Utility Templates vs. Marketing Templates

When creating WhatsApp templates in Superchat, it’s worth taking a moment to choose the right category. Meta distinguishes between Utility and Marketing templates, and since they serve different purposes, they’re also priced differently. You can learn more about template pricing here.

However, utility templates will remain free as long as a message was sent by the customer within the previous 24-hours (Customer Care Window).

This guide explains the difference between the two template types and helps you choose the right category to help ensure your template is approved.

Marketing templates are used for promotional communication. Their goal is to encourage customers to take action, such as buying a product, booking a service, or engaging with a campaign. These messages are not required to complete a transaction, but rather promote them.

Utility templates are used to send transactional or service-related messages that customers expect as part of an ongoing interaction. These messages support an existing process such as an order, appointment, or support case.

Utility messages are necessary for the customer journey and are particularly useful for a company's operational communication. Put simply, they provide important information for a pre-existing purchase/task. You can learn more about how Meta defines a utility template here.

It’s should be noted that templates containing any promotional language (such as discounts, special offers, or sales-focused calls to action) will typically be classified as Marketing — even if the message also includes transactional or service-related information. So it is best to keep utility templates to strictly operational information.

Choosing the correct template category is essential for approval, pricing, and deliverability. Since Utility and Marketing templates follow different rules and pricing models, selecting the wrong category can affect both how your template is reviewed and how much you pay per message.

Meta reviews templates based on their selected category, but the final classification depends on the wording, tone, and overall intent of the message. If a template submitted as Utility contains promotional elements — such as discounts, special offers, product recommendations, or sales-focused calls to action like “Shop now” — it may be reclassified as Marketing or rejected.

Even small additions can change the classification. For example, a shipping confirmation is considered Utility. However, if the same message includes a promotional upsell (“Add this product to your next order and save 10%”), it will be treated as marketing and approved as such.

Selecting the wrong category when submitting a template can lead to:

To avoid delays or unexpected costs, make sure the message content clearly aligns with the selected category and does not mix transactional and promotional intent.

You can find more details about pricing here or in the tables below.