WeChat Official Account Guide 2026: Service vs Subscription Accounts, Overseas Registration and Messaging Rules

Tencent runs two linked messaging services. Weixin (微信) is designed for users in mainland China, and WeChat for users everywhere else; Tencent calls them "separate but interoperable sister services", operated by different companies in the Tencent group. Which one a person uses depends on the phone number bound to the account: a mainland China (+86) number makes them a Weixin user, any other number a WeChat user. Users of the two services can chat with each other, and each is then also subject to the other service's terms.

The point that matters most to a business: WeChat's own Terms of Service state that the Official Account, Service Account and Mini Program functions reached through WeChat are mainland China services provided by Weixin. A Hong Kong or overseas company that opens an account is therefore operating on Weixin's platform, under Weixin's rules.

Key points

• Scale: Weixin and WeChat had 1,439 million combined monthly active users at 30 June 2026. Tencent's results give only the combined figure.
• Two account types: the Official Account (formerly the Subscription Account) and the Service Account, alongside Mini Programs, WeCom and Channels.
• Overseas businesses: a Service Account is the route advised in WeChat's Open Community and reported by applicants, and verification for overseas entities costs US$99 per application.
• Reply window: after a customer sends a message, a verified account can send up to 5 customer service messages within 48 hours.
• Broadcasts: one a day for an Official Account, four a month for a Service Account.

How the two services compare:

WeChat stores user data on servers in Singapore and Malaysia, except that data of users in Hong Kong and Macao is stored in Hong Kong. Some features WeChat users see, such as Channels and Mini Programs, are operated by Weixin in mainland China, and WeChat users can switch them off in settings.

The home page of the Official Accounts Platform (mp.weixin.qq.com) now lists two account types, the Service Account and the Official Account, plus Mini Programs and WeCom. Weixin's developer documentation has likewise been split into "Official Account (formerly Subscription Account)" and "Service Account". An industry report (woshipm.com, December 2024) says WeChat renamed the Subscription Account to Official Account inside the app in November 2024, which is why older guides still talk about "Subscription Accounts". This guide calls the two types the Official Account and the Service Account.

A few related rules:

• Linking Mini Programs: the Mini Program documentation says an account (using the old umbrella term, without separating the two types) can link up to 10 Mini Programs of the same entity and 3 of other entities, with up to 13 new links a month.
• Binding Channels: a Channels account can bind to an Official Account or Service Account that has the same entity or the same administrator.
• Enterprise Accounts: the old Enterprise Account (企业号) is now WeCom, a separate office tool rather than an account type.

The two types differ most in broadcast frequency and in which official interfaces they can use. In the table, "verified only" means the account must have completed verification as a business entity:

The Service Account limit applies per follower: even if you broadcast several times to different tags, each follower receives at most four broadcasts a month. A verified Official Account can call the broadcast interface successfully once a day.

Changing type, folding tests and individual Service Accounts

• Changing type is hard: the Subscription-to-Service upgrade was reported to have been taken offline on 27 December 2018, and since 2023 migrations to a Service Account other than a government, public institution or media one have been reported as refused. Choose the type before you register.
• Folding tests: media reported in 2024 and 2025 that WeChat was testing moving Service Accounts into a single message box. We could not find an official statement describing the current arrangement.
• Individual Service Accounts: industry reports say individuals have been able to register a Service Account since October 2024, but official pages still position the Service Account for companies and organisations.

In June 2025, WeChat's overseas Mini Program team (小程序境外专项) published an FAQ in the WeChat Open Community. It says verification for an overseas entity registering an account or a Mini Program currently costs US$99: a one-off review fee, paid each time you apply for verification. In an April 2026 reply below that FAQ, an account named 境外小助手 (overseas assistant) advised overseas entities to register a Service Account, noting that Service Accounts, like Official Accounts, can provide subscribed information. A 2024 applicant post adds that entities outside mainland China can currently apply only for an enterprise Service Account.

How to register

We could not view the registration page itself, so the steps below are compiled from the official login page and a 2024 user post in the WeChat Open Community. The fields you see may differ:

1. Start: on the English login page of the Official Accounts Platform (mp.weixin.qq.com), choose "Register Now" and pick Service Account.
2. Fill in details: enter the basic account details, then the entity and administrator details.
3. Apply for verification: submit the documents and pay the US$99 fee.
4. Wait for review: once verification succeeds, the account gets the related interface permissions straight away.

