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MESSAGING AND TEMPLATES
Template category
A template category is Meta's classification of a message template as marketing, utility or authentication, based on its content and purpose. The category determines what Meta charges per delivered message, which delivery rules apply (frequency caps, pacing, opt-out expectations), and whether Meta may later reassign it after reviewing how it is used.
marketing templateutility templateauthentication templatetemplate recategorisation
Why it matters
The category is the biggest cost lever on WhatsApp: in India a utility message costs Rs 0.115 and a marketing message Rs 0.8631. Meta decides the category during review and can recategorise a template later if its content or the way it is used reads as promotional. Marketing templates are also subject to the per-user frequency cap, pacing and the United States pause; utility templates are not.
In VGraple CRM
The builder suggests a category from your content and flags wording that will push a utility template into marketing (offers, discounts, upsells in a transactional message). Cost previews on broadcasts use the live category, and the template list shows recategorisation events as they happen so a campaign is never billed at a rate you did not expect.
Related terms
Marketing template, Utility template, Authentication template, Template recategorisation.