All You Need to Know | WhatsApp Business API Policy Changes, Features, Pricing Updates

Conversations are reshaping how brands connect with their customers. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the latest changes from Meta on WhatsApp Business API, aiming to help your business navigate and adapt to the evolving messaging landscape.

We’ve organized the key updates into three sections: Pricing Changes, New End-User Experience Features, Policy, API and Template management Updates

TL;DR:

WhatsApp has moved to message-based pricing across categories, with volume-tiered discounted rates for utility and authentication messages starting 1 July 2025. Good news: Starting 1 May, user-initiated voice calls on WhatsApp are free globally. New UX features include tappable image headers and in-app webview for links. Note that WhatsApp is also getting stricter about properly categorizing message templates..

WhatsApp Pricing Changes

Several significant pricing changes are taking effect throughout 2025:

• Already Effective (November 1, 2024): Service conversations are free for businesses with unlimited free tier conversations (previously capped at 1,000). 

24 hour service windows starts from the time first message from the customer

Within this window, send free form messages (AI, structured messages or through your human agents) without incurring additional Meta costs.

• February 1, 2025: Authentication-international rates expanded to 7 additional markets across APAC and EMEA
  
• April 1, 2025: Authentication-International rate reductions in 4 markets:
  • Egypt: ↓ 22%
  • Nigeria: ↓ 25%
  • Pakistan: ↓ 42%
  • South Africa: ↓ 29%
    

• May 1, 2025: User-initiated calls on WhatsApp Business Calling API will no longer incur any charges by Meta. This applies to all countries. 

• July 1, 2025:
  
  • All template categories move from per conversation to per message pricing
  • WhatsApp utility message pricing is at par with, or even lower than SMS in regions such as India, SEA, the Middle East, and Latin America.
  • Importantly, utility templates sent within a customer service window will be free for all businesses, incurring no extra Meta costs.
  • Utility and authentication messages pricing will now follow telescopic pricing with per message rates based on your monthly volumes. This tiered pricing means lower per message rate for higher volumes, and discounted rates will be calculated at the Facebook Business Manager (FBM) ID level.
  • Per-message pricing will apply to all message categories:
    • Marketing template messages
    • Authentication template messages
    • Utility template messages outside a customer service window

WhatsApp Business API: New Features for Enhanced UX 

Tappable Image Headers

WhatsApp has introduced tappable image headers for marketing message templates, allowing users to preview CTA destinations before clicking. Key details:

• Combines a single image + text + CTA button
• Shows URL title and domain as visual cues to the destination
• Progressive rollout in the coming months
• Requires no additional implementation from businesses

Best Practices:

• Use high-quality images that remain visible within message bubbles
• Keep website titles brief and relevant to set accurate customer expectations
• Avoid cluttering images with excessive text

In-App Webview Experience

Starting from late April 2025, WhatsApp is gradually introducing an in-app webview experience that will transform how users interact with links:

• Links now open within WhatsApp instead of redirecting to external browsers
• Users enjoy native navigation with gesture-based controls
• Session continuity allows users to minimize and resume from where they left off
• Deep link support enables integration with device features like payments and camera

By the end of 2025, this will become the default way links open across all devices, requiring no changes to existing campaigns while significantly improving user experience and conversion rates.

Voice Calling on WhatsApp + Free user-initiated calls

WhatsApp has enhanced its voice calling capabilities for businesses:

• Automatic downloads and playback support
• Built-in transcription features
• Improved accessibility through translation options

Important update: Starting May 1, 2025, Meta will no longer charge for user-initiated calls made using the WhatsApp Business Calling API, including calls initiated via native entry points, interactive messages, templates, or deep links.

This free calling applies to all countries where WhatsApp voice works, and is great for businesses with international customers and those who target high-net-worth individuals. Additionally, complex purchase decisions such as real estate, insurance, and product categories that require agent assistance benefit from this change.

Character limits in message templates

Meta is testing new text and emoji limits on templates to improve the customer experience. Customers react positively to short, crisp messages that give them the information they need, increasing engagement and actions. 

The text limit is now under 550 characters, with emoticons limited to under 10. This applies to both marketing and utility messages, and both on MM Lite and Cloud API. 

Policy, API and Template Updates 

Template Re-categorization and Restrictions

To maintain the integrity of utility messaging and prevent misuse for promotional purposes, Meta has tightened template categorization rules for WhatsApp.

Starting July 1, 2024, Meta began daily reviews and automatic template recategorization that did not align with their originally approved category. Businesses used to receive a 1-day advance notice before changes take effect.

Starting April 16, 2025, after receiving a written warning, businesses will no longer get a 24-hour notice before approved utility templates are reclassified to marketing. In this case, template review requests will also be disabled for 7 days. On continued misuse, restrictions can extend up to 30 days.

