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Glossary

Template Category

Messaging & templates

Definition
The classification — Marketing, Utility or Authentication — that Meta assigns to a message template and that determines its use and billing.

What Template Category means

Every WhatsApp message template belongs to one of three categories, and the category shapes both how the template may be used and how each delivered message is priced.

Marketing templates are for promotions, offers, product news and other non-transactional outreach. Utility templates support a specific transaction or account event the customer expects, such as order confirmations, delivery updates and payment reminders. Authentication templates deliver one-time passcodes and login verification. Meta reviews each template and can re-categorise one it believes is mislabelled.

Choosing the right category matters: it affects approval, deliverability and cost. InfiQ's template playground and template library help you categorise templates correctly before submission.

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