WhatsApp Broadcasts: How to Send Bulk Messages Without a Ban in 2026
By Марк Ингер, CEO at Pleep
There are three official ways to send a WhatsApp broadcast. For up to 256 contacts, use a broadcast list. In some countries WhatsApp Business also offers paid business broadcasts with CSV/XLSX import. For CRM, automated replies and higher volumes, use the WhatsApp Business Platform through a provider or a direct integration. Commercial messaging requires recipient consent in every case; unauthorized bulk messaging through grey tools can lead to number restrictions or removal.
"How do I send a WhatsApp broadcast" is usually asked by someone who has already tried sending by hand or through a cheap tool and got restricted. Here is which method fits which list, and where the limits nobody mentions actually sit.
Three ways, and what decides between them
| List | Method | What you need | What you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 256 contacts who all know you | Broadcast list in WhatsApp Business | Your number saved by the recipient | Free |
| You have a spreadsheet and the feature is available in your country | Business broadcasts in WhatsApp Business | Recipient consent, an audience from contacts or CSV/XLSX | A free allowance, then per delivered message |
| You need CRM, AI and volume controls | WhatsApp Business Platform | An approved template and opted-in list; a provider or direct integration | Meta for chargeable delivered templates; a subscription only if you use a provider |
| A purchased list with no consent | Do not send | Your number and reputation |
1. A broadcast list in the WhatsApp Business app
The simplest way, and the most limited. Per WhatsApp's help center, a broadcast list is a saved set of recipients who get the message at once, each as a personal chat. Their reply also arrives as a personal message and is invisible to the others on the list.
The limits are hard:
- up to 256 contacts per list, with no cap on the number of lists;
- only people who have saved your number in their address book receive it; everyone else simply gets nothing;
- broadcast lists do not work in WhatsApp Web or on desktop, phone only;
- in some countries WhatsApp is rolling out a monthly cap on broadcasts.
Fine for a salon, studio or shop with a base of regulars who saved you themselves. Useless for cold contacts: they do not have your number, so the message never arrives.
2. Business broadcasts in the WhatsApp Business app
A separate feature that Meta is rolling out country by country. In some countries Meta has renamed marketing messages to business broadcasts. It exists only in the WhatsApp Business app, not in regular WhatsApp.
How it works, per WhatsApp's help center:
- the audience comes from your address book or from a saved audience imported in WhatsApp Business Web;
- import is a CSV or XLSX file with two columns, name and phone; duplicates and errors are flagged before saving;
- a message can carry a photo, text and one action button: catalog, a ready reply, a call or a website;
- every message is reviewed by Meta before sending; processing usually takes seconds but can take up to 3 hours;
- you can send now or schedule a date and time;
- there is a free message allowance, then a payment method is required; only delivered messages are charged, and money for anything undelivered within five days is refunded;
- spam complaints lead to temporary or permanent loss of the feature, and opt-out requests from customers must be honoured.
This is a middle option when the spreadsheet exists, the feature is available in your country, and you do not yet need CRM or automation. You still need the recipients' numbers and required consent. Replies land in ordinary app chats; a team can answer from the primary phone and linked devices, but there is no CRM or AI routing logic.
3. The WhatsApp Business Platform
This route is built for higher volumes, CRM and automated replies. A business can connect through a provider or directly to Meta's Cloud API; Pleep uses the provider onboarding route with Embedded Signup for coexistence.
Templates. A business-initiated message outside an open 24-hour window must use an approved template. Meta says review can take up to 24 hours. Promotions and offers are allowed in the Marketing category; policy or formatting violations are rejected, and Meta can reclassify a template submitted under the wrong category.
The 24-hour window. A customer message opens a 24-hour service window. Inside it you can send free-form messages; those and utility templates are free, while Marketing and Authentication templates remain chargeable. After the window closes, a new business-initiated message needs a template again. For a sales broadcast, the reply matters because it turns a send into a conversation.
Consent. You need a list that explicitly agreed to receive WhatsApp messages: at order, registration or sign-up. A purchased list without that opt-in breaks Meta's rules and creates a risk under Kazakhstan's personal-data and advertising requirements.
