[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":94},["ShallowReactive",2],{"pseo:vs-cloud-api:send-message-without-template":3,"highlight:vs-cloud-api:send-message-without-template":90},{"availability":4,"ban_risk":5,"ban_risk_note":6,"cloud_api_status":7,"demand":8,"facts":9,"faqs":34,"feature":45,"meta":49,"official_workaround":50,"related":51,"seo":64,"short_verdict":77,"slug":47,"tier":78,"updated":11,"url":72,"verdict":79,"wapito_endpoint":80},"ga","medium","No templates means no gatekeeper, and the gatekeeper was doing something useful. Everything that keeps a number safe is now yours to enforce: message people who asked to hear from you, pace the sends, warm the number up, and make opting out trivial. Wapito serialises and spaces every send for this reason, and never bypasses it for premium.","restricted","high",[10,16,22,28],{"checked":11,"claim":12,"key":13,"quote":14,"source_url":15},"2026-09-15","Meta's Cloud API reference documents no endpoints for creating or administering WhatsApp groups. There is no way to create a group, list one, add or remove participants, manage admins, or read an invite link, and no documented way to obtain a group id in the first place.","groups_unsupported","Paraphrase (not a verbatim quote), read from the Cloud API reference index on the checked date: the reference covers sending messages to WhatsApp users and managing message templates; no group node or edge appears in it. The messages reference does list a group recipient type, but no endpoint returns or creates a group id, so the value cannot be obtained.","https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.facebook.com\u002Fdocs\u002Fwhatsapp\u002Fcloud-api\u002Freference",{"checked":11,"claim":17,"cost_label":18,"key":19,"quote":20,"source_url":21},"A business may send free-form messages only inside a 24-hour customer service window that the user opens by messaging or calling. Once the window closes, only pre-approved template messages may be sent.","Writing to someone first","template_and_24h_window","\"When a WhatsApp user messages you or calls you, a 24-hour timer called a customer service window starts.\" and \"When the window closes, you can only send pre-approved template messages.\" (both verbatim)","https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.facebook.com\u002Fdocs\u002Fwhatsapp\u002Fcloud-api\u002Fguides\u002Fsend-messages",{"checked":11,"claim":23,"cost_label":24,"key":25,"quote":26,"source_url":27},"Meta charges for the WhatsApp Business Platform per message rather than per conversation. The earlier per-conversation model was replaced on 1 July 2025, so any comparison written before that date is out of date; free entry point windows remain an exception.","Every message you send","per_message_pricing","\"Effective July 1, 2025, Meta charges on a per-message basis\" (verbatim). The same page describes Free Entry Point windows, which stay open for 72 hours and carry no charge for messages sent while open.","https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.facebook.com\u002Fdocs\u002Fwhatsapp\u002Fpricing",{"checked":11,"claim":29,"cost_label":30,"key":31,"quote":32,"source_url":33},"Apps that need advanced access to Meta's permissions may have to complete Business Verification, a process in which Meta collects information to verify the business entity. It is a real onboarding step with a real elapsed time, and it has no equivalent when you link a number you already own.","Getting onto the platform","business_verification","\"As of February 1, 2023, if your app requires advanced level access to permissions, you might need to complete Business Verification.\" and \"Business Verification is a process that allows us to gather information about you and your Business so we can verify your identity as a business entity.\" (both verbatim)","https:\u002F\u002Fdevelopers.facebook.com\u002Fdocs\u002Fdevelopment\u002Frelease\u002Fbusiness-verification",[35,39,42],{"a":36,"q":37,"source":38},"It is outside the official platform, which is a different statement. Wapito drives a real linked device, the same way the desktop app does, and WhatsApp can ban a number it judges to be misbehaving. No provider can promise otherwise, which is why every page here carries a ban-risk note rather than a guarantee.","Is sending without a template against WhatsApp's rules?","features.json",{"a":40,"q":41,"source":38},"Nothing technical - and that is precisely why your own discipline has to. The window existed to stop businesses messaging people who had not asked. Keep an opt-in record, honour opt-outs immediately, and pace first contacts, because the abuse systems still exist even when the window does not.","What replaces the 24-hour window?",{"a":43,"q":44,"source":38},"There is no template system here to use, because there is no approval layer. If your use case genuinely fits templates - predictable transactional notices to customers