WhatsApp broadcast reach planner
See how many days it takes to reach your whole contact list, from your messaging limit tier and business verification, if your quality rating stays high.
Your reach schedule
If quality stays high
All 10,000 contacts reached by day 10 (best case)
Best case. Blocks, reports or a Meta review can make it slower.
- Starting limit: 250 unique people a day.
- Limit by the last day: 10,000.
| Day | Limit that day | Sent that day | Reached so far |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–7 | 250 | 250 each day | 1,750 |
| Day 8Tier stepLimit rises to 2,000 from day 9 | 250 | 250 | 2,000 |
| Day 9Tier stepLimit rises to 10,000 from day 10 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 |
| Day 10 | 10,000 | 6,000 | 10,000 |
Why a real schedule can be slower
- Your quality must stay high. Blocks and reports from the people you message lower it, and low quality slows or stops your limit from rising.
- After a scaling path (business verification, or reaching 2,000 unique people in 30 days), Meta reviews your message quality and may deny or defer the step to 2,000.
- The limit belongs to your business portfolio and is shared by all of its numbers, so every campaign from any of those numbers uses the same allowance.
- Only unique people messaged outside a customer-service window count, over a rolling 24 hours. Replies inside an open 24-hour window do not use the limit.
- The schedule assumes you use your whole limit every day. Each step up needs at least 50% of the current limit used over the last 7 days, and lands within about 6 hours.
Source: Meta, Messaging limits, checked 28 September 2026.
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WhatsApp caps how many unique people your business can reach with template messages outside a customer-service window in a rolling 24 hours. A new business portfolio starts at 250; verification lifts it to 2,000, and high-quality sending then unlocks 10,000, 1,00,000 and Unlimited. Best case, 10,000 contacts take 10 days unverified, or 2 verified.
TL;DR
- The limit is per business portfolio, shared by all its numbers, and counts unique people you message outside a customer-service window in a rolling 24 hours (Meta, checked 28 September 2026).
- The tiers are 250, 2,000, 10,000, 1,00,000 and Unlimited. Business verification is the quickest way from 250 to 2,000.
- Each step up needs high quality and use of at least half your limit over 7 days. It lands within about 6 hours.
- The planner shows the best case. Blocks, reports and Meta’s quality review can all slow you down.
How do WhatsApp messaging limits work?
A messaging limit is the maximum number of unique WhatsApp users your business can deliver messages to outside a customer-service window in a rolling 24 hours. Per Meta’s messaging limits documentation (checked 28 September 2026), it is calculated and set at the business portfolio level, and every phone number in the portfolio shares it. One busy number can use up the whole allowance.
Three things follow from that definition:
- Unique people, not messages. Sending one person three templates in a day uses one slot, not three.
- Only business-initiated conversations count. When a customer messages you first, a 24-hour customer-service window opens, and your replies inside it do not use the limit.
- Rolling, not calendar. The window moves with the clock. A campaign sent at 6 pm uses slots until 6 pm the next day.
What are the messaging limit tiers?
The same source lists five levels:
| Tier | Unique people per rolling 24 hours | How you get there |
|---|---|---|
| Starting | 250 | Every new business portfolio |
| Scaling path | 2,000 | Business verification, or 2,000 unique high-quality deliveries in 30 days |
| Automatic scaling | 10,000 | High quality and at least 50% use over 7 days |
| Automatic scaling | 1,00,000 (one lakh) | The same criteria again |
| Automatic scaling | Unlimited | The same criteria again |
You can see your current level in WhatsApp Manager under Account tools, Messaging limits. If you send with Relay, the Account health panel on the Campaigns overview shows it too.
How do you move up to the next tier?
From 250 to 2,000 you complete a scaling path: verify your business (or have your partner verify it), or deliver messages to 2,000 unique people outside customer-service windows within 30 days, using templates with a high quality rating. Meta then analyses your message quality and approves or denies the increase. An approval applies immediately; a denial leaves the limit where it is and suggests another path (Meta, checked 28 September 2026).
