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MESSAGING AND TEMPLATES
Free-form message
A free-form message is a WhatsApp message a business composes itself rather than sending an approved template. It can contain any text, media or interactive element and may only be sent inside an open 24-hour customer service window; outside it Meta rejects it and a template must be used instead. "Free-form" describes the content, not the price: From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for replies too; the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number are free.
session messagecustomer service windowmessage templatemeta october 2026 pricing change
Why it matters
Free-form is the normal way to talk to a customer, and designs that get customers to message first (QR codes, click-to-chat links, ads) let you reply without a template. From 1 October 2026 those replies are no longer unlimited at no cost: each business phone number gets 1,000 free a month, then pays the recipient market's utility rate (Rs 0.115 in India) per reply. Replies inside a free entry point window (up to 7 days) from a click-to-WhatsApp ad, and replies sent from the WhatsApp Business app on a coexistence number, stay free. The window constraint is unchanged: reply in time or send a template.
In VGraple CRM
Agents, flows and the AI reply free-form while the window is open; the system checks the window before every send and substitutes or offers a template when it has closed, so a send never fails silently with error 131047. Each WhatsApp number's card in Settings shows free replies used this month out of 1,000.