--- title: "WeChat 101: official accounts, mini programs and WeCom" summary: "How businesses use WeChat's Official Accounts, Mini Programs and WeCom, what verification costs, the messaging limits and Chinese data rules that come with them, and when WeChat is worth adding." canonical: https://cpaas.co/en/learn/wechat-101 kind: explainer depth: foundation origin: original published: 2026-10-13T16:26:18.899Z updated: 2026-10-14T16:26:19.814Z topics: ["Messaging", "Fundamentals", "Compliance"] language: en --- # WeChat 101: official accounts, mini programs and WeCom WeChat is two services in one app. **Weixin** is the version used with a mainland Chinese phone number, run by a Tencent company in Shenzhen; **WeChat** is the international version, run by Tencent affiliates abroad. Together they are where most people in mainland China chat, read, pay and book, and they reach Chinese-speaking travellers, students and communities everywhere. Businesses use three main tools: **Official Accounts** (business accounts people follow), **Mini Programs** (apps that run inside WeChat) and **WeCom** (Tencent's work app, which lets staff talk to WeChat users directly). This primer explains each one, what it costs, the rules that come with China, and when WeChat is worth the effort. ## At a glance WeChat is an [OTT](/en/learn/glossary#ott) app: messages travel over the internet, not through a mobile operator's SMS network. Tencent reported 1,439 million combined monthly active users of Weixin and WeChat for the second quarter of 2026, up from 1,411 million a year earlier.[^1] It does not split that figure between the two services. Which one a person uses depends on their phone number: accounts linked to a +86 number are Weixin accounts; others are WeChat accounts under separate terms.[^18] ```diagram:compare | Service account | Subscription account | WeCom What it is | An Official Account built for services and notices | An Official Account built for publishing articles | A work app whose staff accounts WeChat users add as contacts How often you can broadcast | 4 mass messages a month | 1 mass message a day | Set by your administrator; by default 1 a day per customer Messages outside broadcasts | Replies within 48 hours; service notices once verified | Replies within 48 hours | One-to-one and group chats with customers who added you Best for | Service notices, support, linking to Mini Programs | Content and news | Sales and relationship managers who know their customers Avoid for | Frequent marketing | Transactional notices | Anonymous mass marketing > As of October 2026, from Tencent's own documentation as cited in the text. ``` ## How it works ### Official Accounts An Official Account is a business presence inside Weixin and WeChat. Tencent says it lets organisations publish content, gather followers and push marketing and service notifications, and that it comes in two types: **subscription accounts** and **service accounts**.[^5] A person follows the account; from then on the business can reach them only in the ways Tencent's rules allow: - **Mass messages (broadcasts).** A subscription account may send one mass message a day; a service account may send four a month. The counts do not roll over, and Tencent does not sell more. A service account can send to segments more often, but each follower still receives at most four mass messages a month.[^7] - **Customer service messages.** When a person interacts with the account, for example by sending a message, the business's system may answer through the customer service interface for a limited period, currently 48 hours.[^8] - **Template messages.** Only verified service accounts may apply for them. They are for important service notices, not marketing, and may not be sent to people who have not used the service; each account may call them up to 100,000 times a day.[^9] - **Subscription notifications.** A person ticks a box to receive a type of notice. A one-time subscription allows one notice; a long-term subscription allows repeated notices but is open only to public services such as government and healthcare.[^10] Software connects through Tencent's developer interfaces: Weixin forwards each message and event to an address on your server (a [webhook](/en/learn/glossary#webhook)), and your system calls Tencent's [API](/en/learn/glossary#api) to reply or send.