📲 What is a WhatsApp Conversation? 🤔
WhatsApp requires all businesses using the WhatsApp Business platform to respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours.
While it is possible to reply after this window, it can only be done using pre-approved message templates.
To better understand, let’s look at what a WhatsApp conversation is and the different types that exist.
🔹 Definition of a WhatsApp Conversation
A WhatsApp conversation is a set of messages exchanged between a business and a customer within a fixed 24-hour window.
👉 A conversation can be:
initiated by the customer,
or initiated by the business.
The way it is initiated determines how the conversation is billed.
🔹 Customer-Initiated Conversation
The customer sends a message to the business’s WhatsApp number.
The business can then reply and interact.
From the moment the business responds, a 24-hour window opens, during which the exchange is free-form.
⚠️ Once this window expires, the business can no longer send free-form messages and must use an approved template.
🔹 Business-Initiated Conversation
The business starts the conversation by messaging the customer first.
This must be done using a pre-approved template message.
Sending this initial template opens a 24-hour window for the template category.
👉 Once the customer engages during this window, the business can:
send free-form messages,
or reuse templates from the same category.
🔹 Key Notes
The two types of conversations are billed differently.
Business-initiated conversations (using templates) are more expensive.
WhatsApp measures all conversations in fixed 24-hour sessions.
A conversation starts when the first business message is delivered (whether it’s a reply or initiated by the business).
During the 24-hour window, you can send as many messages as you want, at no extra charge.
🔹 Example
Hour 0: you send a promotion (marketing template). → A 24-hour marketing conversation opens.
Hour 4: the customer places an order → you send an order confirmation (utility template). → A 24-hour utility conversation opens.
Hour 10: you send a shipping confirmation (also utility). → No new conversation opens since the utility window is already active.
💸 Meta Pricing Change
Major change:
The billing model based on a paid 24-hour conversation window has been removed.
Templates are now billed individually per message.
👉 The 24-hour window still applies, but only for inbound messages (when a customer initiates the chat or replies to your template).
Impact highlights:
✅ Utility templates sent in response to a customer → free
💰 Outbound marketing & utility messages → billed per template
👉 For more details on this pricing change, click here.