WhatsApp Template Generator — Build, Preview & Validate Before You Submit
Design a Meta-compliant WhatsApp message template in under two minutes. Pick a category, draft the body with variable placeholders, add buttons — see it live inside a WhatsApp chat bubble on the right. A 17-point compliance checker flags the exact reasons Meta rejects templates, so you fix them before submission, not after a 24-hour review cycle.
WhatsApp template generator
Build your template Step by step
Header Optional · 1 only
Body Required · Max 1024 chars
Footer Optional · 60 chars
Buttons Optional · Up to 10 total
Heads up: when you copy your template body or download JSON, our team gets a ping with the template you built so we can help you get it approved faster. We never share your details — see our privacy policy.
Compliance check 17 checks
Running checks…
We scan for Meta's most common rejection reasons.
Want us to submit this for you — and watch for the approval?
Go4whatsup's onboarding team handles template submissions, Meta reviewer follow-ups, and category-change appeals so your team spends zero minutes chasing Meta Business Manager. Approvals usually land in under 4 hours.
The three WhatsApp template categories — and why picking the right one matters
Meta groups every WhatsApp Business API template into one of three categories. The category you pick determines how much you pay per send, how often the template can go out, and how strict the approval criteria are. Get the category wrong and Meta auto-reclassifies at send time — usually into the more expensive Marketing bucket, quietly inflating your bill.
Promos & broadcasts
Sales, product launches, abandoned-cart nudges, newsletters, re-engagement, event invites — anything that promotes or sells. Highest per-conversation fee, full creative freedom.
Example: "Friday Flash Sale: 40% off until midnight. Tap to shop →"
Transactional updates
Order confirmations, shipping updates, booking reminders, balance alerts, feedback requests post-transaction. Lower fee, must relate to a real user-initiated action.
Example: "Your order #48219 has been dispatched. ETA: Tue, Apr 23."
OTPs & 2FA
Login codes, password resets, transaction verification. Lowest fee (and discounted further for authentication-conversation pricing). Body must follow Meta's fixed OTP format.
Example: "{{1}} is your Go4whatsup verification code. Don't share it."
What the compliance checker catches
- Naming: lowercase + underscores only, no duplicates within the same language.
- Variable hygiene: placeholders must be sequential ({{1}}, {{2}}, {{3}}), can't start or end the message, need sample values at submit time.
- Character limits: 60 for header text + footer, 1024 for body, 25 for button labels.
- Formatting: unbalanced *bold* or _italic_ markers, excessive emojis in marketing templates, ALL CAPS shouting (Meta's reviewer hates this).
- Category hints: body text that reads promotional in a utility template, or transactional language in a marketing template — both trigger Meta's automatic reclassifier.
- Buttons: URL must be a valid https link, phone must start with +country-code, authentication templates must use exactly one copy-code button.
- Prohibited content: gambling, dating, adult, weapons, and tobacco / vaping references are flagged.
Why Meta rejects templates — the actual breakdown
From thousands of template submissions we've watched through Meta Business Manager, here's the rejection-reason mix roughly in order: 1) category mismatch (marketing copy submitted as utility, ~28%), 2) missing variable samples at submission (~19%), 3) prohibited business vertical (~14%), 4) broken button URLs (~11%), 5) unbalanced markdown formatting (~9%), 6) duplicate name in same language (~7%), 7) character-limit overrun (~6%), 8) other reviewer judgement (~6%). The first two alone account for nearly half — and this generator catches both before you ever hit submit.
WhatsApp template generator — FAQ
How accurate is this compliance check compared to Meta's actual reviewer?
We catch the structural rejection reasons Meta's automated classifier surfaces — naming, variable placement, character limits, button configuration, prohibited verticals — which historically account for roughly 80–85% of first-pass rejections. The remaining 15–20% are human reviewer judgements around brand voice or borderline category classification, which no off-site tool can predict with certainty. If you want template approval with accountability, use our onboarding team: we pre-submit against a Meta account with high quality rating and handle reviewer appeals.
Can I actually submit this template to Meta directly from the tool?
Not from this page — Meta's template-create endpoint needs authenticated access to your own WABA. What this tool gives you is (a) the clean, pre-validated body text to paste into Meta Business Manager, or (b) a JSON payload matching Meta's Cloud API schema that your developer can POST to /message_templates. Go4whatsup customers get one-click submission from inside their dashboard, and our team will even file the appeal if Meta auto-rejects.
