What is the WhatsApp messaging limit?

On the Business Platform, it's the number of different people your business can message outside a customer service window in a moving 24 hours. Meta's documentation says new business portfolios start at 250.

How do I increase my WhatsApp messaging limit?

Verify your business, or complete one of Meta's other two scaling paths, to go from 250 to 2,000. After that, Meta says the limit rises one level at a time whenever your quality is high and you've used at least half your current limit in the last 7 days, and each step up happens within 6 hours of qualifying.

Do replies to customers count toward the WhatsApp messaging limit?

Not inside a customer service window. Each message from the customer opens or resets a 24-hour window, and the limit only counts what you send outside it.

Is the WhatsApp messaging limit per phone number?

No. Since 7 October 2025, Meta sets the limit on the business portfolio, and every number in the portfolio shares it. A second number doesn't add a second allowance.

How many messages can I send on the WhatsApp Business app?

Broadcast lists hold up to 256 contacts each, and only people who saved your number receive them. In some countries WhatsApp is rolling out a monthly limit of 35 free broadcast messages, which you can check under Settings, then Broadcasts.

Why did my WhatsApp messaging limit not increase?

Usually because quality is low, from blocks, reports or mutes, or because you haven't used at least half your current limit in the last 7 days. Message people who opted in and keep messages useful.

WhatsApp messaging limits: how they work, how to raise them

Two different kinds of limit

When people search for WhatsApp's messaging limit, they usually mean one of two things.

The WhatsApp Business Platform (the API) has a messaging limit: how many different people your business can start conversations with in a rolling 24 hours. A new business starts at 250. It's set by Meta and grows with your quality.
The WhatsApp Business app, the free one on your phone, has limits on broadcast lists: how many contacts per list, and in some countries a monthly cap on broadcasts.

They're separate systems with separate rules. Not sure which one you're on? What is WhatsApp Business? sets the two side by side.

Platform limits: how they work

Meta's messaging limits page defines them as "the maximum number of unique WhatsApp user phone numbers your business can deliver messages to, outside of a customer service window, within a moving 24-hour period."

Three parts of that sentence matter.

First, it counts people. Three messages to the same customer use up one place in the count.

Second, it only counts messages outside a customer service window. Meta's sending guide explains that when a customer messages or calls you, "a 24-hour timer called a customer service window starts", and it resets each time they message again. Replies inside that window don't count toward the limit. Once the window closes, you can only send pre-approved template messages.

Third, the limit is shared. Meta's limits page says they "are calculated and set at the business portfolio level and are shared by all business phone numbers within a portfolio", so one busy number can use up the whole allowance for the others.

The levels

Meta's page lists the levels:

Level	How you get there
250	Where newly created business portfolios start
2,000	By completing a scaling path
10,000	Automatic scaling
100,000	Automatic scaling
Unlimited	Automatic scaling

Each number is the count of different people you can start conversations with in a moving 24 hours.

Why older guides quote other numbers

Meta changed the rules on 7 October 2025. Its page on the change says limits used to be set on each phone number, and the first automatic step was 1,000. Since then, the limit belongs to the business portfolio, the first step is 2,000, and an increase lands within 6 hours instead of 24. A new number added to a portfolio gets the portfolio's limit straight away.

So a guide that says "1,000 per number" is describing the old system. Adding a second number no longer adds a second allowance; it shares the one you have.

How to raise your platform limit

Meta's page lists three scaling paths from 250 to 2,000, and you need to complete one of them:

Verify your business.
If a provider onboarded you, have your partner verify your business.
Within a 30-day moving period, deliver 2,000 messages outside customer service windows to different WhatsApp users, with templates that have a high quality rating.

After you complete one, Meta says it "analyzes your message quality" and either approves or denies your portfolio for automatic scaling. If it's approved, your limit goes to 2,000 and you're told by email. If it's denied, your limit stays where it is, and Meta's alert names another way to qualify, such as the 2,000-message path or verifying your identity.

After that, the page says Meta raises the limit one level at a time when two things are true: "You are sending high-quality messages across all of your business phone numbers and templates", and "In the last 7 days, your business has utilized at least half of your current messaging limit". When both hold, it says "your portfolio's limit increases by one level within 6 hours."

Send good messages to people who want them, use at least half your allowance, and the limit grows by itself.

Checking your limit

Meta's page says your current limit appears in WhatsApp Manager under Account tools, then Messaging limits. If you use a provider, their dashboard usually shows it too. Ask them if you can't find it.

Quality: what holds your limit back

Quality is the part you control. Meta's sending guide says WhatsApp "determines message quality from how WhatsApp users have received your messages over the past seven days, weighted by recency", based on "user feedback signals such as blocks, reports, mutes, archives, and reasons users provide when they block you."

Its guidelines for high-quality messages include:

Only send messages to WhatsApp users who have opted into receiving messages from your business.
Make the messages highly personalized and useful.
Avoid open-ended welcome or introductory messages.
Avoid sending too many messages per day.

Low quality stops your limit growing. Since the October 2025 change it doesn't shrink it: Meta's change page says that if your phone number's quality rating drops, "its messaging limit will not be downgraded." Older guides that warn about losing a level are describing the old rules.