[^8] ```diagram:path # A reply from your system to a follower The follower | Sends a message to your Official Account | A message event Weixin's servers | Forward the event to your system | The event, at your server address Your system | Decides the answer, by chatbot or by a person | A customer service message Weixin's servers | Check the 48-hour window and the account's permissions | The message, or an error outside the window The follower | Reads it in the chat with your account ``` ### Mini Programs A Mini Program is an app that runs inside Weixin: a shop, a booking flow, a membership card. Tencent launched them in January 2017.[^4] It says Mini Programs serve over 1.1 billion monthly active users and that, in 2025, the ecosystem covered 100 countries and regions.[^24] Official Accounts can link to Mini Programs, so a notice can open the page where the person acts. ### WeCom WeCom is Tencent's work app, called WeChat Work until September 2020.[^17] Its "Contact Customers" feature lets staff add WeChat users as customers and serve them in private or group chats, under the company's name rather than a personal account.[^14] Mass messages to customers follow rules the administrator sets: by default one a day, and never more in a month than the month's number of days.[^15] ## A short history Tencent launched Weixin in January 2011.[^3][^4] Official Accounts followed in 2012 as WeChat's content publishing tool, comparable to a Facebook Page.[^6] Weixin Pay arrived in August 2013,[^3] and Mini Programs in January 2017.[^4] In September 2020 WeChat Work was renamed WeCom; the South China Morning Post reported the move as Tencent prepared for a US ban on WeChat transactions.[^17] The regulatory frame grew around the same time. China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) was adopted on 20 August 2021 and took effect on 1 November 2021.[^21] In July 2023 China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) required apps, including mini programs, that provide internet information services in China to file with the authorities, with existing apps due by March 2024.[^20] In March 2024 the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) eased some cross-border data rules.[^22] In November 2025 Tencent began letting Mini Program merchants outside mainland China accept local payment methods,[^23] and in August 2026 it reported 1,439 million monthly users.[^1] ```diagram:timeline # WeChat for business, oldest first January 2011 | Weixin launches | Tencent's mobile messenger 2012 | Official Accounts | Business publishing inside the app August 2013 | Weixin Pay | Payments inside the chat January 2017 | Mini Programs | Apps that run inside Weixin September 2020 | WeChat Work becomes WeCom | Staff accounts for customer contact November 2021 | PIPL takes effect | China's personal information law September 2023 | App and mini program filing begins | Existing apps due by March 2024 March 2024 | New cross-border data rules | Some transfers exempted November 2025 | TenPay Global Checkout | Local payments for Mini Programs abroad August 2026 | 1,439 million monthly users | Weixin and WeChat combined ``` ## Where it is used - **Mainland China.** Weixin is the version for people with a +86 phone number, operated by Shenzhen Tencent Computer Systems.[^18] Tencent's product page puts the combined monthly users of Weixin and its international version at over 1.4 billion at the end of March 2026;[^2] its quarterly results do not say how many of them use each version.[^1] - **Asia-Pacific outside the mainland.** Tencent is building merchant tools abroad: its payment service for Mini Programs started in Singapore and Macao SAR,[^23] and in April 2026 it highlighted Malaysian merchants, including an airline and hotels, using Mini Programs to serve visitors from China.[^24] - **Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.** Tencent publishes no user figures for these regions. In practice a business here meets WeChat through customers with ties to China: residents, students, travellers and business partners. WeChat accounts in the UK, the EEA and Switzerland contract with a Tencent company in Amsterdam; most others contract with WeChat International in Singapore.[^18] Weixin and WeChat users can talk to each other, but some features exist only on one side, and Tencent says their data is stored separately in different jurisdictions.[^19] For a business abroad, the key question is whether your customers use Weixin (because they live in China or keep a Chinese number) or WeChat, because the rules and the data path differ. ## What businesses use it for - **Content and marketing:** articles and mass messages from an Official Account, within the broadcast limits.