Minimizing the Impact of Template Recategorization

To reduce the potential impact of utility template restrictions, consider the following best practices:

• Adhere to WhatsApp’s template categorization guidelines, avoiding using utility templates for promotional content to prevent automatic recategorization as marketing. 
• Make marketing personalized and targeted based on customer context, for higher engagement without bloating messaging spends.
• When customers respond to a message, use the 24-hour service window to answer queries or drive assisted selling. Use free-form replies, two-way journeys and Gupshup AI Agents, to grow engagement without incurring extra Meta costs

E.g. Use the Gupshup Order Management AI Agent to answer customer queries about delivery status, returns, exchange process. Within a 24 hour window, additional utility messages will not incur additional Meta costs. Encourage customers to initiate a chat, and use AI Agents to drive warranty sales, cross-sell compatible products and more. These interactions will incur no additional Meta charges as a 24 hour service window opens when customers initiate messages.

MM Lite API

Meta introduced a new optimized messaging approach that addresses reach-related challenges for marketing messages, overcoming blanket frequency capping associated with Cloud API.

MM Lite API adjusts frequency capping per user, by using Meta’s ad ecosystem to prioritize messages with the highest likelihood of being read, at per user level. This includes customer signals from the Meta ecosystem, template aggregated reads (i.e. how often the template has been opened across Meta) and template anonymized reads (i.e., insights from similar users’ engagement).

You can easily switch to MM Lite using your existing marketing message templates on Cloud API and get 10-15% higher delivery and read rates, and unlock new features like time-to-live and app deep links. Know more on optimized marketing messages here. 

Migration to Shared Account Model

Meta is transitioning WhatsApp Enterprise customers from the On-Behalf-Of (OBO) model to a Shared Account Model:

Timeline:

• March 24, 2025: New replacement onboarding flow available, with existing OBO flow continuing for 6 months
• March 24 – September 30, 2025: Migration period for existing OBO accounts
• September 30, 2025: OBO onboarding flow will no longer be available
• October 1, 2025: Final deadline for migration; Meta will initiate conversion of remaining OBO accounts

Benefits for Businesses:

• Direct access to Meta Business Manager dashboard
• Ability to view message insights directly
• Full WABA ownership via Meta Business Manager
• Access to the latest WhatsApp Business features

Marketing Message Experiment

Meta is conducting an experiment by withholding delivery of marketing messages to a small test group.

Since 2023, Meta has been withholding delivery of marketing messages to a very small set of WhatsApp users to analyze the impact of these messages on user engagement, to improve the quality and sensitivity of its marketing message analyses.

Over May and June 2025, this customer holdout group will be updated. As a result, businesses may notice a slight drop in the delivery of marketing messages. If a marketing message is not delivered because the user is part of the holdout, the webhook will return an error “User’s number is part of an experiment”

Note that Meta does not charge for undelivered messages due to this withholding. This experiment applies only to marketing messages, therefore utility messages and active conversations will not be impacted. Meta will share insights from this experiment via updated developer documentation and best practices after the experiment is completed. 

To mitigate impact of such experiments and delivery failures, we recommend using Gupshup’s channel failover feature with fallback to RCS or SMS. 

Maximize Your Customer Engagement with Gupshup Conversation Cloud

As Meta’s #1 global partner, with Gupshup you get early access to Meta’s cutting edge features, and ability to do more with your messaging investments. By leveraging the right channel for the right use case, and automating entire processes, you can optimize costs, create customer stickiness and drive higher ROI. A glimpse of what you get with Gupshup:

Omni-channel Messaging

Connect with customers across WhatsApp, RCS, SMS, Instagram, webchat, voice and more—all from a single platform. To address reach challenges due to delivery failures and channel restrictions or withholding messages, use channel failover across channels like RCS, WhatsApp and SMS. 

Multi-modal AI Agents

AI Agents can understand and respond to text, voice, and visual inputs, creating truly intuitive conversational experiences.These agents understand your business goals, leverage customer data, and integrate seamlessly with your business systems to personalize interactions and orchestrate workflows, resulting in higher conversions, more sales and self-serve support.

Optimized Audience and Send Times

Use AI propensity scoring models to identify users with high likelihood to respond, so you are not wasting money on people who anyway won’t read and engage with campaigns. Additionally, with send time optimization, you can improve CTR and reduce cost per read, by targeting customers at a time slot they are most active. 

Personalized interactions from marketing to customer support

Make every customer journey unique through tailored campaigns, AI Agents for product discovery, order related queries and customer support. Leverage customer actions, transaction history, intent signals, preferences and funnel stage.

Convert more with super-relevant trigger push campaigns

Orchestrate drip marketing campaigns that trigger based on 3rd party events or signals on messaging channels like reads, clicks, product searches, order abandoned, delivery collected. Accelerate deployment with a repository of ready templates fine-tuned to your industry’s context, processes and terminology.

Trusted Expertise at Global Scale

Our platform handles billions of messages monthly, combining scale with innovative AI-powered solutions that stay ahead of industry trends. Backed by dedicated implementation teams, we ensure smooth deployment and ongoing optimization for your business messaging needs.

Ready to transform your customer engagement with the latest WhatsApp Business API features and Gupshup Conversation Cloud? Let’s build stronger, more meaningful customer relationships together. Schedule a consultation here.

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