Run One-to-One WhatsApp Outreach From Your Own Connected Number, Inside Limits That Keep the Number Safe
Every connected number sends inside one budget — and there is no setting, plan or support request that raises it.
Key takeaways
- What can I send over WhatsApp? One-to-one text messages up to 4,096 characters, up to 5 attachments per message at up to 15 MB each (images, PDFs, video and audio), and voice notes recorded in the composer.
- What are the WhatsApp sending limits? Per connected number, per day: 60 outbound messages in total, of which at most 20 may be new chats (a first message to someone you have never messaged).
- Is the 20 new chats extra on top of the 60 messages? No — it is a slice of the 60, never an addition to it.
What can you send?
WhatsApp outreach in WarmySender is one-to-one messaging from a number you connect yourself. You write a step, the campaign personalises it per prospect, and the scheduler delivers it as an ordinary conversation — the same kind of message a person would type.
- Text messages up to 4,096 characters
- Up to 5 attachments per message, each up to 15 MB — images, PDFs, video and audio
- Voice notes recorded in the composer, sent as a real play-bubble rather than a file
- Follow-up steps that wait, and stop automatically the moment someone replies
What it is not is a broadcast tool. There is no blast, no list-wide send, and no way to reach a thousand people this afternoon. Every message is a message in a conversation, and the pacing below is what keeps it looking like one.
What are the limits?
Per connected number, per day:
- 60 outbound messages in total — first touches and follow-ups together, from one shared budget.
- 20 new chats — a first message to someone you have never messaged before. This is a slice of the 60, not an addition to it.
- 8 messages per rolling hour, so a day's allowance cannot be spent in one burst.
- A randomised pause of 45 to 120 seconds between any two messages on the same number.
That pause is deliberately random rather than a fixed interval. A perfectly regular rhythm is itself the giveaway — a message every sixty seconds on the dot is not what a person looks like — so the gap is drawn fresh each time inside that window. The same reasoning drives a short simulated typing delay before each message lands.
These are ceilings, not targets, and they compose downwards: a ramp week, a campaign setting or a per-account limit can only ever lower the effective number. Nothing raises it. There is no plan tier, no toggle in settings and no support request that unlocks a bigger allowance, and that is the whole point — the account at risk here is your own phone number, and a WhatsApp restriction is driven by recipient reports, which arrive fast and are slow to undo.
Why is the first-message allowance a slice of the daily total, not extra on top?
Because cold first touches are what get a number reported, and follow-ups are not.
Messaging somebody who has never heard from you is the risky action: they can block you or mark the message as spam, and a handful of those is enough to restrict a number. A reply-thread follow-up to a conversation someone is already in carries almost none of that risk. Budgeting the two separately would let a busy day of ordinary follow-ups sit on top of a full 20 cold first touches and quietly double the exposure that actually matters.
So the 20 new chats live inside the 60. Send 20 first touches and you have 40 messages left for conversations already underway. Spend the day answering people and you may never reach 20 first touches at all — which is exactly the behaviour the design is trying to encourage.
How does a new number ramp up?
When you connect a number you tell us what it is, and that picks a ramp:
- New number — the most cautious path. Week 1 allows 5 new chats and 20 messages a day. Week 2 allows 10 new chats and 40 messages. From week 3 on, the full 20 new chats and 60 messages.
- Established number — for a number with genuine history that has simply never sent automated traffic before. Week 1 allows 10 new chats and 30 messages a day; from week 2 on, the full 20 and 60.
- Skip the ramp — an explicit opt-out that starts at the full 20 new chats and 60 messages from the first message. That is the floor, not a loophole: the 8-per-hour cap and the 45 to 120 second spacing still apply, and there is no mode above this one.
A brand-new number is the single most fragile case in the product, which is why week 1 sits so low. A number that has never sent a message and suddenly starts twenty conversations is the pattern the platform is watching for.
Do replies count?
No. Inbound messages do not consume any part of your budget, and answering someone is never blocked by a limit. The daily total, the new-chat slice and the hourly cap all count outbound messages only.
Replies you send from the inbox do count as outbound messages against the 60, because they are messages your number sends — but they never count against the 20 new chats, since the conversation already exists.
What happens if people don't reply?
The first-message allowance tightens on its own.
Once a number has started at least 30 new chats, we look at the trailing share of those that got a reply. If it falls below 10%, the daily new-chat allowance drops to 5 until the rate recovers. Nothing else changes: the 60-message daily total is untouched, and answering inbound messages is never affected — you can and should keep replying to everyone who wrote to you.
Three things worth knowing about this. It is temporary — it lifts by itself as soon as the reply rate comes back. It is one-directional — it only ever tightens, never loosens, and it cannot be waived. And it is feedback, not punishment: a number whose cold openers are being ignored is a number heading for block reports, so the right response is to fix the list or rewrite the opener, not to look for a way around the throttle. Treat it as the product telling you something the numbers already knew.
Can an AI agent run WhatsApp outreach?