[^7] See [marketing](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/marketing). - **Service notices:** order, delivery and booking notices through template messages or subscription notifications.[^9][^10] See [notifications](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/notifications). - **Support:** answers within the 48-hour window, by staff or a [chatbot](/en/learn/glossary#chatbot), ideally in a [unified inbox](/en/learn/glossary#unified-inbox).[^8] See [support](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/support). - **Commerce and booking:** Mini Programs with Weixin Pay.[^24] See [commerce](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/commerce) and [booking](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/booking). - **Sales and membership:** relationship managers in WeCom who keep in touch with customers they know.[^14] See [sales](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/sales) and [membership](/en/ecosystem/use-cases/membership). ## What it costs WeChat's costs sit around the account rather than on each message. Tencent's documentation for Official Accounts sets limits on how many messages you may send, not a price per message.[^7][^9] The fees it does publish are for verification: - **Mainland entities.** Verifying an Official Account costs RMB 300 each time, paid as a review fee to a third-party reviewer and not refunded if the review fails. Verification lasts one year, and the annual review costs the same RMB 300.[^11] - **Overseas entities.** Verification on the Official Accounts and Open platforms costs US$99 per application, not refunded whatever the outcome, and usually takes 7 to 15 working days once all documents and payment are in.[^12] - **WeCom.** Verifying a WeCom company from outside China costs RMB 700 (about US$99).[^16] The rest is the work around it: building and hosting the Mini Program or the server that answers messages, a provider or agency that runs the account, and payment fees on sales. If your Mini Program or server must serve users in mainland China, hosting and filing there add their own costs (see Rules and regulation). ## Rules and regulation This section describes rules; it is not legal advice. **Platform rules.** Tencent's Operation Rules govern what Official Accounts may publish and how they may gain followers, and breaches can lead to restrictions on the account.[^13] Template messages may not be used for marketing or sent to people who have not used your service.[^9] Proactive messaging is capped by the broadcast limits and the 48-hour window,[^7][^8] which is the main difference from channels where a business can message anyone who opted in. **Consent.** Following an account or subscribing to a notice is the person's choice,[^10] but it does not record every purpose you may want. Keep your own record and an easy [opt-out](/en/learn/glossary#opt-out) (see [consent is a data model](/en/learn/consent-is-a-data-model)). **China's personal information law.** PIPL applies to the processing of personal information of people in China, including by organisations outside China that offer them products or services. Sending personal information abroad requires a legal basis such as a CAC security assessment, certification or the standard contract, and operators of critical information infrastructure and processors that handle very large volumes must keep personal information collected in China inside China.[^21] The CAC's March 2024 provisions exempt some transfers, for example those needed to perform a contract with the individual, and require a security assessment for processors (other than critical infrastructure operators) that send abroad the personal information of more than 1 million people, or the sensitive personal information of more than 10,000.[^22] **Filing.** Under MIIT's 2023 notice, apps that provide internet information services in China, including mini programs distributed through platforms, must file with their provincial communications administration before they can be offered.[^20] **Where the data lives.** Weixin and WeChat store data separately,[^19] and WeChat's terms say a WeChat user's information is shared with Weixin, and processed in mainland China, when that user interacts with a Weixin user.