# Utility template

A utility template is a WhatsApp message template that follows up on something the customer did or asked for: an order confirmation, a shipping update, a payment receipt. It must not contain promotional content, otherwise Meta re-categorizes it as marketing.

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

Utility templates support the lifecycle of something the customer already did. A typical example is an order confirmation, a payment receipt, a delivery notification, or a subscription renewal notice.

Meta's guidelines set the bar: a utility template is typically triggered by a user action or request, has to be essential or critical to the user, and has to be non-promotional. A message that slips in a discount or an upsell is automatically re-categorized as a marketing template, with the marketing rate.

Utility messages are charged per delivered message at the utility rate of the recipient's country, with volume tiers that lower the rate as monthly volume grows. One recent change: since October 1, 2026, utility templates sent inside an open customer service window are charged too (they had been free since July 1, 2025).

For a Shopify store, utility templates are the order confirmations, shipping and delivery messages that Kanal sends as [WhatsApp order notifications](https://getkanal.com/order-notifications).

## Kanal features

- [Order notifications](https://getkanal.com/order-notifications): Keep customers updated via WhatsApp

## Go deeper: articles

- [WhatsApp Business Templates: 25 Examples + Meta Rules (2026)](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-business-templates): 25 WhatsApp Business template examples for online stores (order update, abandoned cart, back in stock), Meta's 3 categories, review time and costs.
- [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.
- [WhatsApp Post-Purchase Playbook: 8 Flows for Repeat Customers](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-post-purchase-playbook): 8 WhatsApp post-purchase flows that turn buyers into loyal customers: confirmation, shipping, delivery, review, cross-sell, win-back. With templates.
- [WhatsApp Customer Support for Shopify: 12 Essential Flows](https://getkanal.com/blog/whatsapp-customer-support-shopify): Build WhatsApp customer support for your Shopify store: 12 essential flows, AI tier-1 automation, Gorgias and Zendesk integrations and the metrics to track.

## Related terms

- [Marketing template](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/marketing-template)
- [Customer service window (24-hour window)](https://getkanal.com/whatsapp-marketing-glossary/customer-service-window)