Fix WhatsApp actions blocked by your Flowella subscription

When your Flowella subscription doesn’t cover an action, Flowella blocks it and tells you why. This page explains each message, which actions are blocked and how to get sending working again. For how plans and subscription states work, see Billing and Plans and limits.

What you see

Where	What you see	Why
In the app	A dialog titled Payment required: “Your subscription payment is past due. Update your payment method to restore access.”	A payment has been past due for more than 7 days.
In the app	A dialog titled Subscription required: “An active subscription is required for this action. Choose a plan to continue.”	The free trial has ended, you’re on the Free plan, or your subscription has ended.
In the app	A dialog titled Message limit reached: “You have reached your plan limit for billable WhatsApp messages this period. Upgrade to send more.”	On the free trial, your organisation has used its 5,000 billable messages. The Inbox and bulk send also say “You have reached your plan’s monthly WhatsApp message limit. Upgrade your plan to continue sending.”
Flows	Create WA Flow greyed out, with a tooltip saying your plan doesn’t allow the action	No active subscription, or a payment past due for more than 7 days.
HubSpot	A Send WhatsApp Template step fails with “Your subscription payment is past due. Update your billing method to restore access to WhatsApp, templates, and HubSpot.” or “Your subscription is not active. Choose a plan in billing settings to continue using WhatsApp, templates, and HubSpot.”	The same causes as the Payment required and Subscription required dialogs.
The Flowella API	A `402` or `403` response	See API responses.

The dialogs have two buttons: Not now closes the dialog, and View plans & usage opens Settings → Billing.

What is blocked

Without an active subscription, or once a payment has been past due for more than 7 days, Flowella blocks:

Replies, templates and Smart replies sent from the Inbox
Test Template sends and bulk sends, including Resend unsent
Create WA Flow and Sync WA Flow on the Flows page
Send WhatsApp Template steps in HubSpot workflows
Sending messages, sending templates, recording opt-outs, and creating, editing, submitting or test-sending templates through the Flowella API

On the free trial, reaching the 5,000-message limit blocks sends from the Inbox, bulk sends and messages sent through the API until you upgrade. On Starter and Pro, messages over your plan’s allowance aren’t blocked: they’re billed as overage. See Plans and limits. These keep working, so you can recover:

Signing in and viewing your contacts, conversations, templates and results
Receiving WhatsApp messages in the Inbox
Creating, editing, submitting and cloning templates in the app
Connecting WhatsApp numbers and HubSpot
Adding opt-outs on the Opt-outs page
Settings → Billing

Nothing is deleted while sending is blocked. For the full list, see When sending is blocked.

Restore access

Anyone in your organisation can open Settings → Billing and use every action on it, whatever their role, including updating the payment method and choosing a plan. Agree in your team who looks after the subscription, and ask them to restore access. See Who manages billing.

A payment failed

When Stripe can’t take a payment, the Billing page shows a Payment failed badge and everyone in your organisation gets a Payment failed notification. Sending keeps working for 7 days.

Go to Settings → Billing.
Select Update payment method and enter a working card.
When Stripe takes the payment, the badge changes back to Active and sending works again.

See When a payment fails.

The free trial ended, or you're on the Free plan

Go to Settings → Billing and select Upgrade to Starter or Upgrade to Pro, then complete Stripe Checkout. Sending works again once the Current Plan panel shows your plan with an Active badge. See Upgrade to a paid plan.

Your subscription was cancelled

A cancelled subscription keeps working until the date on its Cancels badge, then your organisation moves to the Free plan. To send again, choose a plan in Settings → Billing.

You reached the trial's message limit

Upgrade to Starter or Pro in Settings → Billing. Upgrading ends the trial straight away. To see how many messages you’ve used, open Usage.

API responses

When billing blocks an API request, Flowella returns one of these responses. A payment has been past due for more than 7 days:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "PAYMENT_REQUIRED",
    "message": "Your subscription payment is past due. Update your billing method to restore access to WhatsApp, templates, and HubSpot."
  }
}

This comes with the HTTP status 402. There is no active subscription, for example because the trial ended:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "FORBIDDEN",
    "message": "Your subscription is not active. Choose a plan in billing settings to continue using WhatsApp, templates, and HubSpot."
  }
}

This comes with the HTTP status 403. Don’t retry these requests automatically. Show the message to the person who looks after billing so they can fix it. For other API errors, see Errors.

Common questions

I paid, but sending is still blocked

The Billing page updates within a few seconds of Stripe confirming the payment. Reload the page and check that the Current Plan panel shows Active. If it doesn’t after a few minutes, contact support with your Stripe receipt.

Why is my teammate blocked too?

The subscription belongs to the organisation, so the block applies to everyone in it.

Do I need a paid plan to use the API?

The API follows the same rules as the app: you need an active subscription or the free trial to send. See Plans and limits for what each plan includes.

Still locked after paying?

Contact Flowella support with:

A screenshot of Settings → Billing
The Stripe receipt or invoice number for your latest payment

Billing

Upgrade, change or cancel your plan and update your card.

Plans and limits

What each plan includes, the trial and overage.

Usage

Billable messages used this period.

Pricing and categories

How Meta’s WhatsApp fees and Flowella usage relate.

Get Started

Essentials

Using the App

Settings

Meta & WhatsApp Setup

HubSpot Integration

Flows & Campaigns

API Reference

Troubleshooting

Changelog

Fix WhatsApp actions blocked by your Flowella subscription

What you see

What is blocked

Restore access

API responses

Common questions

Still locked after paying?

Billing

Plans and limits

Usage

Pricing and categories

​What you see

​What is blocked

​Restore access

​API responses

​Common questions

​Still locked after paying?

​Related

Billing

Plans and limits

Usage

Pricing and categories

What you see

What is blocked

Restore access

API responses

Common questions

Still locked after paying?

Related