WhatsApp Cloud API: Marketing Messages Sunset October 2027
The WhatsApp Cloud API will stop carrying marketing messages on October 13, 2027. Only one template category is affected: service replies, authentication codes and utility templates stay where they are, and the Cloud API itself keeps running. Meta announced the sunset on October 21, 2026. If your business answers customers instead of blasting promotions, you most likely have no migration to plan — the work lands on teams that send offers, newsletters and abandoned-cart nudges. The one exception is a template Meta reclassifies after approval, covered below.
In brief
- Sunset date: October 13, 2027. Marketing messages sent through the Cloud API will fail after that date. Meta has not published the error code it returns.
- Only the marketing template category is affected. Service replies, authentication codes and utility templates (order status) remain on the Cloud API.
- A second, earlier deadline: April 13, 2027. Messaging accounts created on or after that date cannot send marketing through the Cloud API at all. Earlier accounts keep working until October 13, 2027.
- The replacement is the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp (MM API) — Meta's dedicated API for sending marketing templates on WhatsApp, general availability since November 19, 2025 after an open beta, on the same billing model as the Cloud API.
- Meta estimates "most integrations take about 2 weeks on average" to migrate.
What stays on the Cloud API and what moves to the MM API
| Message type | Template category | Where it goes after October 13, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Service replies to inbound customer questions | Service | Stays on the Cloud API (/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages) |
| Login codes and one-time passwords | Authentication | Stays on the Cloud API (/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages) |
| Order status and shipping updates | Utility | Stays on the Cloud API (/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages) |
| Promotional offers, price announcements, newsletters | Marketing | Moves to the MM API (/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages) |
| Abandoned-cart nudges and sale alerts | Marketing | Moves to the MM API (/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages) |
The endpoint split matters for your code: marketing traffic goes to /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages, everything else through /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages. If your integration posts every template to one endpoint, it has to become conditional.
Two deadlines that are easy to mix up
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| April 13, 2027 | New Messaging accounts created on this date or later cannot send marketing messages through the Cloud API at all. No grace period for them. |
| October 13, 2027 | Every existing account loses the ability to send marketing messages through the Cloud API. Marketing traffic must already be running on the MM API. |
Do you actually need to migrate?
For most small businesses: probably not. A customer writes at 9 pm asking whether your store delivers to their neighborhood, and your team — or your AI agent — replies. That is a service conversation, and the sunset does not touch it. The same goes for order-status templates and one-time passwords.
Promotional templates are the ones affected: a 20%-off announcement, a monthly newsletter, a "we miss you" campaign, abandoned-cart reminders, sale alerts. If those are all you send from the Cloud API, the migration is a contained task on the promotional path.
One nuance catches experienced builders. Meta can change a template's category after review — a utility template reclassified as marketing means traffic that was legal on the Cloud API suddenly is not. Meta's guidance therefore includes verifying reclassified traffic: subscribe to the category update webhook, store the latest category, keep a fallback to the Message Templates API.
Meta also shipped a flag, disable_marketing_messages_on_cloud_api. Once enabled, the Cloud API /messages endpoint rejects marketing templates with error 131063. Some teams turn it on as a safety net, forcing the failure into staging so you find marketing calls early.
What to do, step by step
- Accept the MM API terms. Until your business account accepts them, marketing calls to
/marketing_messagesare not accepted. - Test against the MM API endpoint. Send a real marketing template through
/<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messagesin staging and confirm delivery, status callbacks and error handling. A working/messagesintegration does not translate one-to-one. - Verify reclassified traffic. Audit your templates, find any Meta has moved into the marketing category, and confirm those route to the MM API. Persist the current category and make retries idempotent, so a template that flips twice does not double-send.
- Route by category, not by template name. Read each template's stored category and pick the endpoint from it. Hardcoded "if template_id equals X" logic breaks the moment Meta reclassifies.
- Test the failure path. Enable
disable_marketing_messages_on_cloud_apiin staging, confirm your retry logic handles error 131063, disable it before production resumes. - Re-check before April 13, 2027. Any account created from that date onward cannot send marketing through the Cloud API — the date that matters for new accounts and resellers adding numbers.
What Meta has not published
Three things you will look for and not find:
- The MM API price list. Meta states the billing model is "the same billing model as Cloud API" but publishes no rates.
- The error code returned after the sunset. Meta has not published the code failed marketing sends will produce on October 13, 2027. Error 131063 belongs to the opt-in flag, not the sunset.
- API versions and adoption data. No version schedule, and no migration statistics.
Geography and the US restriction
Where the MM API delivers less, by market:
| Market | What is unavailable |
|---|---|
| EEA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand | Delivery optimizations and click/conversion reporting for marketing messages; per-user template limits do not apply |
| Russia and Belarus | Some functionality is unavailable |
| United States | Marketing messages are not delivered to WhatsApp users in US territory (error 131049, in effect since April 1, 2025) |
In the United States, Meta does not deliver marketing messages to WhatsApp users at all. The restriction applies to every Business Messaging API, took effect on April 1, 2025, and returns error 131049. US-based numbers can still message WhatsApp users outside the US, and service conversations inside the US are unaffected. For an American customer base, that restriction is the binding constraint, not the sunset.
At Meta's Conversations event in São Paulo in June 2024, Meta presented optimization for marketing messages with a Brazilian fintech company in testing: −30% cost per page view and +20% click-through rate. These are figures from a Meta presentation, not an independent test.
