카카오톡 (KakaoTalk)
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
카카오톡 (KakaoTalk) is a messenger from the South Korean company Kakao. The English page for the service describes it as a messenger that "redefined" communication, and lists chat folders, editing and deleting sent messages, recording voice calls straight into the conversation feed, short videos inside chats, open community chats and customisable profiles (the service page on Kakao's site).
For promotion it is important to understand the structure: KakaoTalk itself is not a platform where you start a blog. Business lives inside it through a separate entity — 카카오톡 채널 (KakaoTalk Channel), which Kakao's business guide calls "a free business home inside KakaoTalk" (the guide to creating a channel). A channel is a company profile, a news feed, message broadcasts, one-to-one chat, coupons and a chatbot connection (introduction to KakaoTalk Channel).
The difference from the social networks you are used to is the economics. Kakao does not pay authors for content; on the contrary, delivering a message to a channel's subscriber is charged per item, and advertising is sold through a separate dashboard, Kakao Moment. This is a platform for a company with a product or a service in South Korea, not for a blogger.
Who's here
Kakao publishes no figures on the messenger's own audience on the pages we opened. Neither the service page nor the English version of the KakaoTalk Channel page contains a single reach metric (KakaoTalk Channel, English version).
The only audience figure we found on the company's own site is a line of ad copy on the Kakao Business page: "Out of the 40 million users, target only the ones you need!" (Kakao Business, English version). What exactly has been counted — monthly actives, registrations, people available for targeting — the page does not explain, and it gives no date. This is the platform's claim about itself, not a measurement.
For channels the figures are more specific. Kakao's business guide reports that the total number of "friends" across all partner KakaoTalk channels is 1 billion 180 million («카카오톡 채널 파트너들의 총 친구수 11억 8천만명»), and that partners with more than 100 thousand friends number 1,151; both figures are given as of 2022 (introduction to KakaoTalk Channel). That is a sum of subscriptions across all channels, not a count of people: one person is subscribed to many channels.
Some pages of the corporate site have an English version, while the business guide kakaobusiness.gitbook.io exists only in Korean. The advertising rules are tied to Korean regulation: advertising medical institutions operating outside Korea, for example, is banned (the industry guide to ad review). The practical conclusion: this is a domestic Korean channel, not an international one.
Getting started
The channel
Creating a channel is free: the guide calls it outright "a business home inside KakaoTalk that anyone can create for free". The order of steps: registering a single Kakao Business account → basic details (name, phone, business registration number) → stating whether there are offline locations → uploading documents → the channel card (profile photo, name, category, search identifier, description) → business channel review → getting ready to work (the guide to creating a channel).
The limits at this step are specific. The channel name is up to 10 characters, made up of Korean and Latin letters, digits and a full stop. Documents are accepted in jpg, jpeg, png and pdf, with each file no larger than 10 MB (same source).
If there is no business registration number, the channel opens as an ordinary one, but it displays a warning that it is "a channel with unverified business details"; the guide advises gathering the documents and converting the channel into a business one (same source). After opening it you have to turn on the channel's public visibility and search permission by hand — otherwise it will not be found inside KakaoTalk.
Programmatic access
If you are connecting KakaoTalk to your own service (sign-in with Kakao, sending messages, adding a channel), the path is different: an app in the developer dashboard. Until permission is granted it can send messages only to members of your own development team — from the code's side the send succeeds, but only your own people will see it. To write to more than the team, the app is switched to business mode (Biz App), the company details are reviewed and an application is submitted for the "Friends" and "Send Kakao Talk Message" capabilities (general description of KakaoTalk messages). For the channel API the requirement is stricter: both the app and the channel must be switched to their "Biz" versions, and the company details in both places must match (general description of the channel API).
What you can publish
A channel has three different content streams, and they should not be confused.
News (소식) — posts on the channel's home page, with likes, comments and forwarding. One-to-one chat — enquiries, bookings, consultations; on top of it a round-the-clock chatbot can be connected, and instant-win coupons can be attached to a message (introduction to KakaoTalk Channel). Messages — a paid broadcast to the channel's friends; the "brand message" formats are: text, image, wide image, wide list, carousel feed, premium video, a commerce format and a commerce carousel (brand messages).
Restrictions on advertising messages are set out explicitly. Such a message must be marked with the word «(광고)» and contain a way to opt out of the mailing; the sending window is from 08:00 to 20:50 Korean time; for industries unsuitable for minors (some games, films, music, webtoons) age verification is mandatory, and alcohol and e-cigarettes require a channel with age verification (brand messages). Welcome messages that fall in the window from 20:55 to 08:00 the next day are held back until 8 in the morning (the section on channel messages).
