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Utility template
A WhatsApp template category for transactional updates tied to a specific order, account or appointment — confirmations, shipping updates, reminders. Rates are lower than marketing.
One term from the WhatsApp Business Platform glossary. Last updated 2026-07-25.
A utility template must relate to something the customer already did or agreed to: an order they placed, an appointment they booked, an account they hold. That specificity is what separates it from marketing in Meta's review.
The most common rejection in this category is a promotional call-to-action smuggled into an otherwise transactional message. An order confirmation that ends with a discount code for the next purchase is a marketing template wearing a utility label, and reviewers treat it that way.
Related terms
- Message category (Marketing, Utility, Authentication, Service)
- The four buckets Meta sorts WhatsApp conversations into. Marketing, Utility and Authentication are template messages and each carries its own rate; Service messages are free-form replies inside the 24-hour window, free until 1 October 2026 and charged per message after that.
- Marketing template
- A WhatsApp template category covering promotional content — offers, product launches, re-engagement. It carries the highest per-message rate and the strictest opt-in expectations.
- Template message
- A pre-approved message format required to contact a customer outside the 24-hour customer service window. Meta categorises templates as Marketing, Utility or Authentication, and charges a different rate for each.
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