[^18] Ask any provider where each part of the conversation is stored (see [data residency](/en/learn/glossary#data-residency)). ```diagram:checklist # Before you launch on WeChat You know whether your customers use Weixin or WeChat | Rules and data paths differ The Official Account and verification are in your own entity's name | Not an agency's You chose the account type that matches your messages | Service accounts for notices Your data transfer basis is documented | PIPL and the CAC rules [!] Notices used as marketing | Template messages are for service only ``` ## Limits and pitfalls - **Few broadcasts.** Four mass messages a month on a service account, or one a day on a subscription account, and no way to buy more.[^7] - **A short reply window.** Outside 48 hours from the person's last interaction, you cannot simply write back; you need a template message or a subscription notification, each with its own rules.[^8][^9][^10] - **Verification takes time and money.** Every review is paid and non-refundable, and must be repeated every year.[^11][^12] - **Two services.** Features and rules differ between Weixin and WeChat, and data is kept apart.[^19] Test with the version your customers actually use. - **WeCom is personal.** Customers add a member of staff, and messages to them are capped by the administrator's rules.[^15] Plan what happens when that person leaves. - **Payments abroad are new.** Tencent's local payment option for Mini Program merchants outside the mainland started in only two places.[^23] - **Copying other chat apps.** Strategies built for apps where a business can push freely to opted-in contacts do not transfer; see [channels are not interchangeable](/en/learn/channels-are-not-interchangeable). ## Strengths and weaknesses ```diagram:compare | Strengths | Weaknesses Reach | The everyday app for most people in mainland China | Mostly people with ties to China elsewhere Depth | Content, service, Mini Programs and payments in one app | Each tool has its own rules and reviews Consent | Followers and subscribers chose you | Strict limits on proactive messages Cost | No published price per message | Annual verification fees and building costs Data | Clear split between Weixin and WeChat | PIPL, filing and cross-border rules to manage ``` ## What comes next Only what Tencent has announced or regulators have published: - **Payments for Mini Programs abroad.** Tencent said in November 2025 that TenPay Global Checkout, launched in Singapore and Macao SAR, will expand to more regions including Japan, Australia and New Zealand; it gave no dates.[^23] - **Mini Programs beyond China.** Tencent is courting merchants in markets that receive Chinese visitors, as its April 2026 Malaysia programme shows.[^24] - **Stricter rules for large data processors.** In August 2026 the CAC published draft rules on personal information protection by large personal information processors for public comment.[^25] They are a draft, not law. - **Steady growth.** Tencent's combined monthly users grew 2% year on year to the second quarter of 2026.[^1] That is a reported trend, not a forecast. ## When to choose it Choose WeChat when your customers are in mainland China, or are Chinese visitors, students or partners who rely on it; when you can live with few broadcasts and a 48-hour reply window; and when you are ready to verify an account in your own name, file where needed and document how data crosses borders. Add WeCom when your staff manage ongoing relationships with customers they know. Look elsewhere when your audience has no tie to China, or when your plan depends on frequent marketing pushes. For comparisons, see [choosing a channel per message](/en/learn/choosing-a-channel-per-message), [omnichannel is an identity problem](/en/learn/omnichannel-is-an-identity-problem), the [WeChat channel page](/en/ecosystem/channels/wechat) and the Channels 101 chooser, [which channel for which need](/en/learn/which-channel-for-what). The [LINE primer](/en/learn/line-101) covers the chat app that leads in Japan, Thailand and Taiwan. ```diagram:decision # Is WeChat right for this message? Do the recipients live in mainland China or rely on WeChat? | | Use a channel they already use Has the person written to you in the last 48 hours? | Reply as a customer service message | Is it a service notice they used your service for? | Send a template message or subscription notice | Save it for your next mass message, or use another channel ``` ## Sources [^1]: [Tencent Announces 2026 Second Quarter Results](https://www.tencent.