who expect them - the official Cloud API is the better tool and we will say so on the comparison page.","Can I still use templates if I want to?",{"name":46,"slug":47,"url":48},"Send Without Template","send-message-without-template","\u002Fwhatsapp-api\u002Fsend-message-without-template\u002F",{"checked":11,"doc_url":21,"quote":20},"Create a template, submit it for approval, wait, and send that. It works for predictable transactional copy and is charged per message. It does not work for anything conversational, anything that changes often, or anything you did not anticipate at approval time.",{"alternatives":52,"glossary":53,"matrix":63,"pillar":48},[],[54,57,60],{"title":55,"url":56},"Cloud API","\u002Fglossary\u002Fcloud-api\u002F",{"title":58,"url":59},"Cold send","\u002Fglossary\u002Fcold-send\u002F",{"title":61,"url":62},"ACK","\u002Fglossary\u002Fack\u002F","\u002Fvs-cloud-api\u002F",{"breadcrumb":65,"canonical":73,"description":74,"h1":75,"lastmod":11,"title":76},[66,69,71],{"name":67,"url":68},"Home","\u002F",{"name":70,"url":63},"vs Cloud API",{"name":46,"url":72},"\u002Fvs-cloud-api\u002Fsend-message-without-template\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Fwapito.com\u002Fvs-cloud-api\u002Fsend-message-without-template\u002F","Only inside a 24-hour window opened by the customer. What Meta's own documentation says, the official workaround and how Wapito send free-form text instead.","Can the official WhatsApp API send free-form text?","Can the Official WhatsApp API Send Free-form Text? | Wapito","Only inside a 24-hour window opened by the customer.","t4","Meta's own guide is explicit: a 24-hour customer service window opens when the user contacts you, and once it closes only pre-approved templates may be sent. Free-form business-initiated messaging is therefore not possible on the official platform - not as a policy preference, but as a documented platform rule, with per-message charges on top.",{"availability":4,"ban_risk":5,"curl":81,"method":84,"operationId":85,"path":86,"summary":87,"tag":88,"url":89},{"code":82,"lang":83},"curl --request POST \\\n  --url https:\u002F\u002Fapi.wapito.com\u002Fv1\u002Fmessages\u002Ftext \\\n  --header 'Authorization: Bearer wpt_YOUR_TOKEN' \\\n  --header 'Content-Type: application\u002Fjson' \\\n  --data '{\"to\":\"+15551234567\",\"body\":\"Your order #4182 has shipped. Track it here: https:\u002F\u002Facme.example\u002Ft\u002F4182\",\"typing_time\":3}'","bash","POST","sendText","\u002Fmessages\u002Ftext","Send a text message","messages","\u002Fdocs\u002Fapi\u002Fmessages\u002Fsend-text\u002F",[91],{"label":92,"id":92,"lang":83,"code":82,"html":93},"curl","\u003Cpre class=\"shiki shiki-themes github-light-default github-dark-default\" style=\"background-color:#ffffff;--shiki-dark-bg:#0d1117;color:#1f2328;--shiki-dark:#e6edf3\" tabindex=\"0\">\u003Ccode>\u003Cspan class=\"line\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:#953800;--shiki-dark:#FFA657\">curl\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0550AE;--shiki-dark:#79C0FF\"> --request\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0A3069;--shiki-dark:#A5D6FF\"> POST\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#CF222E;--shiki-dark:#FF7B72\"> \\\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\n\u003Cspan class=\"line\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0550AE;--shiki-dark:#79C0FF\">  --url\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0A3069;--shiki-dark:#A5D6FF\"> https:\u002F\u002Fapi.wapito.com\u002Fv1\u002Fmessages\u002Ftext\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#CF222E;--shiki-dark:#FF7B72\"> \\\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\n\u003Cspan class=\"line\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0550AE;--shiki-dark:#79C0FF\">  --header\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0A3069;--shiki-dark:#A5D6FF\"> 'Authorization: Bearer wpt_YOUR_TOKEN'\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#CF222E;--shiki-dark:#FF7B72\"> \\\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\n\u003Cspan class=\"line\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0550AE;--shiki-dark:#79C0FF\">  --header\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0A3069;--shiki-dark:#A5D6FF\"> 'Content-Type: application\u002Fjson'\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#CF222E;--shiki-dark:#FF7B72\"> \\\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\n\u003Cspan class=\"line\">\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0550AE;--shiki-dark:#79C0FF\">  --data\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"color:#0A3069;--shiki-dark:#A5D6FF\"> '{\"to\":\"+15551234567\",\"body\":\"Your order #4182 has shipped. Track it here: https:\u002F\u002Facme.example\u002Ft\u002F4182\",\"typing_time\":3}'\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fcode>\u003C\u002Fpre>",1790464905197]