The pricing context you also need
Separately from the sunset, Meta's pricing change on October 1, 2026 already affects most businesses: service messages became billable on that date. The first 1,000 messages per month per business number are free, they do not accumulate, and there is no volume discount. The 72-hour free window after a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a call-to-action button remains free. According to 360dialog, utility templates inside that window may also become billable from October 1, 2026.
| Country | Service message, USD |
|---|---|
| Brazil | $0.0068 |
| Mexico | $0.0085 |
| Colombia | $0.0008 |
| Peru | $0.0300 |
| Argentina | $0.0260 |
| Spain | $0.0200 |
Published service rates in USD, sourced from 360dialog — always verify against Meta's own rate card. Worked example: 5,000 replies per month on one number in Brazil is (5,000 − 1,000) × $0.0068 = $27.20 per month. For details, see what changed in WhatsApp Business API pricing. AI agent replies count as service messages too — see the AI agent on your own key.
How Bzzip fits
If you only answer customers, the sunset does not reach you: service replies and AI answers are service conversations and stay on the Cloud API. Bzzip is a shared WhatsApp inbox with an AI agent for small businesses — free to start, AI free on your own key; more channels on the way. WhatsApp connects by QR code (an unofficial connection, so Meta does not meter those replies) or through Meta's official API. The agent answers from your knowledge base, hands over to a person when it is not sure, and runs no mass campaigns or follow-up sequences, so nothing in the product depends on the marketing path that is closing.
The team works from one shared inbox with assignment, notes and response targets — see the shared inbox and AI agent pages. Plans start at $39 per month on the early-bird price (Starter), $67 (Growth) and $139 (Agency), with regular prices of $55, $95 and $199. You can start free without a card, and every plan includes unlimited team members.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I get WhatsApp cloud API?
You get it through a Meta Business account and a registered business phone number, either with Meta's own tooling or through a Business Solution Provider such as 360dialog or Twilio, which handle setup for you. You need a verified business, a display name review, and message templates ready before sending outside the customer service window. Marketing templates need a home after October 13, 2027.
How much does it cost to use the WhatsApp Business API?
You pay per delivered message, on a per-country rate card, with the first 1,000 messages per business number per month free and no volume discounts. Service messages became billable on October 1, 2026. Published service rates in USD: Brazil $0.0068, Mexico $0.0085, Colombia $0.0008, Peru $0.0300, Argentina $0.0260, Spain $0.0200. Meta has not published MM API rates. Always check Meta's rate card.
Is WhatsApp Cloud API free?
Partly. Access to the API is free, the first 1,000 messages per month per business number are free, and so is the 72-hour window after a click-to-WhatsApp ad. Everything beyond that is billed per delivered message. Model the cost before scaling — a shared inbox with an AI agent covers a large share of those replies.
What is the Meta WhatsApp cloud API?
It is Meta's own hosted version of the WhatsApp Business Platform: a documented HTTP API that talks to /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages (and, for marketing after the migration, /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages) on your business phone number. It is the same platform that Business Solution Providers such as 360dialog and Twilio resell, minus the middle layer. Two things changed in 2026 and 2027 and are worth holding on to: service messages became billable on October 1, 2026, and marketing messages leave the Cloud API on October 13, 2027.
How do I send 10,000 messages in WhatsApp?
10,000 outbound messages is a campaign, not a support queue, so on the Cloud API that traffic has to be sent as approved marketing templates — and from October 13, 2027, marketing templates leave the Cloud API and go through the Marketing Messages API at /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages. On the cost side, Meta's published service rates are per delivered message, so 10,000 service replies in Brazil would be (10,000 − 1,000) × $0.0068 = $61.20 on one number, on top of any marketing spend. If the 10,000 messages are replies to people who wrote to you first, they are service messages and stay on /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/messages — but check your template list, because Meta can reclassify a template into the marketing category after approval.
What is the best API for WhatsApp Business?
For most small and mid-sized businesses the answer is a Business Solution Provider rather than raw Meta integration: onboarding, template handling and support without building the plumbing. Choose based on whether you need the MM API at all. If you only reply to customers, a shared inbox connected by QR code or through Meta's official API covers the job — see WhatsApp on a computer for business.
When do marketing messages stop working on the WhatsApp Cloud API?
On October 13, 2027. After that date, marketing messages sent through the Cloud API will fail, and the migration target is the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp at /<PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages. From April 13, 2027 onward, new messaging accounts cannot send marketing through the Cloud API at all. Meta has not published the error code returned after the sunset.
Do I need to migrate if I only send customer replies?
No. Service conversations, authentication codes and utility templates such as order-status updates are not affected — only the marketing template category is. If you never send promotions, newsletters, sale alerts or abandoned-cart nudges from the Cloud API, keep your current integration. Check your template list once, because Meta can reclassify a template after review.
Sources and disclosure
Disclosure: Bzzip publishes this article and sells a shared WhatsApp inbox with an AI agent. The facts about Meta come from Meta's own documentation and announcements; the Bzzip product details and prices were checked on bzzip.com on October 30, 2026. We have no commercial relationship with Meta and did not receive any benefit from Meta for publishing this.
Facts about Meta were verified on October 30, 2026 against the Meta for Developers post "Sunsetting Marketing Messages on the Cloud API: Upgrade to the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp before October 2027" by Sascha Noll (October 21, 2026), and the Marketing Messages API documentation on the Meta for Developers site. ppc.land served as a secondary source. Bzzip pricing and product details were verified against bzzip.com on October 30, 2026.
Bzzip is a shared WhatsApp inbox with an AI agent for small businesses — free to start, AI free on your own key; more channels on the way. See how the AI agent works.