WeChat Official Accounts allow businesses to engage with customers on WeChat, providing a direct channel for messaging, customer support, and updates. A WeChat Service Account is a specific type of Official Account designed for businesses to send messages, offer support, and automate workflows while adhering to WeChat’s messaging policies.

What is a WeChat Service Account?

A WeChat Service Account is a type of official WeChat account that businesses can use to communicate with customers, send updates, and provide customer support. It allows businesses to engage users directly on WeChat while following platform limitations on messaging frequency and content.

Starting a conversation

Businesses cannot initiate conversations with customers. Customers must reach out first through:

• Searching for your Official Account: Customers can manually search for your WeChat Official Account within the WeChat app and start a conversation by sending a message.

Supported message types

You can send and receive the following message types via your connected WeChat channel on SleekFlow: 

Messages you can send

• Plain text message
• Documents (Max file size: 100MB)
• Media (Images and videos) (Max file size: 16MB)
• Voice notes (Max file size: 16MB)
• Payment links (Requires payment feature enabled)
• Product messages from SleekFlow’s Product Catalogue
• Emojis
   

Messages you can receive

• Plain text messages
• Documents (Max file size: 100MB)
• Media (Images & Videos) (Max file size: 16MB)
• Voice notes
• Emojis

Unsupported message types

Message types that are not supported for sending or receiving include, but are not limited to:

• Location messages
• Contact messages
• Stickers
• Published articles

For more details on WeChat Service Account functionalities, refer to WeChat’s guide.

Message and conversation limitations

WeChat service accounts have specific restrictions on messaging to ensure compliance with WeChat’s policies and maintain a structured conversation flow. Below are the key limitations that affect how and when you can communicate with customers.
 

Conversation window

WeChat enforces a 48-hour reply window, meaning businesses can only respond to customer messages within this timeframe. This helps ensure that interactions remain timely and relevant:

• A business can only reply after a customer initiates a conversation by sending a message
• The 48-hour conversation window starts immediately after the customer’s message
• The reply window automatically resets to 48 hours whenever the customer sends a new message

Message limit within the conversation window

Within the active conversation window, businesses are limited in the number of messages they can send to prevent spam and excessive messaging:

• Businesses can send up to five messages per conversation window. This count resets each time a new message is received from the customer
• If the five-message limit is reached, the business will not be able to send additional messages until the customer sends another message, which resets the count
   

For the most up-to-date information on messaging limits and conversation window policies, please refer to WeChat’s official documentation. 

Recalling and editing messages

Once a message is sent or received, WeChat does not allow businesses to modify or remove messages:

• Sent messages cannot be recalled or edited on SleekFlow.
• Received messages cannot be deleted from SleekFlow.
• Customers can delete messages in their WeChat app, but this will not affect the messages displayed in SleekFlow.
   

Message costs

Using WeChat as a communication channel comes with specific costs, primarily related to account verification. Below are the details:

• A verified WeChat Service Account costs $99 USD per year
• Sending and receiving messages via WeChat is free of charge