WhatsApp Business's 300 new-chat limit
It is a Meta limit on the WhatsApp Business app, not a WAIA Connect one. According to the notice the app shows, it counts chats the business starts with people who have not replied yet, and it resets every month (the notice gives the date). The API helps if you need to start conversations at volume with approved templates and accept their per-message cost; it does not help to keep sending free-form messages to people who have not written to you.
What this page says about Meta and third parties was checked against their official documentation on 2026-09-28 (sources at the bottom).
What it is
The figure of 300 is the one the app shows in the notice customers bring us. Meta does not publish it in its documentation, so take it as your app's notice says: if yours says otherwise, yours applies.
What counts are conversations the business starts with someone who did not reply. Conversations the customer starts, or where the customer already replied, are not the problem.
Who it happens to
- Businesses that use the app to write first to many people: follow-ups, reminders, reactivating old customers, bought or imported lists.
- The fewer people reply, the sooner the cap is hit.
What you can do
- Wait for the reset the notice gives.
- Write first only to people expecting your message: asking the customer to write to you (a WhatsApp link on your site, a QR code) turns it into a customer-started conversation.
- Move volume messages to the API with approved templates, if the case justifies it (see below).
⚠ If you also stop receiving messages, that is a different problem: "nothing arrives" is not the same as "it arrives and I can't reply". Write to hola@waiaconnect.com with an example and a screenshot.
When the API helps and when it does not
| Your case | Does the API solve it? |
|---|---|
| Sending reminders, confirmations or notices to many people | Yes, with Meta-approved templates. Meta charges each message and applies its own sending limits. |
| Replying to someone who wrote to you | Yes, without a template, within 24 hours of their last message. |
| Sending free-form messages to people who did not write to you | No: the API requires an approved template to start a conversation. |
| Sending to lists that did not ask for your message | No: beyond templates, Meta measures quality; blocks and reports lower your limit. |
| Keep answering from the phone | Yes, with coexistence: the app keeps working and your system sees everything. |
The API has limits too. According to Meta, a new account can start conversations with up to 250 different people every 24 hours, and the cap grows (2,000, 10,000, 100,000, unlimited) by verifying the business or keeping good quality. The limit is per business portfolio and shared by all its numbers.
We do not state what happens to the app's notice once the number uses the API in coexistence: Meta does not document it and we have not measured it.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 300-chat limit a WAIA Connect limit?
No. It is Meta's, on the WhatsApp Business app, and it shows up even if you use no provider.
Does connecting the API get me out of the limit?
It gives you another way to start conversations: approved templates, with a per-message cost billed by Meta and the API's sending limits. It does not help to send free-form messages to people who did not write to you.
When does it reset?
According to Meta's notice, every month. The notice itself gives the date.
How much does each message cost through the API?
Meta charges your card according to the recipient's country and the template type. WAIA Connect adds no markup; the WAIA Connect plan is a flat fee per number.
Sources
Checked on 2026-09-28.
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