# Quality rating

The quality rating is the score WhatsApp gives a business phone number, and each of its message templates, based on how recipients react: blocks, reports and read rates. It is shown as high, medium or low (green, yellow, red).

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

WhatsApp tracks how customers react to what a business sends. Negative feedback from several users, or low read rates, pushes a template from high (green) to medium (yellow) or low (red). A new template starts with a pending rating until enough signals are collected.

A low rating has consequences for templates first: a template that keeps receiving negative feedback can be paused, then disabled, and messages using it are no longer sent. Low-quality history is also what triggers template pacing on later sends.

For the messaging limit, the rule changed on October 7, 2025: a drop in a phone number's quality rating no longer lowers its limit. Quality still decides whether the limit grows, since automatic scaling requires high-quality messages across all numbers and templates, and Meta rate-limits businesses whose quality stays low for a sustained period.

The way to protect the rating is unchanged: message only opted-in contacts, keep content relevant and segment lists. Kanal builds segments from Shopify customer and order data for [WhatsApp campaigns](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-campaigns).

## 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 Account Banned? How to Unban Your Number (2026)](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-account-banned-how-to-fix): My WhatsApp number is banned: how to get unbanned step by step, temporary vs permanent bans, and how businesses stay ban-proof on the official API.
- [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.

## Related terms

- [Messaging limits](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/messaging-limits)
- [Opt-in](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/opt-in)