What is Message categories (marketing / utility / authentication)?

Meta prices business-initiated WhatsApp messages by category: marketing (promotions) costs the most, utility (order updates, reminders) much less, and authentication (OTPs) sits in between.

Choosing the right category at template-approval time directly changes your bill — an order update approved as 'utility' costs a fraction of the same text approved as 'marketing'. Estimate your mix with our free pricing calculator.

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