> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dmly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# WhatsApp limits and quality rating

> How WhatsApp's 24-hour window, messaging tier and quality rating work, and which rules DMLY enforces versus which ones Meta enforces.

Almost every "why didn't that message send?" on WhatsApp comes down to one of two things: the
24-hour window, or an unapproved template. Your messaging tier and quality rating matter far
less day to day than people expect — and neither is something DMLY can change.

Start here: **the tier and quality rating you see in DMLY are read-only.** DMLY reads them from
Meta and shows them to you. Nothing in DMLY blocks, slows, or throttles a send based on either
value. If Meta decides you have hit your tier, Meta stops the message on its side — you will not
see a DMLY warning first.

## The limit that actually bites: the 24-hour window

WhatsApp only lets you send a normal, free-form message to a contact within **24 hours of their
last message to you**. The clock starts on their message, not yours, and it does not reset when
you reply.

Outside that window, the only thing WhatsApp delivers is an **approved template**. DMLY enforces
this the same way everywhere — in the Inbox composer, in Automations, in Broadcasts and in
Sequences — because they all read the same window.

<Warning>
  WhatsApp gives you no extension for human agents. The 7-day agent reply window you may have
  read about is a Messenger and Instagram rule only. On WhatsApp it is 24 hours, full stop.
</Warning>

When the window has closed on a conversation, the Inbox tells you plainly: **WhatsApp's 24-hour
customer-care window is closed for this conversation. To re-engage, send an APPROVED template —
free-form messages are blocked by Meta until the recipient texts back.** The composer then asks
you to pick a template.

See [Message templates](/broadcasts/message-templates) for how to get templates approved, and
[WhatsApp rules and limits](/broadcasts/whatsapp-rules-and-limits) for how this plays out across a
whole campaign.

## Messaging tier

Your messaging tier is Meta's cap on **how many different customers you can start a conversation
with in any 24 hours**. It does not limit replies to people who messaged you first.

Find it on **Bot Setup → WhatsApp → Configuration**, on the **Messaging limit** row. It reads as
one of:

| What you see                | What it means                            |
| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| **50 customers / 24h**      | Starting tier for an unverified business |
| **250 customers / 24h**     |                                          |
| **1,000 customers / 24h**   |                                          |
| **10,000 customers / 24h**  |                                          |
| **100,000 customers / 24h** |                                          |
| **Unlimited**               | No Meta-side cap on new conversations    |

Meta raises your tier automatically as you send more and keep quality up. DMLY has no button that
raises it, and no setting that lowers it.

<Note>
  This row is information, not a control. DMLY will happily hand Meta more conversations than your
  tier allows — Meta is the one that rejects them. If a large broadcast partially fails on a low
  tier, that is why.
</Note>

## Quality rating

The **Quality** badge on the same **Configuration** tab is Meta's read on how your recipients react
to you — mostly blocks and "report" taps.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Green" icon="circle-check">
    High quality. Nothing to do.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Yellow" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    Meta is seeing negative signals. Slow down and check what you are sending.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Red" icon="circle-exclamation">
    Low quality. Meta may pause templates or drop your tier.
  </Card>
</Columns>

Quality falls when people block you or report your messages — so it is driven by what you send and
to whom, not by anything you can configure. A template Meta pauses for quality shows up in DMLY as
**Rejected** on the Templates tab, which is often the first visible sign of a quality problem.

<Tip>
  The cheapest way to protect quality: only message people who asked to hear from you, keep
  templates useful rather than promotional, and respect opt-outs. DMLY suppresses opted-out contacts
  on every send automatically.
</Tip>

## What DMLY enforces vs what Meta enforces

Knowing which side stopped a message tells you where to go fix it.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="DMLY stops it" icon="shield-halved">
    The contact opted out. The 24-hour window is closed and the message is free-form. The template
    you picked is not approved by Meta. DMLY also paces its own sending per channel so a big
    broadcast goes out steadily instead of in one burst.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Meta stops it" icon="meta">
    You exceeded your messaging tier. Your quality rating triggered a template pause or a tier drop.
    Your number is not registered. Your WhatsApp Business account is restricted. None of these
    produce a DMLY-side warning before you send.
  </Card>
</Columns>

If sends fail and none of the DMLY reasons apply, the answer is on Meta's side — check
[WhatsApp account disabled or restricted](/channels/account-disabled), and see
[Logs](/troubleshooting/logs) for what DMLY recorded per message.

## Raise your limits

Raising a tier is entirely a Meta-side job. DMLY links you to the right Meta pages from
**Bot Setup → WhatsApp → Configuration**, under **WhatsApp Cloud API settings** — these open Meta,
they do not change anything in DMLY.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Add a payment method">
    Select **Open Meta Billing ↗**. WhatsApp Cloud API conversations bill to Meta, not to DMLY. With
    no payment method on file your sending stays capped.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete Business verification">
    Select **Open Business verification ↗**. As the page says: *Complete Meta Business verification
    to raise your WhatsApp Cloud API messaging limits.* This is the single biggest lever you have.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Keep quality green, then wait">
    Select **Open WhatsApp Manager ↗** to see Meta's own view of your number, display name and
    limits. Meta reviews and raises tiers on its own schedule once you are sending consistently at
    good quality.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Limits that hit broadcasts

<Accordion title="Some recipients failed and the rest went out">
  On a WhatsApp broadcast, a free-form text message to a contact whose 24-hour window has closed
  fails **for that recipient only** — the rest of the broadcast is unaffected. DMLY records the
  failure rather than silently dropping it. Send an approved template instead and it reaches
  everyone, window or no window.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="The reachable-only audience still includes closed windows">
  Limiting a broadcast to reachable contacts excludes people who **opted out**. It deliberately
  does not exclude closed windows, because on WhatsApp an approved template reaches them anyway.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Where is Marketing Messages on WhatsApp?">
  **Marketing Messages (paid)** only appears on Facebook and Instagram broadcasts — it is a Meta
  product for reaching opted-in subscribers outside the 24-hour window. On a WhatsApp broadcast the
  whole **Reach** section is not shown at all, so there is nothing to look for. It is also not live
  yet on Messenger and Instagram: the option carries a **Coming soon** badge, and selecting it
  replaces the composer with *Coming soon — pending Meta approval.* On WhatsApp, an approved
  template is how you reach someone outside the window.
</Accordion>

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Message templates" icon="file-lines" href="/broadcasts/message-templates">
    Get templates approved so you can message outside the 24-hour window.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No inbound messages" icon="inbox" href="/channels/no-inbound-messages">
    Nothing arriving from WhatsApp — usually a webhook or registration problem.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Account disabled" icon="ban" href="/channels/account-disabled">
    What to do when Meta restricts your WhatsApp Business account.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect WhatsApp" icon="whatsapp" href="/channels/whatsapp">
    Set up or re-register a WhatsApp Cloud API number.
  </Card>
</Columns>