WhatsApp template checker

The three WhatsApp template categories

Every WhatsApp message template carries one of three categories, and Meta prices each message by it.

Authentication templates may open with the code because Meta supplies that wording. Only they may carry a one-time passcode.

How Meta decides the category

You choose a category when you submit. Meta then reads the wording, and the wording wins. Utility has to be non-promotional and triggered by something the user did or requested, or be safety-critical. If the purpose of the message is to sell, even gently, it reads as marketing.

Since 9 April 2025, when you submit a template as utility and Meta decides it is marketing, Meta approves it as marketing instead of rejecting it. API users get a template_category_update webhook. Meta also re-checks approved templates on an ongoing basis. A utility template that has drifted into marketing is moved with one day's notice, or straight away for repeat cases since 16 April 2025. You have 60 days to appeal a change. (Source: Meta's template categorization docs, checked 24 September 2026.)

Why "utility with a coupon" becomes marketing

Meta's rule on mixed content is short: a template that mixes utility and marketing content is marketing. An order update with a promo code, or a feedback survey that offers a discount: both marketing. In the UAE that moves the message from roughly AED 0.058 to roughly AED 0.183, about three times the price. The fix is to split it. Send the order update as utility, and send the offer separately, as marketing, to people who opted in. More patterns that pass: WhatsApp message templates in the UAE.

Why WhatsApp templates get rejected: a checklist

These reasons come from Meta's template review page (checked 24 September 2026).

• The body starts or ends with a variable. Meta calls these dangling parameters. "{{1}}, thanks for your order" fails; "Hi {{1}}, thanks for your order." passes.
• Placeholders are malformed: missing or mismatched curly braces. The correct format is {{1}}, or a named parameter in lowercase with underscores, such as {{first_name}}.
• Variables are not sequential, for example {{1}}, {{2}}, {{4}} with no {{3}}.
• Variables contain special characters such as #, $ or %.
• Too many variables for the amount of text.
• No sample values. Every variable needs an example when you submit.
• The template asks for sensitive identifiers, such as a full card number or a national ID number.
• Abusive or threatening content, for example threatening a customer with legal action.
• The offer breaks the WhatsApp Commerce Policy.
• It duplicates an existing template with the same body and footer.
• The body is over 1,024 characters, or uses more emojis than Meta allows.

Two more are reported often by WhatsApp providers, though Meta's review page does not list them: two variables side by side ({{1}} {{2}}) and link shorteners such as bit.ly. The checker warns on both. Use your full, branded URL instead. Meta says review can take up to 24 hours.

How the cost is calculated

Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per message, not per conversation. You pay only when a template message is delivered, and the rate depends on two things: the template's category and the country calling code of the recipient's number. A +966 number is billed at the Saudi rate even if you send from Dubai.

UAE rates, approximate and set by Meta: marketing about AED 0.183, utility about AED 0.058, authentication about AED 0.058. Nine markets, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Egypt, also have an authentication-international rate. It applies to businesses based in another country once they pass Meta's volume threshold, with 30 days' notice. For the full table, see the UAE WhatsApp rate card, and to model a whole month across message types, the WhatsApp pricing calculator.

Meta publishes rate cards in USD and a few local currencies, including AED, SAR, EUR, GBP and INR. Other currencies in the checker are converted at a recent market rate, so treat them as estimates.

The 24-hour window

When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens. Inside it you can reply without a template. Outside it, every business-initiated message has to be an approved template. Free-form replies and utility templates sent inside an open window are free until 30 September 2026. From 1 October 2026 Meta charges both per delivered message, at about the utility rate of the recipient's market (about AED 0.058 in the UAE). Marketing templates are charged whether a window is open or not. A customer who arrives from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad opens a 72-hour free entry point window, during which all messages are free.

This is a prediction, Meta decides

The checker runs keyword and pattern rules in your browser. It does not call Meta and cannot see your account history or quality rating. Use it to catch obvious problems before you submit, then trust the category Meta returns. If you would rather not do this yourself, our WhatsApp Business API service handles templates and sends for you. Rates are set by Meta, approximate, and change, so confirm Meta's current rate card before a large send.