# WhatsApp 24-hour window

> The WhatsApp 24-hour window, which Meta calls the customer service window, opens when a person messages or calls a business on the WhatsApp Business Platform. For the next 24 hours the business can send any kind of message. Each new message from the person restarts the timer. Once it closes, the business can only send message templates that Meta has approved.

Source: https://milvao.com/glossary/whatsapp-24-hour-window · Updated 2026-11-05

## Key takeaways

- The window opens, and restarts, each time the person messages or calls the business.
- Inside it, a business can send free-form messages. Outside it, only approved templates.
- Meta charges per message. Some messages inside the window are free, under rules Meta changes from time to time.

## How the WhatsApp 24-hour window works

Meta's pricing documentation describes the rule plainly: when a WhatsApp user messages or calls a business, a 24-hour timer starts, and if the user writes again before it ends, the timer resets to 24 hours. While the window is open, the business can send non-template messages such as ordinary text replies and buttons.

The rule applies to businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API). It protects people from receiving unexpected messages from businesses they have not been talking to.

## What a business can send outside the window

Outside the window, Meta says template messages are the only type of message a business can send. A template is a message written in advance and submitted to Meta, which reviews it and sets it to approved before it can be used. Each template is categorised as marketing, utility or authentication.

## Is messaging free inside the window?

Not always. Meta moved to per-message pricing on 1 July 2025. Its pricing page, read on the date below, says each business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month, and that utility templates sent inside an open window were free until 1 October 2026 and are charged from then. Check Meta's current rates before you budget.

## How Milvao handles the 24-hour window

Milvao runs on the [WhatsApp Business Platform](https://milvao.com/integrations/whatsapp-business-platform), so the same rule applies. Most member messages are replies inside the window, because the member wrote first. When Milvao has to write first, for example to offer a request to a member who has not messaged recently, it uses one of four templates your community submits to Meta. Operators who message a member from a request can write freely within 24 hours of the member's last message, and otherwise send an approved update template.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the 24-hour window apply to the WhatsApp Business app?

Meta's documentation describes the customer service window for the WhatsApp Business Platform, the API that businesses and software use. Check WhatsApp's help pages for how the Business app on a phone works.

### What happens if a business replies after 24 hours?

It cannot send a normal message. It has to use a message template that Meta has approved, and that message may be charged.

### Does a new message restart the window?

Yes. Each message or call from the person resets the timer to 24 hours.

## Sources

- [Meta for Developers: Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing) (checked 2026-11-05)
- [Meta for Developers: Template fundamentals](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/message-templates/guidelines) (checked 2026-11-05)

## Related pages

- [WhatsApp Business Platform](https://milvao.com/integrations/whatsapp-business-platform)
- [Connect your WhatsApp number](https://milvao.com/help/team-and-settings/connect-your-whatsapp-number)
- [WhatsApp community vs group](https://milvao.com/whatsapp-community-vs-group)