From 2,000 upwards scaling is automatic. Meta raises your limit by one level when two things are true: you are sending high-quality messages across all your numbers and templates, and in the last 7 days you used at least half of your current limit. When both hold, the new limit applies within 6 hours (same source).
That is why the planner steps up so quickly once you pass 2,000. A single day of full use meets the 50% rule, so in the best case the next level is in force the following day.
What slows or stops your limit from rising?
Low message quality. Quality comes from how recipients react. Blocks and reports lower it, and Meta only scales portfolios that keep it high. A campaign to people who did not expect to hear from you can stall your growth.
Meta’s review after a scaling path. Verification does not guarantee 2,000. Meta reviews your message quality first, and may deny the step or defer it until you have sent 2,000 high-quality messages.
Not using your limit. If you send 300 messages a day on a 2,000 limit, you never reach the 50% threshold, and the limit stays put.
Other traffic on the portfolio. Every number shares one allowance, so a support team’s outbound templates on another number reduce what a campaign can use.
You may still read about numbers being "Flagged" and dropping a tier. Meta discontinued the Flagged and Restricted phone-number statuses on 7 October 2025 (Meta Business Help Centre, checked 28 September 2026); the planner does not model downgrades.
How long does it take to reach your whole list?
These best-case schedules come from the planner, using the rules above:
| Contacts | New portfolio, not verified | Verified (starts at 2,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 4 days | 1 day |
| 10,000 | 10 days | 2 days |
| 1,00,000 | 11 days | 3 days |
| 10,00,000 | 12 days | 4 days |
An unverified portfolio spends its first 8 days at 250, because the unverified path needs 2,000 unique people reached within 30 days. After that, each full day unlocks the next level. In the best case, verification removes those 8 days, which is why it matters most for small and new senders.
How should you pace a large broadcast?
- Verify your business first. It is the biggest single saving on a new portfolio.
- Send to your most engaged contacts first. Early replies and few blocks protect the quality that every later step depends on.
- Use your limit fully on the days you send. Half-used days do not count towards the next step.
- Watch quality after every send. If blocks or reports rise, pause and fix the audience or the template before scaling further.
- Plan around the rolling window. Starting each day’s batch at the same time keeps yesterday’s slots from overlapping today’s.
- Count every number. If you connect more than one number, they all draw on the same portfolio limit.
For opt-in, template categories and the rest of the checklist, read our guide on how to send bulk WhatsApp messages without getting blocked.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does it take to reach 10,000 contacts on WhatsApp?
- In the best case, where quality stays high and you use your whole limit every day, about 10 days for a new, unverified business portfolio: 8 days at 250, one day at 2,000, then the rest at 10,000. A verified portfolio starts at 2,000 and can finish in 2 days. These follow Meta’s messaging-limit rules, checked 28 September 2026.
- Does business verification raise my WhatsApp messaging limit?
- Yes. Business verification is one of Meta’s scaling paths from 250 to 2,000 unique people a day. After you complete it, Meta reviews your message quality and approves or denies the increase, so the step is likely but not automatic. The other path is delivering to 2,000 unique people in 30 days with high-quality templates.
- Is the WhatsApp messaging limit per phone number?
- No. Meta sets the messaging limit at the business portfolio level, so one limit is shared by every phone number in the portfolio (checked 28 September 2026). Adding a second number does not double how many people you can reach, and a campaign on one number uses up the allowance for all of them.
- What happens to my messaging limit if my quality drops?
- Your limit stops rising. Meta only scales a portfolio up automatically while it sends high-quality messages across all its numbers and templates, and it reviews quality before approving the step to 2,000. Blocks and reports from recipients are what lower quality. Meta retired the separate Flagged and Restricted number statuses on 7 October 2025.
- Is the broadcast reach planner free, and is my data stored?
- It is free and needs no sign-up. It runs entirely in your browser: the number of contacts, your tier and your verification answer are never sent to Relay, stored or included in analytics.