Your WhatsApp tool now counts replies. At 1,001, it can stop.

Since 1 October, the replies a business sends on WhatsApp through software are no longer all free. Meta now gives each business phone number 1,000 free replies a month and charges from the 1,001st. If there is no payment method on the account, Meta says it stops delivering those replies once they become chargeable.

That last part is the one to check this week. A customer who asks a question and never hears back does not know your system hit a limit. They only know you went quiet.

What actually changed

The change is to the WhatsApp Business Platform, the version that plugs into other software: shared team inboxes, chatbots, booking systems, website chat buttons and quoting tools. If you reply from the WhatsApp Business app on your own phone, this change does not apply to you, according to YCloud, one of Meta's business messaging partners.

If you are not sure which one you have, here is a quick test: if your chats arrive in a dashboard on a laptop, or something sends booking confirmations for you automatically, you are probably on the Platform.

Until 30 September, replies sent within 24 hours of a customer's last message were free and unlimited. Meta calls these service messages. Now the first 1,000 each month are free, the allowance does not roll over, and every reply after that is charged at the rate for the customer's country. Automated updates such as booking confirmations and payment reminders, which Meta calls utility messages, are now charged even inside that 24-hour window. Meta also raised its South African rates for utility messages on the same day.

How far does 1,000 go? If a typical enquiry takes about ten replies from your side to reach a quote and a booking, 1,000 covers roughly 100 enquiries a month. A cleaning company or installer with a small team answering on one number can get there well before month end. A one-person business with a handful of enquiries a week will not come close.

A reply that never arrives looks exactly like a business that does not care.

What to check this week

Ask whoever set up your WhatsApp tool, or log in yourself, and get clear answers to these:

• Is a payment method on the account? With Meta directly or through your provider. Without one, replies stop once the free 1,000 are used.
• How many replies did you send in September? That tells you whether you are anywhere near the limit.
• Does your provider pass on Meta's fee as it is or add its own charge? Better to know now than to find out on the October invoice.
• Which automatic messages are worth keeping? Every confirmation and reminder now costs something, even inside the 24-hour window, so cut the ones customers do not need.

Our view: for most small firms the bigger risk is not the fee. It is a setting nobody looked at, and a customer left waiting at the exact moment they were ready to book.