Tencent's support site has an FAQ on overseas verification, but we could not verify its contents. The document list below comes from a 2024 user post in the WeChat Open Community. Treat it as a guide and follow the official requirements when you apply:

• Company registration certificate or business licence
• The contact person's identity card, passport or driving licence
• An application letter (simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, English, Japanese or Korean)
• An operator authorisation letter (simplified Chinese or English)
• The contact person's mobile phone bill (or, if unavailable, the company's office phone bill with the company seal, or a bank statement)
• Trademark documents, if the account name uses a trademark

The same post said review takes 7 to 15 working days after payment and complete documents; service providers quote 5 to 10 working days, and we could not find an official review time. Service Account verification includes an annual review and an expiry date, and the platform sends annual review notices. WeChat's Q&A describes the US$99 as a one-off fee per application, but we could not find an official statement on whether overseas Service Accounts pay again at annual review, so ask WeChat when you apply.

Taking payments with WeChat Pay

• Direct merchant model: WeChat Pay's overseas merchant FAQ (2020) says the direct merchant model, where the merchant contracts and settles directly with WeChat Pay, supports Hong Kong merchants only, and other markets connect through institutional partners. An undated WeChat Pay FAQ lists Hong Kong, the UK and Singapore, so confirm with WeChat Pay before you apply. WeChat Pay HK is operated by WeChat Pay Hong Kong Limited.
• Currencies: Hong Kong merchants can apply to receive payments in HKD, or RMB-to-HKD cross-border payments.
• In-account payments: Weixin Pay's merchant documentation says web payments inside an account (JSAPI) support only verified Service Accounts and verified government or media Official Accounts. Confirm the requirements for Hong Kong merchants with WeChat Pay.
• Review time: the same 2020 FAQ says WeChat Pay reviews overseas merchant applications within 7 to 15 days.

An account can only send customer service messages for a limited time after a customer interacts with it:

A menu click does not open the 48-hour quota. The quota was reported to have been cut from 20 to 5 messages in 2023, and the current official documentation says 5, so agents should aim to resolve a query within one exchange.

Template messages and subscription notifications

• Template messages: verified Service Accounts only, for important service notifications. The daily call limit is currently 100,000 per account and rises when followers pass 100,000, 1 million or 10 million. Template messages must not be sent to people who have not received a service, and must not be used for marketing.
• 2023 restrictions: WeChat was reported to have started blocking purely promotional template messages in 2023, and to have removed the first line, remarks, colours and emoji, with each main field capped at 20 characters.
• Subscription notifications: these need the user's consent, and long-term subscriptions are open only to public-service fields such as government services and healthcare. Followers of a Service Account receive them inside the account; others receive them in Service Notifications. Subscription notifications for Service Accounts are being tested with some accounts (a "grayscale" test), and template messages keep working.

Auto-replies and custom menus

• Three built-in auto-replies: on follow, on any message, and by keyword.
• A custom menu has up to 3 top-level items with up to 5 sub-items each. Top-level labels show up to 4 Chinese characters and sub-items up to 8 (the API allows 16 and 60 bytes); longer text is cut off with an ellipsis.
• Personalised menus show different menus to different groups of followers.
• Since November 2025, customer service messages can carry a grey label saying the content was generated by third-party AI.

A Service Account can push customer messages to your own server or to a third-party platform. Before you connect, note these rules:

• Developer settings have moved: AppID, AppSecret, server configuration and the IP whitelist now live on the WeChat Developer Platform rather than the Official Accounts Platform. The platform does not store or display the AppSecret; if you lose it, you reset it.
• Message push replaces platform replies: once message push is on, user messages go to your server address, and the auto-replies and custom menu set on the platform website stop working, so your system has to handle them.
• Tokens and IP whitelist: the access_token is valid for 7,200 seconds, and API calls must come from whitelisted IP addresses.
• Passive replies: if the Weixin server gets no response within 5 seconds, it drops the connection and retries, three times in total. If the developer does not reply within 5 seconds, or replies with invalid data, the customer sees a system notice saying the account cannot provide the service at the moment.
• Third-party platforms: once the account's administrator authorises it, a service provider can call official interfaces on the account's behalf. The message management permission set can be granted to more than one platform, but some permission sets, such as Service Account conversation management, are mutually exclusive and can be held by only one third-party platform at a time.
• Multi-agent switch: if Weixin's own multi-agent customer service is switched on, customer service messages go to that backend instead of to third-party platforms.
• Agent accounts: a verified account can add up to 100 customer service agent accounts, each with its own avatar and nickname, and agents can sign in to the web tool at mpkf.weixin.qq.com by scanning a QR code with Weixin.

If several colleagues need to share WeChat enquiries, an omnichannel inbox is another option. imBee's omnichannel inbox, for example, brings WeChat together with WhatsApp, LINE, Instagram and SMS in one workspace, assigns conversations by rule and keeps the full record. For more on running WeChat and LINE for business, see imBee's WeChat and LINE for business page and our guide to WeChat web login for business. There is also a guide to LINE Official Accounts and a Traditional Chinese version of this guide: 微信公眾號完整指南.

