On this page
A service message is a message a business sends without a template inside the customer service window: text, media, interactive messages and product messages. The window opens, and resets, each time the customer writes to you.
MESSAGING AND TEMPLATES
Service conversation / service message
A service conversation is the 24-hour period that opens whenever a customer sends you a message on WhatsApp. Inside it you can reply free-form, and Meta calls those replies service messages. From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for replies too; the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number are free. Templates are billed by category whether or not the window is open.
customer service windowfree form messageper message pricingmeta october 2026 pricing change
Why it matters
Under the retired conversation-based pricing, businesses paid per 24-hour window. Per-message pricing arrived on 1 July 2025 and left replies free, which made inbound-led designs (QR codes, click-to-chat links, ads that open a chat) the cheapest way to run WhatsApp. That changes on 1 October 2026: each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month, shared by 1:1 and group replies and by every Messaging account on the number, with no rollover. After that each reply is charged at the recipient market's utility rate (Rs 0.115 in India). Replies inside a free entry point window (up to 7 days), and replies sent from the WhatsApp Business app on a coexistence number, stay free. What the October 2026 change means for you.
In VGraple CRM
The inbox shows the remaining window on every conversation and switches the composer to templates when it closes. Each WhatsApp number's card in Settings shows free replies used this month out of 1,000 and the rate after that, and once charging has started a short line under the reply box shows the free replies left. Flows reply free-form inside the window and fall back to a template outside it.
Related terms
Customer service window, Free-form message, Per-message pricing, Utility template.