Number quality and limits. Meta applies the limit per business portfolio over a rolling 24 hours: a new portfolio starts at 250 unique recipients, then the tiers are 2,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited. The first increase comes from verification or 2,000 delivered messages using high-quality templates outside service windows to unique users in a rolling 30 days. Later tiers grow with quality and sufficient use. Complaints lower quality and can lead to restrictions.
Connection. Directly to Cloud API or through a provider. Pleep uses Embedded Signup in coexistence mode: WhatsApp Business keeps working on the phone and new one-to-one messages appear in Pleep. History sync is limited and group chats do not sync; no separate number is needed for text broadcasts.
Broadcast list, business broadcasts and the API side by side
| Broadcast list | Business broadcasts | WhatsApp Business API | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum recipients | 256 per list | An audience from contacts or a file | Meta's limit from 250 per rolling 24 hours, rising to 100,000 and beyond |
| Recipient must have you saved | Yes | No | No |
| Import from a spreadsheet | No | CSV/XLSX in the web version | A list of numbers or the API |
| Message review | None | Meta review before sending | Template review |
| Scheduling | No | Yes | Depends on the provider |
| Who answers replies | A person on the phone or linked device | A person on the phone or linked device | An operator or AI agent in the integration |
| CRM integration | No | No | Yes |
| Analytics | None | Stats inside the app | Sent, delivered, read, failed |
| Cost | Free | A free allowance, then per delivered | Meta for chargeable categories and windows; subscription only with a provider |
Message categories and why they cost differently
Meta prices template messages by category. Picking the wrong category is a common way to overpay.
| Category | What it covers | Relative price |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Promotions, offers, re-engagement, anything that sells | Highest |
| Utility | Order status, payment reminder, booking confirmation | Lower |
| Authentication | One-time codes | Lower |
Service messages are not a fourth template category: they are ordinary replies inside the open window. Free-form messages and utility templates are free there, but Marketing and Authentication templates are charged. Separately, all messages are free during a 72-hour free-entry-point window opened by a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or Facebook Page button. A dated caveat: from 1 October 2026 Meta moves Kazakhstan to its own rate card with higher utility and authentication rates, so re-check the numbers in Business Manager.
Why templates get rejected
Review is where first campaigns stumble. The reasons repeat.
Rejections can come from breaking WhatsApp Business policy, formatting or parameter mismatches, and malformed variables at the beginning or end. If Meta detects marketing or mixed-purpose content in a template submitted as Utility, it normally changes the category to Marketing rather than rejecting it. An offer itself is allowed with the right category and recipient consent.
What it costs
A broadcast list is free. Business broadcasts in the app are free within the allowance, then you pay per delivered message, and the app shows the price before sending.
On the WhatsApp Business API you pay Meta for delivered marketing messages outside the free 72-hour entry-point window, at a price that depends on country and category. For Kazakhstan, by Meta's rate card, that is around 30 tenge per marketing message at the National Bank rate; providers usually quote 30-40 tenge to allow for the exchange rate. A provider subscription may come on top. Some pass Meta's price through one to one, while others add a markup, so ask before signing.
Budgeting only by contact count is not enough: free-form replies and utility templates are free inside the service window, Marketing and Authentication are charged, and a provider may add a subscription or markup.
The mistake that wastes the budget
The usual scenario looks like this. A company sends 5,000 messages, gets 300 replies and cannot handle them. A day later the 24-hour window closes, and continuing the conversation needs a template again. The money for the messages is spent, and there are no deals.
A broadcast is not a send, it is the start of a conversation. A reply may arrive quickly, and it matters to handle it while the service window remains open.
That is the part Pleep covers: the broadcast goes out through the official WhatsApp Business API as an approved template, and in a new conversation the AI agent can pick up the reply, answer from the knowledge base, qualify and, when connected, book into Altegio or Google Calendar. If amoCRM or Bitrix24 is connected and enabled for the channel, a new deal can be created after the first reply. An existing conversation keeps its prior AI and CRM settings. Per-broadcast analytics: sent, delivered, read and failures by cause.
