Answered · Definition
How many people can I send a WhatsApp broadcast to at once?
In the WhatsApp Business app a broadcast list has long been capped at 256 contacts, and only people who saved your number receive it. You can make several lists, but blasting all of them is how numbers get restricted. On the API, the limit is a daily count of customers you can message first, which rises as your quality holds.
WhatsApp broadcast mein ek waqt mein kitne logon ko message ja sakta hai?
The longer answer
A broadcast list in the app looks like a group to you and like a private chat to each recipient. The cap has been 256 contacts per list for years, and the more important rule is that a person only receives your broadcast if they have saved your number in their phone. That is WhatsApp's built-in consent check. If a Rawalpindi customer messaged you once but never saved your number, your broadcast simply never reaches them.
It is tempting to split a big contact book into ten lists and send the same message to all of them. WhatsApp watches how people react: if many recipients block or report you, or ignore message after message, your number can be restricted from messaging for a period or banned. WhatsApp has also been tightening limits on business messages that go unanswered, so a broadcast that nobody replies to now costs you more than it used to.
The API works differently. There is no 256 cap; instead each number has a messaging limit on how many unique customers it can start conversations with in a rolling 24 hours. Meta has historically started new, unverified businesses at 250 and raised the limit in steps once the business is verified and its messages keep a good quality rating. Each send must use an approved template, and marketing templates are charged per message.
The practical rule for a twin-city shop is the same either way: send fewer, better messages to people who asked for them. A new-arrivals message to customers who bought from your G-9 store last season will do more than a weekly blast to everyone you have ever spoken to, and it keeps the number safe.
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