WhatsApp Templates & Billing
Available
Order alerts, COD confirmations and stock alerts reach people who have not messaged you recently. WhatsApp does not allow plain messages to those people, so Botvee sends an approved template instead — and Meta charges your own WhatsApp Business account for it, not Botvee.
The 24-hour window
Meta's rule is simple: once a customer messages your WhatsApp number, you can reply freely for 24 hours at no cost. After that you need an approved template to start the conversation again, and that template is paid.
| Message | Window | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Your agent's reply, or any plain message | Open | Free |
| Utility template (order, COD, stock, booking) | Open | Free |
| Utility template | Closed | Charged per message |
| Marketing template (cart, browse reminders) | Open or closed | Charged per message, the highest rate |
| Plain message | Closed | Never delivered |
What opens the window — and what does not
- The customer's own message opens it — a chat, a reply, or a button tap, and each new one restarts the 24 hours
- Your own outgoing messages do NOT open it, however many you send
- The window belongs to one phone number and one business number — a chat on another agent's WhatsApp does not help here
Important
Error 131047 “Re-engagement message” means exactly this: the window was closed and a plain message was attempted. Meta accepts the API call, then reports the failure on the status webhook, and the customer receives nothing.
What a template is
A template is a message you write once and Meta reviews before it can be sent. The parts that change every time — product name, order number, total — are left as {{1}}, {{2}} placeholders and filled in at send time.
- Approval usually takes a few minutes; nothing sends until Meta approves it
- A template is identified by its name AND its language, so the same template can exist in English and Roman Urdu at the same time
- Meta can reclassify a template's category if the wording does not match it — promotional wording in a utility template raises its rate
Utility vs marketing
The category decides the price, and Botvee sets it to match what the message actually does.
| Category | Used for | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Utility | Order alerts, order confirmations, COD confirmation, back-in-stock alerts, booking updates | Lower — and free while the customer's 24-hour window is open |
| Marketing | Abandoned cart reminders, browse abandonment reminders | Highest, and charged even inside an open window |
Tip
Sending a utility template while the customer's window is still open costs nothing. This is why Botvee always tries a plain message first — the free route is attempted before the paid one.
How Botvee decides
- Only the customer's own messages count toward the window — messages Botvee sent do not
- With no template selected for that feature, Botvee attempts plain text as a last resort and logs why it failed
- The choice is per agent and per feature, so cart reminders and order alerts can use different templates
Botvee's templates
Botvee writes and creates these for you, each in English and Roman Urdu.
| What it does | Template name | Category |
|---|---|---|
| New order alert, to you | botvee_new_order_alert | Utility |
| Order received, to the customer | botvee_order_confirmed | Utility |
| COD order confirmation | botvee_cod_confirm | Utility |
| Back-in-stock alert | botvee_back_in_stock | Utility |
| Booking confirmation / reminder | botvee_booking_update | Utility |
| Abandoned cart reminder | botvee_cart_reminder | Marketing |
| Browse abandonment reminder | botvee_browse_reminder | Marketing |
Creating a template
You can do this in either place — from Botvee, or directly in Meta. Most owners never need to open Meta at all.
From your Botvee dashboard
- 1
Open the feature's Settings
Stock Alerts, Recovery, Browse Abandonment or COD Confirmation
- 2
Find the “WhatsApp template” section
- 3
Choose the language
English or Roman Urdu
- 4
Click Create Botvee's template and read the preview: this is the exact message Meta will review
- 5
Send for approval; the status shows pending, then approved
- 6
Once approved, pick it in the dropdown so that feature uses it
From the Meta portal
- 1
Open business.facebook.com and go to WhatsApp Manager
- 2
Open Message templates and click Create template
- 3
Choose the category
Utility for order and delivery messages, Marketing for promotions
- 4
Write the body, and add sample values for every {{1}} placeholder
Meta rejects a template without them
- 5
Submit for review
- 6
Back in Botvee, open the feature's Settings and select your template from the dropdown
Note
A template written in Meta appears in Botvee's dropdown automatically — Botvee reads every template on your WhatsApp Business Account, whoever created it.
Tip
Meta rejects a body that begins or ends with a placeholder, and one that is mostly placeholders with little real text. Write a real sentence and fill in only what changes.
Who pays, and how much
Meta bills template messages to the WhatsApp Business Account that sends them — your own Meta account. Botvee never charges for them and never sees your card.
- Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per template message, not per 24-hour conversation
- The rate depends on the customer's country and the template's category
- Service messages — your agent's replies inside an open window — remain free
- Your real numbers are in WhatsApp Manager → Insights
Adding a payment method in Meta
This is done once, in Meta's own Business Manager. Without it, template messages stop as soon as Meta's free allowance runs out.
- 1
Open business.facebook.com and sign in with the Facebook account you used to connect WhatsApp
- 2
Go to WhatsApp Manager
- 3
Open Settings and then Billing & payments
- 4
Click Add payment method and choose your country and currency
the currency cannot be changed later
- 5
Enter a credit or debit card; Meta may take a small verification charge and refund it
- 6
If you have more than one WhatsApp Business Account, attach the payment method to the one connected to Botvee
- 7
Check WhatsApp Manager → Insights
sent messages and their cost appear there
Important
With no payment method, template messages fail once the free allowance is used up. Your agent's ordinary replies keep working because they are free, so it looks like only order, COD and stock messages are broken — the cause is billing, not the feature.
When something is not arriving
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Error 131047 on the status webhook | The window was closed and no template was used — select one for that feature |
| Template stuck on pending | Meta is still reviewing it; nothing sends until it is approved |
| Template rejected | The wording did not pass review — edit it in Meta, or create Botvee's version instead |
| Ordinary replies work but order and stock messages do not | No payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account, or the free allowance is finished |