Sending limits
WhatsApp Official Business API vs Direct Send
WB sender sends through your own WhatsApp, exactly like the app on your phone — which means Meta's daily sending limit applies to it too. Here is what that means, and what to do when you outgrow it.
How WB sender sends today
WB sender uses the Direct Send method. It links to your own WhatsApp account and sends from it — exactly as if you were typing each message yourself in the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app on your phone. Nothing is routed through a third party, there is no charge per message, and your recipients see your normal number.
- WB sender on your phone
- Your own linked WhatsApp
- Your recipients
Why there is a daily limit
Because Direct Send is the WhatsApp app, it inherits every rule the app has. Meta has introduced a cap on how many messages an account may send from the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app in a single day. That cap applies to WB sender in exactly the same way. No bulk-sending tool can lift it, because the limit lives on WhatsApp's side, not ours.
The exact number is not published and is not the same for everyone — it moves with your account's age, its history, and how recipients react to your messages. Expect it to change over time.
The two ways to send
Neither is better than the other. They are built for different volumes.
- Daily volume
- Direct Send: Capped by Meta, like the phone app.
- Official Business API: Built for high volume; the allowance rises with your quality rating.
- Cost per message
- Direct Send: Nothing beyond WB sender.
- Official Business API: Meta charges per message, at a rate set by country.
- What you can send
- Direct Send: Anything, written freely.
- Official Business API: Marketing and utility need a Meta-approved template.
Get WhatsApp Business API from our partner
No markup, no per-user fees, and you set it up yourself in about five minutes.
If the Business API from Meta is your next step, we recommend WizMessage. It is the same Meta platform every provider runs on — the difference is the bill. You pay Meta's per-message fee, plus the lowest monthly subscription we have found. Nothing in between.
- Meta's per-message fee is what you pay — nothing added on top of it.
- The lowest monthly subscription in the market — and that is the whole bill.
- Grow your team without growing the bill — there is no per-user charge.
- No business verification queue to sit in: coexistence onboarding means you set it up yourself and start sending in about five minutes.
WizMessage is a partner of ours. The Meta per-message rates linked above are published by Meta and are the same for every provider.
When you should move to the Business API
Direct Send covers most day-to-day sending perfectly well. The moment to look at the Official WhatsApp Business API is when the daily cap stops being an occasional annoyance and becomes your ceiling.
- You regularly reach the end of the day with messages still waiting to go out.
- Your contact list is growing faster than you can send to it.
- The messages are business-critical — order updates, reminders, alerts — and cannot wait until tomorrow.
- You want a verified business identity rather than sending from a personal number.
The Official API is not free — the honest picture
None of it is obvious from the outside.
Templates need Meta's approval
You cannot simply type what you want. Marketing and utility messages have to be submitted as a template and approved by Meta before you may send them. A rejected template has to be reworded and resubmitted.
Meta charges per message
Every message costs money. Meta sets the rate per country and per message category, so check what your own country costs before you budget for it.
See Meta's per-message rates for your country (opens in your browser)
Most platforms charge on top
Meta's fee is only part of the bill. Providers such as Wati and Twilio add their own markup to every message, then charge a monthly subscription per user on top of that. Two providers paying Meta the same rate can still invoice you very differently.