Yes. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex, OpenClaw, and Hermes Agent — plus any agent that speaks MCP — can create a WhatsApp campaign, write the steps, enrol prospects, start it, pause it, resume it, and read the results back, in plain language.
The safety framing is identical to every other channel, and it is not softened for agents:
- The agent never sends a message itself. Launching a campaign writes it and hands it to the scheduler; the scheduler sends, at the same pace, with the same pauses.
- The agent can never raise a limit. No tool exists to do it. Ask an agent for more volume and the only honest answer it can act on is another connected number.
- An agent-built campaign is paced exactly like a hand-built one. The scheduler does not know who pressed go.
What does a seat cost?
WhatsApp is a per-number add-on at $15/seat/month, or $10/seat/month on an annual term. One seat covers one connected number. Because the budget is per number, connecting a second number is the only way to send more — see the pricing page.
What stays manual?
Connecting and disconnecting a number stays in the app, done by a person scanning a code on their phone. No API call and no AI agent can do it for you, deliberately: it is the highest-consequence action in the channel, because the account on the line is your own phone number and a restricted one is effectively unrecoverable.
Everything after the connection — building the sequence, enrolling prospects, launching, pausing, replying, reporting — is open to you, to the public API and to an agent.
Related reading
- LinkedIn outreach — the same paced model on the other invitation-based channel
- Multichannel outreach — WhatsApp as one step in a sequence that also spans email, LinkedIn and Instagram
- Unified inbox — WhatsApp replies alongside every other channel
- Instagram sending limits — the sibling channel's safety budget
- How WhatsApp sending limits keep your number safe
- How to connect your WhatsApp number
- How to run a WhatsApp campaign
- Pricing
Key benefits
- One-to-one messaging from your own connected number — never a broadcast blast
- One daily budget per number: 60 outbound messages, of which at most 20 are first touches
- 8 messages per rolling hour and a randomised 45-120 second pause, so the rhythm never looks mechanical
- A week-by-week ramp for new numbers, plus an explicit skip-the-ramp option that still keeps every hard cap
- Inbound replies never consume any part of the budget, and answering is never blocked
- A low reply rate tightens first touches automatically, then lifts by itself once the rate recovers
- An AI agent can build, launch and manage campaigns — and can never send or raise a limit
Frequently asked questions
What can I send over WhatsApp?
One-to-one text messages up to 4,096 characters, up to 5 attachments per message at up to 15 MB each (images, PDFs, video and audio), and voice notes recorded in the composer. Follow-up steps can wait and stop automatically when someone replies. There is no broadcast or list-wide blast — every message is part of a conversation.
What are the WhatsApp sending limits?
Per connected number, per day: 60 outbound messages in total, of which at most 20 may be new chats (a first message to someone you have never messaged). On top of that, 8 messages per rolling hour and a randomised pause of 45 to 120 seconds between any two messages on the same number.
Is the 20 new chats extra on top of the 60 messages?
No — it is a slice of the 60, never an addition to it. Send 20 first touches and you have 40 messages left for conversations already underway. Cold first touches are what get a number reported, so they are budgeted separately and still consume the shared daily total.
How does a new WhatsApp number ramp up?
A new number starts at 5 new chats and 20 messages a day in week 1, moves to 10 and 40 in week 2, and reaches the full 20 and 60 from week 3. A number with genuine existing history starts at 10 and 30 in week 1 and reaches full allowance from week 2. There is also an explicit skip-the-ramp option that begins at the full 20 and 60 — the hourly cap and the 45 to 120 second spacing still apply, and no mode goes above that.
Do incoming replies count against my limit?
No. Inbound messages consume none of the budget and answering someone is never blocked. Only outbound messages are counted. A reply you send does count against the 60-a-day total, since your number sent it, but never against the 20 new chats — that conversation already exists.
What happens if people don't reply to my messages?
The first-message allowance tightens on its own. Once a number has started at least 30 new chats, if fewer than 10% of them got a reply, the daily new-chat allowance drops to 5 until the rate recovers. It is temporary, one-directional, lifts by itself, and never affects answering inbound messages. Treat it as feedback on the list or the opener rather than something to work around.
Can I raise my WhatsApp limits?
No. There is no setting, plan or support request that raises them, and no agent tool for it either. The only way to send more is to connect another number and take another seat. The account at risk is your own phone number, and a restricted number is effectively unrecoverable — so the ceilings are not negotiable.
Can an AI agent run my WhatsApp outreach?
Yes. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex, OpenClaw, and Hermes Agent — plus any agent that speaks MCP — can create a campaign, write the steps, enrol prospects, start, pause, resume and report on it in plain language. The agent never sends a message itself and can never raise a limit: launching hands the campaign to the scheduler, which paces every message identically no matter who triggered it.
What does a WhatsApp seat cost?
A WhatsApp seat is $15/seat/month, or $10/seat/month on an annual term. One seat covers one connected number, and since the sending budget is per number, a second seat is how you send more.
What still has to be done by hand?
Connecting and disconnecting a number. That stays in the app and requires a person scanning a code on their phone — no API call and no AI agent can do it. Everything after that is available to you, the public API and an agent alike.