What's the difference between template variables {{1}} and WhatsApp Flows?
Variables ({{1}}, {{2}}) are simple text placeholders you fill at send time — customer name, order number, ETA, etc. WhatsApp Flows are a separate Meta feature that renders multi-screen forms inside the chat (address capture, appointment booking, survey). Flows don't belong in a template body — they attach as an interactive button. This tool handles the template scaffold; Flows are configured in Meta Business Manager or via a BSP dashboard like Go4whatsup's.
Why does Meta have three categories — and what happens if I pick the wrong one?
Meta split templates into Marketing, Utility, and Authentication in April 2024 to price conversations by intent rather than by volume. If you submit a promotional message as a Utility template, Meta's automated classifier either rejects it up front or — if it passes review — silently reclassifies it at send time and bills you at the Marketing rate anyway. The checker catches the common intent mismatches before submission, saving both rejection cycles and surprise billing.
Can I use emojis in my templates?
Yes, and in moderation emojis actually help open rates. The checker flags templates where more than 10% of the body is emoji characters, because Meta's reviewers treat emoji spam as a low-quality signal. One or two emojis per paragraph is typical; a row of eight party emojis at the top of a sale announcement is the pattern that gets reclassified or rejected.
Do I need sample variable values? The tool doesn't ask for them.
Yes — Meta requires a sample value for every {{n}} variable at submission time, otherwise the template is auto-rejected. The tool flags this as a check; when you submit through Go4whatsup's dashboard we use the values you provide in the body text as placeholders (the "Ankit", "#48219", "Apr 23" in the default example) and attach them to the submission payload automatically.
Can I have two buttons of the same type?
For Marketing and Utility templates you can have up to 10 buttons total, mixed across quick-reply, visit-website, call-phone, and copy-code. Quick replies and CTAs can coexist. For Authentication templates, Meta allows exactly one copy-code button and nothing else. The checker enforces both rules.
How long does Meta take to approve a template?
The published SLA is 24 hours, but in practice most submissions that pass automated checks approve in 1–4 hours during business hours, extended to 8–12 hours on weekends. Templates flagged for human review (borderline category, prohibited-vertical checks) can take up to 48 hours. The tool helps you avoid triggering manual review in the first place by keeping the submission clean.
Can I edit an approved template later?
Yes — Meta allows one edit per 24 hours per template, and the template must be in "Approved" state (not Paused or Disabled). Body text, footer, and button labels can be edited; the template name and language pair cannot. After editing, Meta re-reviews (usually auto-approved in under an hour if the change is minor). This tool is also useful for planning that edit before you touch the live template.
Why does the preview show the message with variables highlighted in yellow?
Because that's how Meta reviewers see it too. Your WhatsApp app shows the final merged message with real values. The generator shows you the template form so you can see at a glance whether the structure and variable placement makes sense — highlighting helps you spot unbalanced placeholders like a message that ends with "Thanks {{1}}" without a closing punctuation mark, which frequently trips the naturalness check.
Does this tool store my templates?
No — everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server. You can close the tab and the draft is gone. If you want template versioning and approval tracking, that lives inside Go4whatsup's dashboard — every customer gets unlimited templates across all three categories.
Are there cost differences between the three categories?
Yes — Meta charges different per-conversation rates for each category, and rates vary by country. In India for example, Marketing is ₹0.80, Utility is ₹0.14, Authentication is ₹0.12 per conversation. In UAE, Marketing is AED 0.14, Utility is AED 0.05. Use our WhatsApp Cost Calculator to model your monthly Meta fee across categories — category selection alone can swing costs 3–6×.
What happens if my template is rejected?
Meta shows a short reason code in Business Manager — usually something generic like "content violates policies". You can appeal (Meta reviews within 24 hours) or edit-and-resubmit (no wait, instant re-review). If you're a Go4whatsup customer, our onboarding team handles the appeal on your behalf and almost always wins them when the original copy was legitimate. Appeals we see fail are typically in prohibited verticals (gambling, dating, tobacco, adult) — no appeal will rescue those; you need a policy-compliant variant.