Glossary
What is the WhatsApp per-user marketing limit?
WhatsApp's frequency cap on marketing templates each person receives, why sends fail with error 131049, and how to plan campaigns and retries around it.
By Broadchat teamPublished 2 min read
Definition
Per-user marketing limit: A per-user marketing limit is WhatsApp's cap on how many marketing templates one person receives from businesses, based on how that person engages with marketing messages. When a send would exceed it, the message is not delivered and the API returns error 131049; Meta advises waiting 24 hours before trying again. Marketing messages sent inside an open customer service window do not count.
Also called: Frequency capping, Marketing message limit per user, Error 131049
How the WhatsApp per-user marketing limit works
This limit is about the recipient, not your account. WhatsApp looks at how a person engages with marketing and limits how many marketing messages they get. Meta does not publish the exact number. It differs from your messaging limit, which caps how many unique people your portfolio can reach in 24 hours.
| Messaging limit | Per-user marketing limit | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies to | Your business portfolio | Each recipient |
| Counts | Unique users reached with templates outside the window | Marketing templates a person receives |
| What you see | Sends stop once the tier is used | Error 131049 for that recipient |
| Utility and authentication | Count | Not affected |
Two details matter for planning. Marketing messages sent while a customer service window is open do not count, because the customer just wrote to you. And WhatsApp currently does not deliver marketing templates to US (+1) numbers at all, with no end date given.
Worked example
Rangoli Home sends a festive sale template to 1,500 opted-in customers. The report shows 1,420 delivered and 80 failed with 131049. Meera does not resend at once: Meta advises waiting 24 hours. She also checks the 80 people. Most had not opened any of the last five promotions, which suggests they are getting more marketing than they want. She retries the next day only for those who bought in the last six months, and moves the rest to a monthly digest.
How to plan around it
- Treat 131049 as feedback, not an error to force through.
- Send fewer, better-targeted promotions instead of daily blasts.
- Use utility templates only for genuine transactional updates; disguising promotions as utility leads to recategorisation.
- Invite replies ("Reply YES for the size chart"); once the customer writes, the window opens and later replies are outside the cap.
In Broadchat
In a campaign report under CRM → Bulk Campaign, failed recipients show Meta's error, so you can filter out 131049 failures and use retarget by recipient status to resend to them a day later instead of resending the whole list. The message templates guide covers writing marketing templates people actually want to receive.
Related terms
Sources
- Per-user marketing template limits — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
Broadchat team · Product and partner success team
The people who build and support Broadchat, the white-label WhatsApp Business API platform. We write from what we see while onboarding partners and their clients on the official WhatsApp Cloud API, and we check every article against Meta's current documentation.
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Frequently asked questions
Am I charged for a marketing message blocked with 131049?
Meta charges per delivered message, and a message blocked by the per-user marketing limit is not delivered. Check Meta's pricing page for the current rules.
Does the per-user limit apply to OTP or order updates?
No. It applies to marketing templates. Utility and authentication templates are not capped this way, which is why they must not contain promotional content.
How many marketing messages can one person receive?
Meta does not publish a fixed number. The limit depends on how each person engages with marketing messages, so it can differ from one recipient to another.