find you a slot." | Marketing | It announces new opening hours to every patient |
Leave out the treatment and the reason for the visit: WhatsApp's policy prohibits sending health information where the applicable rules do not allow it. The day, the time and who will see them are enough.
Real estate agency
| Template | Category | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "Hi {{1}}, we received your enquiry about {{2}}. We are looking at it now and will come back to you shortly with the details." | Utility | It answers an enquiry the person made |
| "Hi {{1}}, a property has just come onto the market that fits what you are looking for in {{2}}. I can send you the photos and the details whenever you want." | Marketing | It recommends a product. Meta lists an almost identical case, a car that matches a saved search, as marketing |
| "Hi {{1}}, thanks for coming to see the property today. I would like to know what you thought of it, and whether you would like to see something similar." | Marketing | Asking about the viewing would be utility; offering "something similar" makes it mixed |
Academy
| Template | Category | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "Hi {{1}}, a reminder that the fee for {{2}} will be charged on {{3}} to the account you gave us. If anything has changed, reply to this message." | Utility | It gives notice of a payment for something already booked, without asking for the account number |
| "Hi {{1}}, enrolment for the {{2}} intensive courses in January is now open. If you're interested, reply and we'll send you times and prices." | Marketing | It promotes a new course |
Shop
| Template | Category | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is ready to collect. We'll keep it for you until {{3}}, from 10:00 to 20:00." | Utility | It updates a specific order |
| "Hi {{1}}, your order {{2}} is ready. And as a customer, you get 10% off your next purchase." | Marketing | The typical mistake: an order update with a discount is mixed content |
| "Hi {{1}}, this week you get 15% off the autumn collection with the code {{2}}. Valid until Sunday." Button "Not interested" | Marketing | A promotion, with a button to opt out |
Marketing templates: why they get paused and how many each customer gets
Meta pauses a template when its quality drops to low because many customers block it, report it or do not read it. The per-person cap on marketing messages, on the other hand, does not apply today to a Spanish number.
- Quality and pauses. Every approved template has a quality: pending, high, medium or low. When it reaches low, Meta pauses it for 3 hours the first time, 6 the second, and the third time it disables it. A paused template is not sent, but it is not charged either and does not count towards your limits. If your templates keep reaching low, it may end up affecting the number.
- Paced sending. A new template may go first to part of the recipients: Meta holds the rest until it sees how people react, aiming to deliver it within an hour.
- Per-person limit. WhatsApp may limit how many marketing templates each person receives, based on how much they read the ones they get. Meta used to exclude Europe, but its current page (updated on 17 June 2026) lists no country exceptions. When a person reaches their limit, the send fails with error 131049.
- United States. WhatsApp does not deliver marketing templates to United States numbers.
- Opting out. Anyone can stop your marketing from WhatsApp; from then on, the send fails with error 131050.
Separately, each number has a cap on templates outside the window: we explain it in the WhatsApp limits guide.
In Spain, the LSSI (the Spanish e-commerce law) adds its own rule. Its article 21 prohibits advertising by email "or another equivalent means of electronic communication" that was not requested or authorised beforehand, except to customers you offer products similar to the ones they already bought. And every message must let them object in a simple, free way: a "Not interested" button is the easiest way to offer it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Meta take to approve a WhatsApp template?
Up to 24 hours, according to Meta. If it rejects it, you can fix it and resubmit it as often as you like, or appeal from WhatsApp Manager; the appeal is also decided within 24 hours.
How many WhatsApp templates can I have?
250 per WhatsApp Business account if your business is not verified with Meta. If it is verified and has a number with an approved display name, 6,000 per account. Each language counts as one template, and you can create 100 an hour at most.
Why did Meta move my utility template to marketing?
Because the text promotes something, mixes an update with an offer, or does not make clear what it is about. Meta approves it as marketing, and in Spain each message goes from €0.0166 to €0.0585. You can ask for a review within the next 60 days, or rewrite it without the part that sells.
Do I need templates if I use the WhatsApp Business app?
No. In the phone app you write to anyone with free text and no charge per message. Templates belong to the official API, the one used by team tools and automatic notifications.
Can I edit a template that is already approved?
Yes, once every 24 hours and up to 10 times in 30 days. It goes back to review, and the category cannot change. If you delete it, you cannot reuse its name for 30 days.
Sources
Everything above was checked on 30 September 2026 against the official documentation of Meta and WhatsApp, and the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE):
- Template fundamentals: templates outside the window, names, languages, statuses, 100 an hour, 250 or 6,000 per account, archiving.
- Template categorization: the three categories, Meta's examples, category changes and their notices, the 60 days and the penalties.
- Template review: review within 24 hours, variable samples, rejection reasons, duplicates and appeals.
- Template components: lengths of header, body, footer and buttons.
- Template management: editing and deletion limits.
- message_template_status_update: the rejection codes and variables stuck together.
- Template pausing, Template quality rating and Template pacing: quality, 3- and 6-hour pauses, disabling and paced sending.
- Per-user marketing template message limits: the per-person limit, the United States and error 131049.
- Marketing templates: opting out of marketing and error 131050.
- Customer service windows and Onboard WhatsApp Business app users: the 24-hour window, and that what is sent from the app does not need it.
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy and Get opt-in for WhatsApp: prior permission, sensitive data, health information and prohibited products.
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform and Pricing for non-template messages: charges per delivered message by category and country, and paid utility inside the window from 1 October 2026. Spain's rates, from Meta's EUR sheet, are in the pricing guide.
- Law 34/2002 (LSSI), article 21: consent for advertising by electronic means.
Change history
- 30 September 2026: first version.
Keep reading
- 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. Read the guide
- WhatsApp Business automatic replies: the free app vs the API The free app has a greeting message, an away message with a schedule and up to 50 quick replies. Buttons, lists of options and a reminder to each customer need the official API. Read the guide
- WhatsApp Business limits: app and API, in one table What the WhatsApp Business app allows (256 contacts per broadcast list, 4 devices, 50 quick replies) and what the official API allows (from 250 to unlimited people a day), with the official source for every figure. Read the guide
