Guides/Costs & limits
Why can I only send to 250 people?
Meta starting limit for a new number, and how to raise it.
2 min read
A newly registered number is capped by Meta: templates can only go to 250 unique contacts per 24 hours. This is not a WACO limit and not a sign that anything is wrong. Every new number starts here.
What matters
- The cap counts unique contacts, not messages. Replying to people who contacted you does not count, only template messages to new contacts.
- The limit rises in steps: 250, then 1,000, then 10,000, then 100,000, then unlimited.
How to move up a tier
- Pass business verification. It is a prerequisite for going above 250.
- Send well. Once you use roughly half your daily allowance over a week while holding a good quality rating, Meta raises the limit automatically within 24 hours.
For schools and other high-notification businesses: do not message every contact on day one. Start with a portion, let the limit climb over one or two weeks, then run at full volume. Hitting the cap makes the rest of that day messages fail.
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