Through the API, messages are built from templates: standard ones, custom ones (created in the template builder) and "scrap" templates — assembled from a web page's data (general description of KakaoTalk messages).
How to grow
What the platform says about distribution
There is no description of a feed algorithm on the pages we opened — and the messenger has no feed in the usual sense either. A channel's growth is described mechanically: the channel appears in KakaoTalk search and in the friends tab if public visibility and search permission are turned on (introduction to KakaoTalk Channel).
Targeted broadcasts
Channel messages can be targeted: by friend groups (included or excluded), by gender and age, by country, by mobile OS (iPhone/Android), and for "target messages" also by purchase history in Talk Checkout (the section on channel messages). Scheduled sending can be planned at most 31 days ahead (same source).
Advertising
The ad dashboard is called Kakao Moment. The guide lists the ad types: 카카오 비즈보드 (Kakao Bizboard), 디스플레이 (display), 카카오톡 채널 (channel messages), 동영상 (video), 포커스 보드 (Focus Board) and 리치팝 올데이 (RichPop All Day). The payment models are manual bids (CPM, CPC, CPV), automatic ones (maximising conversions, target CPA, target ROAS, maximising clicks, target CPC) and fixed ones: CPMS for channel messages and CPT for guaranteed placement (introduction to Kakao Moment).
Analytics
In the partner dashboard a channel has an "Insights (통계)" section alongside the profile, news, messages, business tools, chat, the business wallet and service connections (the "Managing a channel" section). Which metrics it contains is not spelled out on the page we opened.
Path to monetization
The direct answer: KakaoTalk does not pay authors for content. On all the Kakao pages we opened — the service one, the business one, the developer one — there is no partner programme, no payout threshold and no share of ad revenue for the owner of a channel. The money here flows in the opposite direction: you pay for delivering messages and for advertising.
The guide gives the rates for channel messages outright. An ordinary message (to all of the channel's friends, or with targeting by country and OS) — 15 won per send, excluding VAT; a targeted one (by group, gender and age, purchase history) — 20 won; the "spotlight" format — 100 won, though the page states a promotional price of 50 won for both ordinary and targeted broadcasts. VAT of 10% is added to all prices; the cost is calculated when the broadcast is queued, by the number of recipients, and money for undelivered messages is refunded roughly within an hour of the send completing (the section on channel messages).
A separate page for small business confirms the price of 20 won per message when sending to a friend group, and adds a condition: before sending there must be money in the business wallet (비즈월렛) (sending messages for small business).
Kakao's own economic argument: using notifications through a channel can cut costs by 70% compared with the previous method («알림톡 이용시 기존 대비 비용을 70% 절감할 수 있습니다») (introduction to KakaoTalk Channel). The comparison is with SMS; we have no independent check of that figure.
You can earn through a channel indirectly — through sales. The English page describes a subscription for exclusive material, coupons for online and offline, placing orders, payment, booking and consultations, plus a blue tick for verified business channels (KakaoTalk Channel, English version).
Tools and automation
The official API
Kakao has public developer documentation. For the messenger these are available: sign-in with Kakao, Kakao Talk Share (the user shares content into a chat themselves), Kakao Talk Message (messages to friends inside the same service), personalised Kakao Moment messages, brand messages, channel messages, Info Talk and CS Talk (general description of KakaoTalk messages).
The REST methods for sending messages are documented: sending to yourself using a standard template, using a custom template and using "scrap", and the same again to friends. A hard limit: a single request to the send-to-friends methods allows no more than five recipients ("Up to five uuids are allowed") (the message REST API).
The quotas are published on a separate page. The free monthly limit across all APIs is 3,000,000 calls. The free daily limits: 30,000 calls for Kakao Talk Profile, Kakao Talk Message, Kakao Talk Share and Talk Calendar. Sign-in with Kakao has a separate rate limit: 20 access tokens per 10 minutes and 30 refresh tokens per 60 minutes. Some calls are paid: for Kakao Talk Share a range of 10 to 50 won per call is given (the quota page).
The channel API lets you add a channel as a friend straight from your own service, or open a one-to-one chat. There are two ways: "Follow Channel" shows the add screen inside your service and returns the result immediately, while "Add Channel" takes the user into the KakaoTalk app through an intermediate page, and the result has to be checked with a separate request (general description of the channel API).
