40 WhatsApp terms, defined plainly.

Also: Customer service window, Session window

The 24 hours after a customer messages you, during which you can reply freely, at no cost, with no template.

Also: OTP template

A template carrying a one-time passcode, in its own category with its own formatting rules.

Sending an approved template to many recipients at once. Not the same as an app broadcast list.

Also: Tech Provider, Solution Partner

A company authorised by Meta to provide businesses with access to the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Meta’s check that your business is real, using registration documents. Usually the longest step in going live.

A template button that opens a URL or dials a phone number, rather than sending a reply.

Also: Product catalogue

A product list held in Meta Commerce Manager that can be sent inside a WhatsApp conversation.

Also: CTWA

A Facebook or Instagram ad whose call to action opens a WhatsApp conversation with your business.

Meta-hosted version of the WhatsApp Business Platform, and the route essentially everyone uses today.

A Meta feature letting one number run the WhatsApp Business app and the Cloud API at the same time.

Meta’s retired billing model, where one charge covered a 24-hour conversation. Replaced by per-message pricing in July 2025.

Status callbacks telling you a message was sent, delivered, read — or failed, with a reason code.

The business name shown to customers on your WhatsApp profile. Meta reviews it and it must relate to your actual business.

Meta’s in-product flow for connecting a WhatsApp Business Account to a platform without leaving it.

A conversation started from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook page call-to-action, which Meta does not bill for a set period.

Also: Official Business Account, OBA

The verified badge on a WhatsApp business profile, granted by Meta on brand notability — not something you can buy.

A WhatsApp message carrying structured UI — reply buttons, a list menu, or a product display — rather than plain text.

An interactive message offering a menu of up to ten options, grouped into sections.

A promotional template — offers, launches, re-engagement, and every festive greeting. The expensive category.

Also: HSM, Template message

A pre-approved message with numbered placeholders, required for anything sent outside the 24-hour service window.

Also: Messaging tier

How many unique customers you can start conversations with per rolling 24 hours. Starts at 250 and rises to unlimited.

Also: Business Suite, Meta Business Account

Meta’s admin console, where your business is verified and your WABA, pages and ad accounts live.

A customer’s recorded permission to receive business-initiated WhatsApp messages from you. Required by Meta before you send.

A customer’s request to stop receiving messages. Must be honoured immediately and permanently.

Meta’s current billing model: you pay per delivered template message, priced by category and recipient country.

The Meta-side identifier for a registered WhatsApp number, used in every Cloud API call.

The per-number health signal Meta shows alongside quality rating, reflecting recent recipient feedback.

A message that renders one product, or a multi-product list, from your synced catalogue.

Meta’s read on how your recipients feel about hearing from you — High, Medium or Low, calculated per number.

A tappable button that sends a predefined reply back to your business — up to three per message.

A defined audience — either an explicit list of contacts, or a saved filter that recalculates its own membership.

A conversation started by the customer, in which your free-form replies are not billed.

A set of contacts excluded from a particular send, subtracted from the audience at send time.

Marketing, utility or authentication — the label Meta assigns each template, which decides what it costs.

Meta declining a submitted template. Almost always traceable to one of a short list of causes.

Also: MPS, Messages per second

How fast your number can send. Distinct from the messaging limit, which caps how many people you can reach.

A template about a transaction the customer already initiated — the cheap category, and free inside an open service window.

Also: WhatsApp Business Account

The Meta-side account that owns your phone numbers, message templates, quality rating and messaging limits.

An HTTP callback Meta or your platform sends when something happens — a message arrives, a status changes.

Also: WhatsApp Business Platform, Cloud API

Programmatic access to WhatsApp for businesses — not an app you log into, but an interface a platform connects to on your behalf.