Messaging limits

Messaging limits define how many unique WhatsApp users a business can message with business-initiated messages in a moving 24-hour period, outside an open customer service window.

Limits protect user experience and scale up when quality and responsible sending are demonstrated.

How they work

Limits are applied at the Meta business portfolio level and shared across phone numbers in that portfolio.
One number can consume the portfolio’s available capacity.
Only conversations started outside the customer service window count toward the limit.
Replies inside an open customer care window are not counted the same way as business-initiated template outreach.

Default tiers

New businesses often start at a lower tier (commonly 250 unique users per 24 hours). Limits can scale through tiers such as:

2,000
10,000
100,000
Unlimited

Increases are controlled by Meta and generally cannot be requested manually through a BSP.

How limits increase

To reach higher tiers, businesses typically need to:

Complete a scaling path (for example business verification, and/or delivering enough high-quality template messages to unique users over a period), then
Qualify for automatic scaling based on message quality and using a meaningful share of the current limit

When scaling is approved or denied, Meta may notify via email/developer alerts and business_capability_update webhooks.

Quality matters

Poor quality (blocks, reports, low-quality templates) can slow or reverse scaling. Maintaining template quality and expected messaging is essential.

Checking limits

In Meta: Business Suite → WhatsApp Manager → Account tools → Messaging limits.

Related guides

Partner Rate Limits (Gupshup API request rate limits — different from Meta messaging limits)
What is a WABA?
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Messaging