On this page
Every WhatsApp template is filed under Marketing, Utility, Authentication or Service, and the category decides two things that matter: what each message costs and whether Meta's marketing frequency cap applies. VGraple CRM's validator checks your chosen category against the wording before you submit, because getting this wrong is expensive, not just cosmetic.
Categories and pricing
- 1Open the template builder
- 2Pick the category that matches the message
- 3Write the body, then watch the category
- 4Fix the mismatch, or accept the risk
- 5Submit
Before you start
- Category is chosen when you first create a template and can only be changed by Meta while the template is not yet approved; once approved, the category becomes locked to what Meta decided.
- You need the "Submit templates to Meta" permission to create or edit a template's category.
- No plan restricts which categories you can use; pricing differs by category, not by plan.
Steps
- Open the template builder. From Templates, click New Template, or open the gallery and pick a starting point. The category picker sits near the top of the form, right after the template name.
Pick the category that matches the message. The builder offers three choices directly: Utility ("Account updates, order confirmations, alerts"), Marketing ("Promotions, offers, announcements") and Authentication ("OTPs, verification codes"). Service is not a choice here at all, because it is not a template category; it only applies to free-form messages you send inside an open 24-hour conversation window.
Write the body, then watch the category prediction. As you type, the validator scans the body, header and footer for language patterns and quietly predicts what category Meta is likely to see: order, delivery, appointment and payment language reads as Utility; OTP, verification and one-time-code language reads as Authentication; and words like "offer", "discount", "limited time" or "hurry" read as Marketing. If your chosen category does not match the prediction with medium or high confidence, a warning appears under the category picker naming the specific words it caught.
Fix the mismatch, or accept the risk. If you genuinely meant Utility but the wording reads as promotional, rewrite it to be strictly transactional. If you knowingly want the promotional wording, switch the category to Marketing and accept the higher rate; the validator lets you continue once you acknowledge a high-confidence mismatch.
Submit. Meta reviews both the content and the category together. It can approve exactly what you asked for, or approve it under a different category than you chose, in which case the template's category updates automatically to whatever Meta decided.
What you will see
The template's category is shown as a badge next to its name everywhere it appears: the Templates list, the broadcast composer, the flow builder's template picker, and the inbox's send-template menu. If Meta approved a different category than you submitted, or later recategorised it, the badge reflects the current category, not your original choice, and the template's own page notes when the category last changed.
Settings and options
| Category | Typical content | India price per message (card effective 1 October 2026) | Marketing frequency cap applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, discounts, launches, invitations to come back | Rs 0.8631 | Yes |
| Utility | Order confirmations, appointment reminders, account alerts tied to something the customer did | Rs 0.115, inside or outside the 24-hour window | No |
| Authentication | OTPs and verification codes, fixed layout Meta defines | Rs 0.115 | No |
| Service | Free-form replies inside an open 24-hour conversation window | First 1,000 a month on each number at no charge, then Rs 0.115 each | Not applicable (not a template category) |
Utility templates are charged per delivered message, including inside the 24-hour window, from 1 October 2026. Until 30 September 2026 a utility template delivered inside an open window was free; that exemption ends, so the utility rate above applies to every delivery. Marketing and authentication templates are always charged. From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for replies too; the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number are free. The only window that makes templates free is a free entry point window (up to 7 days), opened when a customer messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call-to-action button. Meta bills these charges directly at its own published rates, with no markup added by VGraple CRM. The template editor notes that utility templates are charged inside the window from 1 October 2026, and Meta's 1 October 2026 pricing change covers the rest. Rates for other countries are on the WhatsApp API pricing pages.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "This template reads as MARKETING" warning under a Utility template | The validator found three or more marketing-signal words (offer, discount, sale, limited time, exclusive, and similar) in the body, header or footer | Remove the promotional language to keep it Utility, or switch the category to Marketing before submitting |
| Approved template's badge shows a different category than you chose | Meta approved it under a category it judged more accurate than your submission | Nothing to fix if the new category is correct; if it is not, edit the wording to match your intended category and resubmit |
| Template's price suddenly increased | Meta recategorised an approved template from Utility to Marketing because the wording reads as promotional | See template recategorised from utility to marketing for the fix and how to appeal |
| "A [category] template's validity window must be [range]" error | The message validity (TTL) you set falls outside Meta's allowed range for the chosen category | Set the TTL within 1-15 minutes for Authentication, 30 seconds-12 hours for Utility, or 12 hours-30 days for Marketing |
| Authentication template rejected for having body text | Authentication templates use a fixed Meta-defined layout with no free text field of your own | Only the security recommendation toggle, code expiry and OTP button type are yours to set; Meta supplies the wording |
Related reading
Once your category is settled, the next places to check are what happens if Meta later recategorises a template and what every validator message actually means, since the category-mismatch warning is one of roughly thirty checks the validator runs before you submit.