Third-party tools
For brand messages Kakao itself points to a list of official reseller partners (among those named are Daou Tech, Lotte Innovate, BlumAI): terms and technical limits are clarified through them (brand messages).
Limits and rules
Broadcasting to strangers is not provided for. Programmatic message sending works only between users of one and the same service — to friends who also use it, or to yourself (general description of KakaoTalk messages). A mass broadcast to arbitrary users is not "difficult" — the architecture simply does not provide for it.
Two separate consents. The user consents separately to access to their friend list (including profile photo, name and favourites) and separately to receiving messages. People who have made their profile private do not appear in the friend selection list. Until permission is granted the app operates under a limited quota that cannot be raised (same source).
Age and automation. A user under 14 can create a Kakao account only with the consent of a legal representative. The terms ban "using the service or accessing the system by abnormal means not provided for by the company"; for violations, access may be suspended temporarily or permanently and re-registration may be restricted (Kakao account terms, English version).
Industry bans in advertising. Advertising is unavailable to sites that sell alcohol or broker its sale; advertising prescription medicines, corrective glasses and contact lenses, motels and foreign medical institutions is banned. Some categories (brand counterfeits, unlicensed financial services, cryptocurrency, adult content) require prior review and documents (the industry guide to ad review).
Who it's for
It suits companies that have customers in South Korea and a business reason to write to them: order confirmations, delivery, bookings, coupons, support. The channel is free, one-to-one chat and a bot cover service tasks, and broadcasts give a predictable price per contact — 15 or 20 won per message plus VAT (the section on channel messages).
It suits product developers who need Korean account sign-in and a "share to chat" button: that is documented and fits within the free quotas for most projects (the quota page).
It does not suit bloggers and content creators looking for payouts: the platform does not pay for content. It does not suit reaching an international audience: the rules, the business documentation and the advertising restrictions are all written for Korea. It does not suit anyone counting on cold outreach: the mechanism for it is missing, not hidden.
Tools for this platform
The list is built from the tools' own facts: every line is a tool's statement that it supports the platform, with the source named. A tool missing from the list only means we have no such statement.
Scheduling and publishing:
Social listening:
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
Who's here
49 500 thousand (49.5 million) — KakaoTalk's average monthly audience within Korea in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the same table the global figure for 4Q25 is 54 501 thousand, and the company notes that the global figure includes the Korean one. Data from the Kakao Corp. investor presentation, February 2026 (4Q25 and full-year 2025 results).
the company's annual report. Verbatim: «Korea 49,500 / Global 54,501 (4Q25); Average of monthly MAUs. Global includes domestic MAUs.»
source, checked 2026-08-17
The Kakao Business page for advertisers claims: «Out of the 40 million users, target only the ones you need!». The scope of the count (actives, registrations, available for targeting) and the date are not stated
The only audience figure on the corporate site; a claim by the platform, not a measurement
source, checked 2026-07-28
The total number of «friends» across all partner KakaoTalk channels is 1 billion 180 million («카카오톡 채널 파트너들의 총 친구수 11억 8천만명»), as of 2022
This is a sum of subscriptions across all channels, not a count of people
source, checked 2026-07-28
Partners with more than 100 thousand channel friends number 1,151 («10만명 이상의 친구를 지닌 파트너 1,151개», 2022년 기준)
source, checked 2026-07-28
Getting started
until permission is granted, an app and its test copies can send messages ONLY to members of their own development team. From the app's side the send succeeds — but only your own people can receive it
The same class as Pinterest: the action goes through, yet no outsider sees it
source, checked 2026-07-28
to write to more than your own team you need to: switch the app to business mode (Biz App), pass a review of the company details and apply for the additional «Friends and messages» capabilities; the review result is emailed to the app's members
source, checked 2026-07-28
two user consents are required, granted separately: access to the friend list (including profile photo, name and favourites) and sending messages