Staff often want to keep work and personal WeChat separate, or to answer customers from a computer. The options, and what WeChat's Help Center says about each:

To add an account, go to Me > Settings > Switch Account > + and log in. WeChat's Help Center says each phone number can register only one WeChat or Weixin account, so a second WeChat account normally needs a second number (Weixin's mainland support site describes a separate assisted-registration route). WeChat also tells users to run only the official app, to avoid unofficial plug-ins or modified versions, and not to use rooted or jailbroken devices; running WeChat through emulators or unauthorised plug-ins can get an account blocked. The Help Center pages we read do not mention phone makers' clone features, so weigh the risk before using one.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Hong Kong company open a WeChat Official Account?
Yes, as a Service Account. A WeChat overseas support account advises overseas entities to register one, and a 2024 applicant post says non-mainland entities can currently apply only for an enterprise Service Account. Overseas verification costs US$99 per application. A Service Account can broadcast four times a month and, once verified, use template messages and customer service messages.

What is the difference between a Subscription Account and a Service Account?
The Subscription Account, now called the Official Account, is mainly for publishing: one broadcast a day, positioned for media and individuals. The Service Account is for providing services: four broadcasts a month, and verified Service Accounts can use template messages, QR codes with parameters and web page authorisation.

How much does WeChat Official Account verification cost?
For overseas entities, US$99 each time you apply for verification. Service Account verification includes an annual review, but we could not find an official statement on whether overseas accounts pay again at renewal, so check with WeChat when you apply.

How many broadcasts can a WeChat Service Account send?
Four per calendar month, and each follower receives at most four broadcasts a month even if you send to different tags. An Official Account (formerly Subscription Account) can broadcast once a day.

How long can a business reply to a customer on WeChat?
After a customer sends a message, a verified account can send up to 5 customer service messages within 48 hours. After certain menu clicks, a follow or a QR code scan, it can send up to 3 within 1 minute.

What is the difference between WeChat and Weixin?
They are linked sister services from Tencent, split by the phone number bound to the account: accounts on mainland China (+86) numbers are Weixin accounts, and accounts on all other numbers are WeChat accounts. They are run by different Tencent companies, but Official Accounts, Service Accounts and Mini Programs are all mainland services provided by Weixin.

Can I use two WeChat accounts on one phone?
WeChat's official feature is Switch Account, which lets you switch between saved accounts on the same device; the Help Center does not say two accounts can be online at once. WeChat's Help Center also says each phone number can register only one WeChat or Weixin account. Some phone makers offer app clone features, which WeChat's Help Center does not cover, so weigh the account-security risk first.

Can a WeChat Official Account connect to a customer service platform?
Yes. You can switch on developer mode and push messages to your own server, or authorise a third-party platform to receive and answer them. Once message push is on, the platform's auto-replies and menus stop working, and if Weixin's multi-agent switch is on, customer service messages go to that backend instead of to third-party platforms.

Sources and further reading

• Tencent: Weixin and WeChat
• Tencent: 2026 second quarter results (12 August 2026)
• WeChat Help Center: the difference between a WeChat user and a Weixin user
• WeChat Terms of Service (last modified 18 November 2025)
• WeChat Privacy Policy (last updated 6 August 2026)
• Weixin Official Accounts Platform (English login page)
• Weixin developer docs: Official Account and Service Account documentation (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: broadcasts (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: customer service messages (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: template message interface (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: template message rules (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: subscription notifications (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: custom menus (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: verification (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: developer settings migration (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: message and event push (Chinese)
• Weixin Open Platform: third-party platform permissions for accounts (Chinese)
• WeChat Open Community: overseas registration and verification FAQ (16 June 2025, with later replies, Chinese)
• WeChat Open Community: a user's overseas Service Account application (9 May 2024, Chinese)
• Weixin Mini Program docs: introduction and account linking (Chinese)
• Weixin Pay: JSAPI payments (Chinese)
• WeChat Pay: overseas merchant registration FAQ (2020)
• WeChat Pay HK: merchant application
• WeChat Help Center: switching accounts
• WeChat Help Center: one account per phone number
• WeChat Help Center: logged in on another device
• WeChat Help Center: WeChat for Windows or Mac
• WeChat Help Center: tips for a secure WeChat experience
• WeChat Help Center: why an account is blocked
• WeChat Help Center: managing your Weixin services
• WeChat Pay HK
• Huawei: apps that support App Twin (Chinese)
• WeChat Customer Service (微信客服, Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: passive replies (Chinese)
• Weixin developer docs: adding customer service accounts (Chinese)

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Last updated: 20 September 2026.