WhatsApp broadcasts without the 256-contact limit
The WhatsApp Business app caps broadcast lists at 256 contacts and only reaches people who saved your number. Recoverly sends WhatsApp broadcast campaigns through Meta's official API instead: to your whole opted-in list, with approved templates, scheduled sends, paced delivery that protects your quality rating, and orders tracked back to the campaign that earned them.
What is a WhatsApp broadcast?
A WhatsApp broadcast is one message sent to many people at once, with each person receiving it as a private chat rather than in a group. Businesses use broadcasts for launches, sales, restocks, event invitations and short newsletters, because a WhatsApp message tends to be read within minutes while an email waits its turn.
There are two legitimate ways to send one. The WhatsApp Business app offers broadcast lists, capped at 256 contacts each, and a message only arrives for people who have your number saved in their phone. The WhatsApp Business Platform turns broadcasts into campaigns: a template approved by Meta, sent to an audience of opted-in contacts, with no list cap, delivery receipts and a way to unsubscribe.
The third way, sold as “bulk WhatsApp sender” software, drives WhatsApp Web or a modified app to blast numbers that never opted in. It breaks WhatsApp's terms and usually ends with a banned number. Recoverly sends campaigns only through the official API.
- Launches and drops new collections, menus, courses or listings.
- Sales and offers flash sales, seasonal promotions, VIP early access.
- Restocks the item people kept asking about is back.
- Events open houses, workshops, tastings and webinars.
- Newsletters a short monthly note with one clear link.
- Win-back a reason for past customers to return.
WhatsApp broadcast software with guardrails built in
Audiences that respect consent, templates Meta has approved, delivery that protects your number, and results counted in orders.
Choose who hears from you, never who didn't ask
Build each WhatsApp campaign from live audiences instead of pasted spreadsheets. Before anything sends, the audience is narrowed to contacts with a recorded opt-in, and you see the exact recipient count.
- Everyone opted in. Your full marketing list, grown through the widget, popup, checkout box and forms.
- Recent customers. People who bought within a window you pick, from 30 days up to a full year.
- Repeat buyers. Customers with two or more orders, usually your most responsive group.
- Abandoned checkouts and tags. Shoppers who left a checkout in the last 90 days, or contacts carrying a tag you set.
Approved templates, sent when people are awake
Any business-initiated broadcast needs a template Meta has approved. Recoverly includes campaign templates you can edit, submits your own for approval inside the app, and lets you send now or set a time in your own timezone.
- Six ready campaigns. Flash sale, new arrival, restock and seasonal sale, plus a discount code drop and VIP early access.
- Your own copy. Write a template inline with the customer's name and a button that opens the offer.
- Eight languages. Write templates in any of them, including right-to-left Arabic.
- Scheduled sends. Pick the moment, or send as soon as the template is approved.
WhatsApp broadcast delivery that protects your number
Meta scores every business number on how recipients react. Blasting thousands of messages in one go, or sending the same one twice, is how ratings fall. Recoverly queues each campaign in staggered waves, sends every person the campaign once, and holds back if your rating turns red.
- Staggered waves. Large audiences go out in measured batches, never all at once.
- One send per person. Publishing again only retries the recipients that failed.
- Quality gate. If Meta rates your number red, campaigns pause until it recovers.
- STOP is final. A STOP reply removes someone from every future campaign, automation and AI reply.
Know what each campaign cost and what it earned
Every campaign reports sent, delivered and read from Meta's own receipts, and orders that follow are attributed back to it. Replies open conversations in the shared inbox, where your team or the AI can answer at no charge from Meta.
- Receipts from Meta. Delivered and read counts per campaign, not estimates.
- Orders attributed. Revenue that follows a campaign is tracked back to it in analytics.
- Meta fees at cost. Marketing templates are billed by Meta per delivered message at your recipients' country rate. Recoverly adds no markup.
- Free replies. Answering a customer who wrote back in the last 24 hours costs nothing.
What businesses broadcast on WhatsApp
Short, specific, one clear button: the campaigns that earn replies instead of blocks.
Flash sales and drops
A 48-hour offer to repeat buyers, sent at the hour they usually shop, with a button straight to the collection.
Learn more →Back-in-stock news
Tell everyone who asked when a sold-out item returns. Restock signups double as recorded opt-ins.
Learn more →WhatsApp newsletter
A monthly note with one story and one link. Shorter than email, and usually read the same day.
Learn more →Events and open days
Invitations to tastings, open houses or workshops, with a quick-reply button to RSVP.
Learn more →Win-back offers
A comeback code for past customers, with an expiry date that gives it urgency.
Learn more →Checkout reminders
When a promotion starts, message shoppers who abandoned a checkout in the last 90 days with a fresh reason to finish.
Learn more →API campaigns vs broadcast lists vs bulk senders
Three ways to send one WhatsApp message to many people. The WhatsApp broadcast list limit is only the first of the differences.
| Recoverly (official API) | WhatsApp Business app lists | Unofficial bulk senders | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recipients per send | Your whole opted-in audience, within Meta's daily limits | Up to 256 per list | Whatever you paste in, until the number is blocked |
| Who receives it | Opted-in contacts only, checked at send time | Only people who saved your number | Anyone, including people who never agreed |
| Allowed by WhatsApp | Yes, via a Meta Tech Provider | Yes, within the app's limits | No, it breaks WhatsApp's terms |
| Scheduling and pacing | Scheduled sends, delivered in waves | Manual, sent immediately | Fast blasts that trip spam detection |
| Templates and buttons | Meta-approved templates with link and quick-reply buttons | Plain messages and media, no buttons | Plain messages |
| Measurement | Delivered, read, replies and attributed orders | Read ticks per recipient | Unreliable or none |
Meta raises a number's daily messaging limit as the business gets verified and keeps a healthy quality rating. Details as of September 2026.
Live in minutes
Grow an opted-in list
Switch on the free widget and popup, add the consent box at checkout, or import contacts along with their consent status.
Build the campaign
Choose an audience, pick or write a template, and send it to Meta for approval without leaving the app.
Schedule and measure
Pick a time, let delivery pace itself, then follow reads, replies and orders as they come in.
Good questions
Broadcast to your whole list, the official way.
Campaigns, smart audiences and paced delivery come with Lite at $19 a month. Start free today and grow your opted-in list first.