source, checked 2026-07-28
A KakaoTalk channel is created free of charge: «누구나 무료로 만들 수 있는 카카오톡 안의 비즈니스 홈»
source, checked 2026-07-28
The channel name is at most 10 characters, allowing Korean and Latin letters, digits and a full stop («한글, 영문, 숫자, 점(.)을 포함해 최대 10자»)
source, checked 2026-07-28
Supporting documents are accepted in jpg, jpeg, png and pdf, with each file no larger than 10 MB
source, checked 2026-07-28
Without a business registration number a channel opens as an ordinary one and displays the warning «사업자 정보가 확인되지 않은 채널» (a channel with unverified business details)
source, checked 2026-07-28
Account and access
For a new KakaoTalk channel: until the business details are confirmed, the channel remains a 일반 채널 and a warning is shown beside it, «사업자 정보가 확인되지 않은 채널» (verbatim; our translation: a channel whose business details have not been confirmed). When a channel is created the phone number is confirmed, and «동일한 전화번호는 1일 5회까지만 인증이 가능합니다» (verbatim; our translation: the same number can be verified no more than 5 times a day) — stated outright as a measure against spam and abuse
The KakaoTalk help centre for personal accounts (cs.kakao.com) was not read: its robots.txt contains «User-agent: * / Disallow: /». What was read were Kakao's official business documents permitted by robots.txt
source, checked 2026-08-07
Converting the channel to a 비즈니스 채널 (business channel) after submitting documents and passing the review: for a sole trader, a business card through your own KakaoTalk (전자증명서); for a legal entity, a 사업자등록증 plus confirmation of the director's identity by mobile; for an employee, a 사업자등록증 plus their own KakaoTalk; for an agency, the 사업자등록증 of both the advertiser and the agency plus a contract or power of attorney
The condition is named by the platform outright, as a list of documents by type of applicant
source, checked 2026-08-07
Review of an application for a business channel: «심사는 영업일 기준 약 3~7일이 소요되나, 상황에 따라 변동될 수 있습니다» (verbatim; our translation: about 3–7 working days, and the period may vary depending on circumstances)
The period is named by the platform itself and relates to the review rather than to the «age» of the account
source, checked 2026-08-07
Business terms
Channel functions: one-to-one chat, message broadcasts, posts (소식), instant-win coupons, a chatbot connection, a link to a shop, TalkStore and TalkCheckout
source, checked 2026-07-28
What you can publish
Brand message formats: text, image, wide image, wide list, carousel feed, premium video, a commerce format, a commerce carousel
source, checked 2026-07-28
Text length. The limits are given by kind of message template (our translation). A text template: "텍스트 정보, 최대 200자" — up to 200 characters. A list template: "리스트 상단에 노출되는 메인 타이틀, 최대 200자" — the title up to 200 characters. In the product block: "이미지 아이템의 제목 최대 2줄, 최대 24자까지 출력" — the name up to 2 lines and 24 characters; "최대 한 줄, 최대 14자까지 출력" — the category line up to 14 characters; "아이템 이름 최대 6자까지 출력" — the name of a position up to 6 characters; the price — "최대 2줄, 1줄인 경우 최대 14자, 2줄인 경우 최대 25자까지 출력". The description of the content: "title과 합쳐 최대 4줄 표시" — together with the title no more than 4 lines
our translation; the original is in Korean; the limits are described as "how much is displayed on the screen", not as a prohibition on sending
source, checked 2026-08-04
Images. The image is passed by a link and must be uploaded to the platform's server beforehand (our translation): "업로드 가능한 이미지 파일 크기: 5MB 이하" — a file of up to 5 MB; "이미지 보관 기간: 카카오 서버에 최대 100일간 보관, 이후 자동 삭제" — it is stored for up to 100 days. The link must conform to RFC2396, RFC1034, RFC1123, otherwise the image will not be shown. The size of the picture of a position is set for each shell: "이미지 사이즈: iOS: 108x108 Android: 98x98", and moreover "1:1 비율이 아닌 이미지는 센터 크롭(Center crop) 방식으로 재조정됨" — one that is not square is cropped by the centre
our translation; the original is in Korean; the maximum size is announced for uploading through the software development kit; the sizes of a position — https://developers.kakao.com/docs/latest/ko/message-template/default
source, checked 2026-08-04
The image: "업로드 가능한 이미지 파일 크기: 5MB 이하". In the list template the content is "2개 이상 필수, 최대 3개" — from two to three positions; buttons "버튼 목록, 최대 2개" — no more than two
our translation; the original is in Korean; the numbers of positions and of buttons — https://developers.kakao.com/docs/latest/ko/message-template/default
source, checked 2026-08-04
Advertising
Ad types in Kakao Moment: 카카오 비즈보드, 디스플레이, 카카오톡 채널, 동영상, 포커스 보드, 리치팝 올데이
source, checked 2026-07-28
Kakao Moment payment models: manual bids (CPM for reach, CPC and CPM for clicks, CPV for views), automatic ones (maximising conversions, target CPA, maximising conversion value, target ROAS, maximising clicks, target CPC), fixed ones (CPMS for channel messages, CPT for guaranteed placement)
