When someone taps a Click-to-WhatsApp ad and messages you, Meta gives you a longer and cheaper window to talk to them than an ordinary chat. The rule has a catch that trips people up: 72 hours free does not mean 72 hours of free-form chat.
Two windows, not one
The customer service window (24 hours). It opens every time a customer messages you. Inside it you can send free-form messages (any text, media or interactive message) and those replies are free. Outside it, you can only send an approved template.
The free entry point window (72 hours). It opens when a customer messages you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad on Facebook or Instagram, or from a Facebook Page call-to-action button, and you reply within 24 hours. For the next 72 hours, every message you send that person is free, templates included.
The catch
Free-form messages still follow the 24-hour service window. So for a lead who writes once and then goes quiet:
- Hours 0 to 24: reply however you like. It is free.
- Hours 24 to 72: you can only send approved templates, but those templates are free.
- After 72 hours: normal pricing. A template is billed at its category rate.
If the customer writes back at any point, a new 24-hour service window opens from their message.
How Fliok handles it
- When an inbound message carries Meta’s ad referral data, Fliok stores the ad attribution on the contact and the conversation, and records when the free window ends. A later ad click can extend it; nothing shortens it.
- On the Pro plan, the AI agent’s follow-ups are planned around both windows: free-form nudges while the 24-hour window is open, and an approved re-engagement template between hours 24 and 72, if you have one approved. The AI still decides whether a follow-up is worth sending at all.
- Messages Meta marks as non-billable are not counted in the estimated spend on your analytics page.
Practical advice
- 1Reply fast. The 72-hour window only opens if you reply within 24 hours. The AI agent, or push notifications on your team’s phones, make that easy to hit.
- 2Get a re-engagement template approved before the ads go live, so hours 24 to 72 are not wasted. See how template approval works.
- 3Point the ad at your connected number in Meta Ads Manager. Fliok does not create or run ads; it handles everything after the click.
- 4Free is not a licence to flood people. Blocks and reports lower your number’s quality rating, whatever the messages cost.
Note: Meta publishes and changes these pricing rules. If anything here disagrees with Meta’s current documentation, Meta is right.
Try it on your own number
The Free plan connects one WhatsApp number with no card required. Questions first? Contact us.
