WhatsApp template checker
Paste a draft and this runs it against Meta's documented limits and the reasons templates actually get refused. Free, no account, and nothing leaves your browser.
Your template
Paste a template above and this checks it as you type.
The limits Meta documents
| Part | Most you get |
|---|---|
| Header, as text | 60 characters, and at most one variable |
| Body | 1,024 characters |
| Footer | 60 characters |
| Button text | 25 characters |
| Variables | {{1}}, {{2}}, in order, none skipped |
Why templates get refused
The category, which is most of them
Meta sorts every template into utility, marketing or authentication, and it reads the template rather than trusting the box you ticked. An order confirmation is utility. The same message with "and here is 10% off your next one" at the end is marketing, and one promotional sentence reclassifies the whole thing.
A reclassified template is refused, not moved. If you want to say both, that is two templates.
A variable at the start or the end
A body that opens or closes with a placeholder is refused, because the reviewer cannot tell what the message says. Put your own words around every variable.
Samples that are not samples
"test", "abc", "123". The reviewer is trying to picture the message a customer will read, and those make that impossible. Use the real shape: a name, a real order number, a real date.
A duplicate
Same body and footer as a template you already have, refused. Renaming it does not help. Either reuse the approved one or give the new one a genuinely different purpose.
Shortened links
bit.ly and the rest are refused, because the destination cannot be reviewed. Use the full address on your own domain.
The one that passes review and then fails
Worth knowing because it is invisible until it bites. Meta refuses a template parameter containing a newline, a tab, or more than four spaces in a row. The template is approved, the send is rejected, and your logs say the message went.
Flatten whatever you substitute in before you send it. We learned this the slow way and it is in our own sending code for that reason.
You may not need templates at all
A template is only needed outside the 24 hours a customer opens by messaging you. Inside that window you can send whatever you like.
If your business answers people who wrote to you first, that is the whole of what you do and templates never come into it. The difference between the two, and what each costs.
It is also why our approvals API needs no template from you: the number and the template are ours, already approved, and you send through them.
Questions
Does this guarantee Meta will approve my template?
No, and nothing could. Meta's reviewer decides, and the decision includes judgement about what your business is and whether the message matches it. What this checks is the mechanical half: the documented limits, the variable rules, the category mismatch and the tone signals that get templates refused before a human looks closely.
Why was my template rejected with no reason given?
Meta usually gives a category rather than a sentence. The commonest cause by far is category: a utility template with one promotional line in it gets reclassified, and a reclassified template is refused rather than moved. The second commonest is a variable at the start or end of the body.
Can I just resubmit the same template?
A template with the same body and footer as one you already have is refused as a duplicate, and renaming it does not help. Change the wording so it has a genuinely different purpose, or edit and resubmit the original.
What are good sample values?
What the message will really say. "Sara", "1043", "Aramex", "Tuesday". Submitting "test" or "123" is a quiet way to be refused, because the reviewer cannot picture the message.
Does my data go anywhere?
No. This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to us, there is no account, and closing the tab is the whole of deleting it.
Do I need templates at all?
Only outside the 24-hour window a customer opens by messaging you. Inside it you can send anything. If you only ever reply to people who wrote to you first, you may never need one.
Checked against Meta's published limits and the rejection reasons collected by people who deal with them daily, read on 9 November 2026. Meta's reviewer is the authority; this is the half you can check first.