--- title: "SMS and WhatsApp Message Templates" description: "90 free SMS, WhatsApp and RCS message templates by industry and use case: OTP, reminders, orders, payments, Ramadan, Eid and White Friday. Copy and send." canonical: "https://omnichannels.ai/tools/message-templates/" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-10" publisher: "BroadNet Technologies" brand: "OmniChannels.ai" --- # SMS and WhatsApp Message Templates Canonical: https://omnichannels.ai/tools/message-templates/ Language: en Publisher: OmniChannels.ai by BroadNet Technologies A business message template is pre-written text with variables, such as {{1}} on WhatsApp or [Name] in SMS, that you fill in for each customer. WhatsApp templates must be approved by Meta in one of three categories: marketing, utility or authentication. SMS needs no approval, but promotional SMS needs prior consent, an opt-out and, in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, a registered promotional sender ID. Each SMS part holds 160 GSM-7 or 70 Unicode characters. ## How to use the template library 1. **Filter by what you need:** Pick an industry, a use case or a season such as Ramadan, or search for a word like “reminder”. Choose SMS, WhatsApp or RCS to see only that channel. 2. **Check the channel details:** Each card shows the WhatsApp category Meta will expect, or the SMS segment count and encoding, together with a compliance note for that kind of message. 3. **Copy and personalise:** Copy the text and replace the highlighted variables with your own fields. Keep the numbered {{1}} order on WhatsApp and the opt-out on promotional SMS. 4. **Preview, then submit or send:** Open WhatsApp templates in the template preview before submitting them to Meta, and paste SMS into the character counter to confirm the final length. ## WhatsApp template categories: marketing, utility and authentication Outside the 24-hour customer service window, a business can only start a WhatsApp conversation with an approved message template. Meta reviews every template and assigns one of three categories, and the category sets the price per delivered message. Authentication templates use fixed text that Meta supplies. You add the code, and can add a security note, an expiry time and a copy-code or one-tap button. Utility templates must relate to a specific transaction, account or booking the customer already has. Anything else, including greetings, offers, product news and re-engagement, is marketing. If a utility template contains promotional wording, Meta will recategorise it as marketing, so keep order updates free of upsells. - Body: up to 1,024 characters, variables written as {{1}}, {{2}} and so on, in order - Do not start or end the body with a variable, and do not place two variables next to each other - Header text and footer: up to 60 characters each - Buttons: up to 10 in total; quick reply and call-to-action labels up to 25 characters - Marketing templates need WhatsApp opt-in, and a “Stop promotions” quick reply gives people a one-tap opt-out ## SMS length: why some templates cost two or three messages A single SMS carries 160 characters in the GSM-7 alphabet. As soon as one character falls outside it, such as an Arabic letter, a curly quote or an emoji, the whole message switches to Unicode (UCS-2) and the limit drops to 70. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (Unicode) characters, and operators bill each part. That is why the Arabic templates here usually show two or three segments where the English version fits in one or two. Each SMS card shows its encoding and segment count, with placeholders counted as text of similar length. The real values you insert can change the count, so check the final message in the SMS character counter before a large send. ## Compliance notes for promotional SMS in the Gulf Treat any message with an offer, a discount or a sales link as promotional. Send it only to customers who agreed to receive marketing, include a clear opt-out such as “Reply STOP to opt out”, and honour opt-outs on every channel. In the UAE, promotional SMS must use a sender ID registered for promotional traffic (prefixed AD-) and is normally allowed only between 07:00 and 21:00. In Saudi Arabia, promotional sender IDs carry the -AD suffix and are registered with the regulator. Transactional messages such as OTPs, order updates and appointment reminders go through transactional sender IDs and should contain no marketing. - Start every SMS with your brand so the recipient knows who is writing - Never put a one-time code inside a link, and always state when it expires - Keep patient, account and payment details out of the message; link to a secure portal instead - Give RCS messages an SMS fallback that keeps the same opt-out wording ## Seasonal messages: Ramadan, Eid, National Days and White Friday Seasonal moments drive much of the year's messaging volume in the GCC. The library includes Ramadan greetings and changed opening hours, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha offers and holiday notices, UAE National Day (2 December) and Saudi National Day (23 September) messages, White Friday sales and New Year campaigns. Eid dates follow the Hijri calendar and shift by about 11 days each year, so schedule these messages against the announced dates. During Ramadan, daily routines shift towards the evening, so test send times around iftar rather than reusing your usual schedule. A greeting with no offer is still marketing for WhatsApp purposes, so it needs the marketing category and opt-in. ## Choosing the channel for each template Use SMS when reach matters most: it works on every phone without an app or data, which makes it the safe default for OTPs and critical alerts. Use WhatsApp when you want buttons, two-way replies and richer content, for example appointment confirmations, delivery rescheduling or cart recovery. RCS adds branded, verified sender profiles and suggested replies in the native Android messaging app, and falls back to SMS where it is not supported. Many teams run the same template on more than one channel: WhatsApp first, with an SMS fallback if the message is not delivered. The cost comparison depends on the country and the WhatsApp category, which you can model in the messaging ROI calculator or the pricing estimator. ## Message template FAQ ### Do WhatsApp message templates need approval? Yes. Every template a business uses to start a conversation must be submitted to Meta through the WhatsApp Business Platform and approved first. Review is often completed within minutes and can take up to 24 hours. Templates are approved per language, so an Arabic version is a separate submission. ### Which WhatsApp category is an order confirmation? Utility, as long as it only confirms or updates an order the customer placed. If you add a discount code, product recommendations or other promotional text, Meta treats it as marketing and charges the marketing rate. ### How do I add an opt-out to a promotional SMS? End the message with a short instruction such as “Reply STOP to opt out”, or the opt-out keyword and short code your provider gives you, and stop sending marketing to anyone who uses it. On WhatsApp, add a “Stop promotions” quick reply button to marketing templates. ### How long should a marketing SMS be? Aim for one segment: 160 characters in English or 70 in Arabic, including the brand name, link and opt-out. Every extra part is billed as another message, so a three-part Arabic SMS costs three times as much as a one-part one. ### Can I mix Arabic and English in one SMS? Yes, but the whole message is then sent as Unicode, so the limit is 70 characters for a single SMS and 67 per part for longer messages, even for the English words. ### What do {{1}} and [Name] mean in these templates? They are variables. WhatsApp templates use numbered placeholders, {{1}}, {{2}} and so on, that you fill through the API or your campaign tool, and Meta asks for sample values when you submit. In SMS and RCS, [Name]-style fields are merged from your contact list before sending. ### Can I send a Ramadan or Eid greeting as a utility template? No. A greeting does not relate to a specific transaction, so WhatsApp treats it as marketing even if it contains no offer. Opening-hours notices sent by SMS to existing customers can be transactional if they carry no promotion. ### Are these templates free to use? Yes. You can copy, edit and use them with any provider. Adapt the wording to your brand, check local rules, and submit WhatsApp versions to Meta in each language you send.