# Messaging limits

Messaging limits are the maximum number of unique WhatsApp users a business can message outside a customer service window within a moving 24-hour period. A new business portfolio starts at 250, then moves to 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited.

Source: https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/messaging-limits  
Last updated: 2026-10-08

The limit only counts messages sent outside a customer service window, in practice template messages to people who have not written in the last 24 hours. Replies to customers are not capped. Since October 7, 2025, the limit is set for the whole business portfolio and shared by all its phone numbers, not per number.

Going from 250 to 2,000 requires one of three paths listed by Meta: verify the business, have a partner verify it, or send 2,000 delivered messages outside customer service windows to unique users within 30 days, using templates with a high quality rating. Meta then reviews message quality and approves or denies the increase.

Above 2,000, increases are automatic: if the business sends high-quality messages across all its numbers and templates and has used at least half of its current limit in the last 7 days, the limit moves up one level within 6 hours. A drop in quality rating no longer lowers the limit.

The current limit is shown in WhatsApp Manager, under Account tools, Messaging limits. It is worth checking before a large send: a [WhatsApp campaign](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-campaigns) to more people than the limit allows will not reach everyone on the first day.

## Kanal features

- [WhatsApp campaigns](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-campaigns): Send marketing campaigns that actually get read

## Go deeper: articles

- [WhatsApp Quality Rating: How Meta Scores Your Number (2026)](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-quality-rating-explained): How Meta rates your WhatsApp Business number Green, Yellow or Red from 7 days of customer feedback, what a low rating changes, and how to recover it.
- [WhatsApp Broadcast: Lists, Limits and 6 Message Samples](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-broadcast-guide): WhatsApp broadcast lists hold 256 contacts, and some countries now cap the app at 35 free broadcasts a month. 6 message samples and how stores go past it.
- [WhatsApp Business API: What It Is, Costs and Setup (2026)](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-api-guide): The WhatsApp Business API explained: Cloud API, templates, webhooks, per-message costs, messaging limits and the three ways to get access.
- [WhatsApp Business Pricing 2026: Cost per Message by Country](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-pricing-guide): WhatsApp Business pricing, October 2026: the app is free, the API bills each message: $0.0635 per UK marketing message, $0.0034 per US order update.

## Related terms

- [Quality rating](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/quality-rating)
- [WABA (WhatsApp Business Account)](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/waba)