What is WhatsApp message categories?
Meta prices WhatsApp Business messages in four categories: marketing (offers), utility (confirmations and updates), authentication (one-time passcodes) and service (free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's message).
What it means for your business
Marketing is the most expensive. Since 1 October 2026, service replies are free only for the first 1,000 a month per business number.
Source: Meta for Developers, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing
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24-hour customer service windowFree entry point (Click-to-WhatsApp)WhatsApp coexistenceWhatsApp opt-inSIP trunkIVR (interactive voice response)Warm transferCall concurrencyVoice AI latencySpeech-to-text (STT)Text-to-speech (TTS)Khaleeji (Gulf) Arabic