User-Initiated Conversation
A user-initiated conversation is any WhatsApp Business API exchange that the customer starts — a reply to your ad, a message to your click-to-WhatsApp link, a "hi" to your number, or a tap on a QR code. The moment their message arrives, a rolling 24-hour service window opens during which your business can respond with free-form messages at no per-message charge. It is the counterpart to a business-initiated conversation, and understanding the difference is the single biggest lever Indian businesses have over both their WhatsApp cost and their customer experience.
In one line
A user-initiated conversation is a WhatsApp chat the customer opens. It starts a free 24-hour service window where your team can reply with free-form messages without triggering a template charge — but sending outside that window, or sending a marketing/utility template inside it, is still billed per delivered message by category.What counts as a user-initiated conversation
A conversation is user-initiated whenever the customer sends the first message in a fresh 24-hour cycle. That first message can arrive through many entry points, and each one is a common way Indian businesses seed inbound WhatsApp volume. What they all share: the customer acted first, so WhatsApp treats the resulting window as a service window rather than an outreach you paid to start.
- A direct message or 'hi' to your WhatsApp Business number
- A tap on a click-to-WhatsApp (CTWA) ad on Facebook or Instagram
- A scan of a WhatsApp QR code on packaging, a receipt, or a storefront
- A click on a wa.me / short link on your website or in your email footer
- A reply to a template you sent — their reply re-opens or refreshes the service window
The 24-hour service window is free time, not a billing unit
This is the point most teams get wrong. Since 1 July 2025, Meta bills WhatsApp per delivered message by template category — marketing, utility, or authentication — and it retired the old per-conversation charge. The 24-hour window is now purely a free service window: once a user-initiated conversation opens it, your agents (or your bot) can send unlimited free-form service replies to that customer for 24 hours without incurring a template charge. Each new inbound message from the customer keeps the window rolling forward another 24 hours. The window controls when you may send free-form content and when you are forced back to approved templates — it does not, by itself, generate a per-conversation bill.
Why it matters for cost and compliance
User-initiated conversations are the cheapest, highest-trust way to talk to customers on WhatsApp, because inside the service window you answer support questions, share order details, and resolve issues using plain free-form messages instead of pre-approved templates. That lowers cost and removes template-rejection friction from everyday service. It also matters for compliance and quality: customers who started the chat are far less likely to block or report you, which protects your quality rating and messaging tier. Design your flows to invite inbound contact — CTWA ads, QR codes, and link entry points — and you convert more conversations into free service windows instead of paid outreach.
- Free-form replies inside the window skip template approval delays
- Customer-started chats protect your quality rating and messaging limits
- More inbound entry points means more service windows and lower blended cost
Common mistakes to avoid
The service window opens the door to free-form service messages — it does not make everything free. A marketing or utility template you send during a user-initiated window is still billed per delivered message at Meta's live rate-card price for that category, so a promotional broadcast is charged whether or not a window is open. Teams also assume the window lasts a fixed 24 hours from the first message, when in fact every new customer reply resets the clock. And the most expensive mistake is letting the window lapse: once 24 hours pass with no inbound message, you can no longer send free-form text and must fall back to an approved template to re-engage.
- Sending a marketing template inside the window — still billed by category, per message
- Treating the window as fixed rather than rolling with each customer reply
- Letting the window expire, then trying to send free-form text (it will fail — use a template)
- Assuming 'customer messaged first' means the whole conversation is free
InfiQ vs Business-Initiated Conversation
| InfiQ | Business-Initiated Conversation | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sends the first message | The customer | Your business |
| Opens 24-hour service window | Yes | No (you send a template to reach them) |
| Free-form replies allowed | Yes, for 24 hours | Only after the customer replies |
| Typical entry point | CTWA ad, QR code, wa.me link, direct message | Marketing / utility / authentication template |
| Billing | Free-form replies are free; templates billed by category | Template billed per delivered message by category |