That doesn't make bad messages free. Templates get their own rating. Meta's template quality page lists green for high quality, yellow for medium, red for low, and unknown while a new template collects feedback. A red template "can be sent, but is in danger of being paused or disabled soon", and a paused template can't be sent at all.

So the practical rules are simple. Message people who asked to hear from you, make each message worth reading, and watch your template ratings after every campaign.

How fast you can send: throughput

The messaging limit is how many people. Throughput is how fast. Meta's throughput page says each registered business number handles 80 messages a second by default, and up to 1,000 a second after an automatic upgrade.

Only numbers with an unlimited messaging limit get the upgrade, and only if they message 100,000 or more different people outside a customer service window in a moving 24 hours, with a quality rating of medium or better. A number used with both the WhatsApp Business app and the Platform at once has a fixed 20 messages per second.

For a small team, throughput never comes up. You'll hit the messaging limit, or run out of people who want to hear from you, long before you hit 80 a second.

Per-user marketing limits

There's a third limit, and it sits with the customer, not with you. Meta's per-user limits page says WhatsApp limits how many marketing template messages a person receives from any business when they're "less likely to be receptive", judged by things like their recent read rate for marketing messages.

What that means in practice:

Each delivered marketing template counts toward the person's limit, whichever business sent it.
If the person replies, a customer service window opens, and marketing messages inside it don't count.
A send that hits the limit fails, and Meta asks you to wait at least 24 hours before trying that person again.
WhatsApp doesn't currently deliver marketing templates to people with United States phone numbers.

You can't raise this one. The way around it is the same as for quality: send fewer marketing messages, to people who read them.

Business app limits

The free Business app works differently. There's no daily count of new conversations. The limits sit on broadcasts.

WhatsApp's broadcast list page says "You can include up to 256 contacts in each broadcast list" and you can create as many lists as you like. It also says "Only people who've added you to their phone's contacts will receive your broadcast message", and that broadcast lists aren't supported on Windows, Mac or Web.

A monthly cap is arriving in some places. WhatsApp's broadcast limits page says the limit is "rolling out gradually", and that where it applies, "You can send up to 35 free broadcast messages per month." You can check under Settings, then Broadcasts, and WhatsApp says it will notify you before you reach the limit.

The Business app is also adding Business Broadcasts in some countries. WhatsApp's Business app features page says it lets you "Send private 1:1 messages to multiple people at once" and "Message people even if they haven't saved your number", and that it's "Available to eligible users in select countries". The page doesn't give its limits, so check in your app.

Using broadcast lists often has its own cost. WhatsApp's page on using WhatsApp responsibly warns that "frequent use of broadcast messages may lead people to report your messages, and we ban accounts that are reported multiple times." WhatsApp broadcast list vs group covers how lists, groups and communities differ.

Where a linked number sits

A tool that links the number you already use as a device, the way WhatsApp Web does, is on the app's side: the Platform's messaging limits don't apply, and WhatsApp's rules for the app do. ActivityTracker is one of those tools: its team inbox links your number as a device, and it isn't one of WhatsApp's own apps. WhatsApp's linked devices page warns that "linking your device through unofficial apps or websites may put your account at risk." So ActivityTracker spaces out the messages your number starts on its own, and stops them if WhatsApp warns the number.

Made-up example: a home-cleaning business with 900 past customers who've agreed to hear about offers.

On the Business app: they split customers into four broadcast lists of up to 256. Their country now has the monthly broadcast cap, so they plan two offers a month across the four lists and keep the rest of their allowance for reminders. Customers who never saved the number don't get the broadcasts, so each new booking confirmation now asks them to save it.

A year later: they move to the Business Platform through a provider to send appointment reminders from their booking system. They start at 250 people a day outside customer service windows. Most customers reply to reminders, which opens a service window, so replies to those replies don't count.

They verify the business, which is one of the scaling paths. Meta approves them for 2,000. Their busiest week reaches 600 people a day, over half of the old 250 but under half of 2,000, so the limit stays at 2,000, which is plenty.

One promo template turns yellow after too many people mute it. They rewrite it to include the customer's name and last booking date, and send it only to people who booked in the last six months.

If most of your chats start with the customer, ActivityTracker's team inbox puts every number you use in one place, shows who's waiting on a reply, and lands each chat on the client's record.

See the WhatsApp team inbox

When you keep hitting the limit

If you're regularly at your limit, check three things before you try to raise it.

Are you messaging people who asked? Blocks and reports lower your quality, and low quality stops the limit growing.
Are you starting conversations you don't need to? Replies inside a customer service window don't count, so encourage customers to message you first. A click-to-chat link, like one from the WhatsApp link generator, starts the conversation from their side.
Is one number using the whole portfolio's allowance? The limit is shared across all numbers in a portfolio.

If all three check out, verify your business and keep sending good messages. The limit grows.

Limits also connect to cost. Platform messages are charged by Meta and usually by your provider too; WhatsApp Business API pricing explains how that bill is built.

What to do first

Work out which you use: the Business app or the Platform.
On the app, check Settings for a broadcast limit and make sure customers have saved your number.
On the Platform, find your current limit in WhatsApp Manager and check your template ratings.
On 250? Verify your business. It's one of the three scaling paths.
Send only to people who opted in, and make every message personal and useful.