Click-to-WhatsApp ads: the free 7-day window and how a clinic uses it

If you run Click-to-WhatsApp ads for a dental clinic, a physiotherapy centre or a skin clinic, the biggest change in how follow-up messages are billed this quarter is simple: a chat that starts from your ad can now be followed up with templates for free for up to 7 days. This post explains exactly what Meta says, where the vendors disagree, and a follow-up plan that makes the most of it.

What is the free entry point window?

Meta calls it the "free entry point window". It is a stretch of time after a customer starts a chat from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, during which your messages are not charged.¹ It is separate from the 24-hour customer service window, which opens whenever a customer messages or calls you and lets you send ordinary typed messages without a template.¹

Meta's pricing page says a customer must message you from the ad on the WhatsApp app on Android or iOS; WhatsApp on a desktop or the web is not supported.¹ It then says: "The FEP window may remain open for up to 7 days."¹

What changed, and when?

According to Spur, a software company that sells WhatsApp tools, the free window used to be 72 hours and became up to 7 days from 28 September 2026.² Spur's article is dated 5 October 2026 and says Meta recorded the change in its changelog.² I could not find that entry when I opened Meta's public changelog page, whose latest entry was dated 12 May 2026, so treat the exact start date as reported by Spur, not confirmed by Meta. What Meta's own pricing page does confirm is the current wording: up to 7 days.¹

Manychat's product team, in a post dated 12 October 2026, describes the same change and adds that it is "gradually becoming available to all accounts", following Meta's rollout schedule.³ In other words, you may not see it on every number on the same day.

What does the window not change?

Spur lists several limits worth knowing:²

• Free-form typed replies still need an open 24-hour customer service window. After it closes, you can only send approved templates, and those are free only while the free entry point window is open.
• Marketing templates still count toward Meta's per-user marketing limit, so a late one can fail with error 131049.
• Only Click-to-WhatsApp ad chats qualify. Chats from a website button, a QR code, a wa.me link or email are priced normally.
• Seven days is a maximum. Spur notes that Meta does not publish what can close the window earlier, so send important follow-ups early.

Meta's page also says its 1 October 2026 changes made service messages and utility templates sent inside an open customer service window chargeable again, with a free tier of 1,000 delivered service messages per phone number per month.¹ That is why the free entry point window matters more now: for ad leads, it is the stretch where follow-up templates stay free.¹

What would it be worth to a clinic? A worked example

This is an illustration, not a real clinic. A dental clinic in Pune runs Click-to-WhatsApp ads and gets 300 chats in a month. After the first reply, the front desk wants to send two templates on days 2 to 6, when the 24-hour window has already closed:

• 200 appointment-confirmation and reminder messages (utility templates)
• 120 "free scaling and polishing check, book this week" nudges (marketing templates)

The rates below come from the July 2026 rate card used on this site (card date 1 July 2026). Meta's page says it updated 40 rates on 1 October 2026, so check the current card before budgeting.¹

The saving in one month is modest in rupees for a small clinic, because India's per-message rates are low (₹0.1150 for utility and ₹0.8631 for marketing on that card). The bigger point is behavioural: for 7 days you can follow up without worrying that every extra message costs money, so the only limit is being polite.

A 7-day follow-up plan to copy

Treat the window as a week of "free, but only if you start on time". A sensible rhythm for a clinic:

Only send templates to people who actually asked about your service, and stop when someone says stop. Keep the wording honest: a "slot held" message should be true.

What bananaleaf.ai does here

bananaleaf.ai is an AI sales assistant and CRM that runs on your own WhatsApp number. When a chat starts from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, we store the ad's ID, headline and click ID from the first message, so you can see which ad each lead came from. Replies to the first message go out quickly, which matters because the free window starts with your reply. Campaign follow-ups after the 24-hour window go out as approved templates, which is the kind of message the free window covers. We do not currently track the free window's clock itself, so we cannot tell you on which day it closes for a given lead: use the day-by-day plan above and send the important template early.

What to do this week

1. Check that your ads open WhatsApp on a phone. Meta says desktop and web chats do not qualify.¹
2. Set a reply target of minutes, not hours. The reply is what opens the window, and Spur says without it the chat never gets one.¹²
3. Write your day 2, day 4 and day 6 templates now and get them approved, so they are ready when a lead arrives.
4. Do not assume the 7-day deadline to reply. Plan for 24 hours until Meta says otherwise.¹³
5. Do not rely on Meta Business Agent for these chats without checking cost. Meta says its messages are still charged inside the window.¹
6. Look at your own numbers after 30 days: how many ad chats got a reply within 24 hours, and how many booked.