Voice sits alongside it: telephony uses a separate phone thread, while a WhatsApp call stays with the WhatsApp conversation.
Which providers work in Kazakhstan
All of the providers below connect the official WhatsApp Business API and bill in tenge; they differ in what happens after the send.
- Pleep. WhatsApp Business broadcasts, Telegram from a personal account and voice-agent campaigns in one section. In new conversations AI can handle replies; CRM creation after the first reply depends on the channel and integration settings. The public plan matrix places WhatsApp broadcasts and voice campaigns on Business; voice minutes are priced separately.
- Wazzapo. Broadcasts, keyword and scenario chatbots, CRM, coexistence connection, plans from 5,000 tenge a month per its site.
- Kelesu. WhatsApp Business API with coexistence as the base module, AI assistant and bot builder purchased separately.
- CareHub. WABA broadcasts with segments and analytics, replies into a shared inbox for a team of managers.
Global API providers (360dialog, Interakt, WATI, Respond.io and others) are compared with prices in our review of WhatsApp broadcast services for Kazakhstan.
Choosing by use case
A list of up to 256 people who all know you. A broadcast list in the app. Free and no setup.
An opted-in spreadsheet and the feature is available in your country. Business broadcasts in WhatsApp Business with CSV/XLSX import. Your team answers from the phone and linked devices.
Notifications and reminders to thousands of recipients. Booking confirmations, order status, payment reminders. Few replies, any official API provider will do.
Re-engagement and sales. Here replies are the goal. You need a tool that handles them immediately, or the budget evaporates.
A cold list with no consent. Do not send. The risk of a ban and the personal-data law outweigh any upside.
Frequently asked questions
How do I send a WhatsApp broadcast to my own list?
Up to 256 contacts who saved your number, a broadcast list is enough. If the feature is available in your country, an opted-in list can be imported into WhatsApp Business broadcasts from CSV/XLSX. For CRM and automation, use the WhatsApp Business Platform through a provider or direct integration: connect the number, approve a template and load opted-in recipients.
How many contacts can a broadcast list hold?
Up to 256 per list, per WhatsApp's help center. You can create as many lists as you like, but only people who saved your number in their address book will receive the message.
What are business broadcasts in WhatsApp Business?
A feature of the WhatsApp Business app for sending a message with a photo, text and an action button to a chosen audience. The message is reviewed by Meta, it can be scheduled, and you pay only for delivered messages beyond the free allowance. Not yet available in every country.
Can I upload a list from Excel?
Yes, two ways. In WhatsApp Business Web a CSV or XLSX file with two columns, name and phone, becomes an audience for business broadcasts. In WhatsApp Business API providers the numbers are usually pasted as a column from the spreadsheet straight into the recipients field.
Will my number get banned for bulk messaging?
Grey tools on a regular number carry high risk: unauthorized bulk messaging and negative feedback can lead to restrictions or removal. Broadcast lists and business broadcasts are official features, but spam complaints can restrict them too. The official API lowers the risk without removing it: number quality drops when people complain.
What is the 24-hour window?
A recipient message opens a 24-hour window. Free-form replies and utility templates are free inside it; Marketing and Authentication remain chargeable. Outside the window a business can initiate a new message only with an approved template.
Can I message a purchased list?
Not without explicit consent to WhatsApp messages. That breaks Meta's rules and creates a risk under Kazakhstan's personal-data and advertising requirements.
How much does a WhatsApp broadcast cost?
A broadcast list is free. Business broadcasts in the app are free within the allowance, then per delivered message. On the Platform, a marketing message in Kazakhstan is around 30 tenge at the current exchange rate, plus any provider subscription. Inside the service window, free-form replies and utility templates are free; Marketing and Authentication are charged.
Can messages be personalised?
WhatsApp Business API templates have variables, but how they are filled depends on the provider: some take one value for the whole broadcast in the interface and per-recipient values only through the API. Ask before connecting; Meta recommends messages that are relevant and expected.
What should I do with replies?
Handle them while the 24-hour window is open. If nobody is there to answer, an AI agent can pick up a new conversation in the same chat and move the customer to the next step; existing conversations keep their prior mode.