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Tencent-Announces-2026-Second-Quarter-Results.pdf) — Tencent, 2026-08-12 [^2]: [Weixin & WeChat](https://www.tencent.com/products/weixin-wechat/) — Tencent, accessed 2026-10 [^3]: [Our story](https://www.tencent.com/who-we-are/our-story/) — Tencent, accessed 2026-10 [^4]: [Second Quarter of 2025 Corporate Overview](https://static.www.tencent.com/uploads/2025/11/05/3454372b79d12fd82a05d8ac087bd37b.pdf) — Tencent, 2025 [^5]: [Weixin Official Accounts](https://www.tencent.com/products/official-accounts/) — Tencent, accessed 2026-10 [^6]: [China Roundup: Tencent's new US gaming studio and WeChat's new paywall](https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/19/china-roundup-wechat-paywall-tencent-us-game-studio/amp) — TechCrunch, 2020-01-19 [^7]: [群发消息 (Batch sends)](https://developers.weixin.qq.com/doc/service/guide/product/message/Batch_Sends.html) — Weixin Developers, accessed 2026-10 [^8]: [发送客服消息 (Send customer service messages)](https://developers.weixin.qq.com/doc/subscription/api/customer/message/api_sendcustommessage.html) — Weixin Developers, accessed 2026-10 [^9]: [模板消息运营规范 (Template message operating rules)](https://developers.weixin.qq.com/doc/service/guide/product/template_message/Template_Message_Operation_Specifications.html) — Weixin Developers, accessed 2026-10 [^10]: [订阅通知介绍 (Subscription notifications)](https://developers.weixin.qq.com/doc/service/guide/product/subscription_messages/intro.html) — Weixin Developers, accessed 2026-10 [^11]: [公众号微信认证/年审费用是多少？ (Official Account verification and annual review fees)](https://kf.qq.com/touch/faq/170817fyeUZz170817EN7nqA.html) — Tencent Customer Service, accessed 2026-10 [^12]: [境外主体账号认证问题汇总 (Verification for overseas entities: FAQ)](https://kf.qq.com/faq/190723aQvMR31907233IF7FV.html) — Tencent Customer Service, accessed 2026-10 [^13]: [WeChat Official Accounts Platform Operation Rules](https://mp.weixin.qq.com/cgi-bin/readtemplate?t=business%2Ffaq_operation_tmpl&type=info&lang=en_US) — Weixin Official Accounts Platform, accessed 2026-10 [^14]: [Contact Customers](https://open.work.weixin.qq.com/help2/pc/17565) — WeCom Help Center, accessed 2026-10 [^15]: [创建企业群发 (Create a company mass message)](https://developer.work.weixin.qq.com/document/path/92135) — WeCom Developer Center, accessed 2026-10 [^16]: [Introduction to WeCom Verification for Overseas Companies](https://open.work.weixin.qq.com/help2/pc/20476?person_id=1) — WeCom Help Center, accessed 2026-10 [^17]: [China's Tencent rebrands WeChat work app ahead of US ban](https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3102206/chinas-tencent-rebrands-wechat-work-app-ahead-us-ban) — South China Morning Post, 2020-09 [^18]: [WeChat Terms of Service](https://www.wechat.com/en/service_terms.html) — WeChat, accessed 2026-10 [^19]: [What is the difference between a WeChat user and a Weixin user?](https://cs.help.wechat.com/hc/en-us/articles/11916191620879-What-is-the-difference-between-a-WeChat-user-and-a-Weixin-user) — WeChat Help Center, accessed 2026-10 [^20]: [工业和信息化部关于开展移动互联网应用程序备案工作的通知 (Notice on filing of mobile internet applications)](https://www.miit.gov.cn/zwgk/zcwj/wjfb/tz/art/2023/art_920db564162e4312916a01bed6540ad8.html) — Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China, 2023-07-21 [^21]: [中华人民共和国个人信息保护法 (Personal Information Protection Law)](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-08/20/c_1631050028355286.htm) — Cyberspace Administration of China, 2021-08-20 [^22]: [促进和规范数据跨境流动规定 (Provisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows)](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2024-03/22/c_1712776611775634.htm) — Cyberspace Administration of China, 2024-03-22 [^23]: [Tencent Launches New Payment Solution, TenPay Global Checkout, Enabling Weixin Mini Program Merchants to Accept Local Payments Outside of the Chinese Mainland](https://www.tencent.com/en-us/articles/2202220.html) — Tencent, 2025-11-11 [^24]: [Weixin Empowers Local Businesses with Mini Program and Payment Solutions Ahead of Visit Malaysia 2026](https://www.tencent.com/en-us/articles/2202317.html) — Tencent, 2026-04-17 [^25]: [关于《大型个人信息处理者个人信息保护规定（征求意见稿）》公开征求意见的通知 (Draft rules for large personal information processors, for comment)](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2026-08/07/c_1787851071612596.htm) — Cyberspace Administration of China, 2026-08-07 --- Published by the company behind five products in this category. 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