What Are WhatsApp Messaging Limits?

What do messaging limits actually count?

A messaging limit counts unique people, not messages. It applies only to people a business contacts outside an open customer service window, which in practice means approved message templates, because templates are the only option once the window has closed (Meta documentation). Replies to people who messaged or called you in the last 24 hours are inside the window and are not what the limit measures (Meta documentation).

The period is a moving 24-hour window, not a calendar day. For example, a new portfolio that messages 250 people outside the window at 9 am cannot reach a 251st person that way until some of those first contacts fall outside the trailing 24 hours.

Since October 2025 the limit is set at the business portfolio level and is shared by every phone number in that portfolio, so adding numbers does not multiply your allowance (Meta changelog).

What are the messaging limit levels?

Source: Messaging limits, Meta for Developers, checked October 2026. Meta can change these figures; check its page for the current ones.

Messaging limits are separate from throughput. By default a business phone number on the Platform can send up to 80 messages per second (Meta documentation), and a number running in coexistence with the WhatsApp Business app is fixed at 20 messages per second (Meta documentation). Throughput is how fast you can send; the messaging limit is how many different people you can reach outside the window.

How do messaging limits grow?

Meta decides when a portfolio moves to a higher limit, and it publishes the conditions on its messaging limits page. Those conditions are controlled by Meta, not by any software you use on top of the Platform.

Meta also tracks a quality rating for business phone numbers: green (high), yellow (medium) or red (low), based on feedback such as blocks and reports from people who received your messages over the past 7 days (Meta Business Help Center). Meta covers quality rating and messaging limits together, so the practical advice is the same for both: message only people who opted in, keep content relevant and honor opt-outs, as WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy requires.

Do messaging limits apply to a QR-linked WhatsApp number?

No. The levels above exist only on the official WhatsApp Business Platform. A number connected by QR code uses WhatsApp's linked-device feature, the same mechanism as WhatsApp Web, and WhatsApp publishes no sending allowance for it. Instead, WhatsApp's Terms of Service prohibit bulk messaging and auto-messaging, and WhatsApp states its products are not intended for bulk or automated messaging (WhatsApp Help Center). Breaking those rules can lead to restrictions or a temporary or permanent ban.

So for a QR-linked number, treat the "limit" as normal conversation: reply to customers who contacted you, start one-to-one chats with people who asked to hear from you, and send in small batches of 5–10 messages at a time, never in bulk. If a number is brand new, use it normally on the phone for 15–20 days before linking it to any software. If you need to reach hundreds of people a day with templates, use a number on the WhatsApp Business Platform instead, where Meta publishes the rules and the limits.

How does whatsappx.si fit with messaging limits?

With whatsappx.si you scan the WhatsApp you already have with a QR code, and your whole team replies from one shared inbox. Keyword auto-replies are available today; AI replies are coming soon. Most inbox work is replying inside a customer service window, which is not what messaging limits measure.

If you also connect a number through the official WhatsApp Business Platform, an additional option in whatsappx.si, you can create message templates and sync them with Meta, and Meta applies your portfolio's messaging limit and quality rating to what you send. whatsappx.si does not offer bulk broadcast campaigns, and it cannot raise a limit or lift a restriction, because only Meta controls those.