source, checked 2026-07-28
Targeting for channel messages: friend groups (inclusion and exclusion), gender and age, country, mobile OS (iPhone/Android), and for «target messages» — Talk Checkout purchase history
source, checked 2026-07-28
Analytics
In the partner dashboard a channel has an «인사이트(통계)» section (insights/analytics) alongside the profile, news, messages, business tools, chat, the business wallet and service connections
Which metrics it contains is not spelled out on the page
source, checked 2026-07-28
How the money works here
A CLAIM BY THE PLATFORM: using notifications through a channel cuts costs by 70% compared with the previous method («알림톡 이용시 기존 대비 비용을 70% 절감할 수 있습니다»)
A comparison with SMS; there is no independent confirmation
source, checked 2026-07-28
The platform does not pay authors for content: there is no partner programme, no payout threshold and no share of ad revenue for a channel owner on Kakao's open pages. The money flows the other way — for delivering messages and for advertising
A conclusion from absence: the service and business pages and the developer documentation were checked
source, checked 2026-07-28
Pricing
An ordinary channel message (to all friends, or with targeting by country and OS) — 15 won per send excluding VAT («발송 건당 15원(VAT 별도)»)
source, checked 2026-07-28
A targeted channel message (friend groups, gender and age, Talk Checkout purchase history) — 20 won per send excluding VAT
The same price is confirmed by the small business page
source, checked 2026-07-28
The «spotlight» format — 100 won per send at the ordinary price; the page states a promotional price of 50 won excluding VAT for both ordinary and targeted broadcasts
The page does not name an end date for the promotion
source, checked 2026-07-28
VAT of 10% is added to the message price; the cost is calculated when the broadcast is queued, by the number of recipients, and money for undelivered messages is refunded roughly within an hour of the send completing
source, checked 2026-07-28
Before sending messages there must be money in the business wallet (비즈월렛)
source, checked 2026-07-28
Paid Kakao Talk Share calls are charged in a range from 10 to 50 won per call
The page does not give a full price list across all methods
source, checked 2026-07-28
Limits and restrictions
A single request to the methods for sending messages to friends allows no more than five recipients: «Up to five uuids are allowed»
A hard technical limit, not a recommendation
source, checked 2026-07-28
The free monthly limit across all APIs is 3,000,000 calls
source, checked 2026-07-28
The free daily limit is 30,000 calls for Kakao Talk Profile, Kakao Talk Message, Kakao Talk Share and Talk Calendar
source, checked 2026-07-28
The rate limit for sign-in with Kakao: 20 access tokens per 10 minutes and 30 refresh tokens per 60 minutes
source, checked 2026-07-28
The sending window for brand messages is from 08:00 to 20:50 Korean time
source, checked 2026-07-28
Welcome messages that fall in the window from 20:55 to 08:00 the next day are held back until 8 in the morning («야간(오후 8시 55분 ~ 익일 오전 8시)»)
source, checked 2026-07-28
Scheduled message sending can be planned at most 31 days ahead
source, checked 2026-07-28
Restrictions
messages can be sent through programmatic access ONLY between users of one and the same app — to friends who use the same service, or to yourself. Broadcasting to arbitrary users is not provided for by the platform
The restriction follows from the purpose: this is a means of interaction inside a service, not a broadcast channel
source, checked 2026-07-28
An advertising message must be marked with the word «(광고)» and contain a way to opt out of the mailing
source, checked 2026-07-28
Advertising is unavailable to sites that sell alcohol or broker its sale; advertising prescription medicines, corrective glasses and contact lenses, motels and foreign medical institutions is banned
source, checked 2026-07-28
Legal
A user under 14 can create a Kakao account only with the consent of a legal representative
source, checked 2026-07-28
The terms ban «using the service or accessing the system in abnormal ways that are not set by the Company»; for violations, access is suspended temporarily or permanently and re-registration is restricted
source, checked 2026-07-28
Commercial information may be sent only with the recipient's prior consent to receiving it
source, checked 2026-07-28
API access
the documentation is available and can be read statically; the sections are: sign-in with Kakao, Kakao Sync, Kakao Talk Share, Kakao Talk Social, Kakao Talk Message with message templates
The interface is partly in Korean even in the English version
source, checked 2026-07-28
For the channel API both the app and the channel must be switched to their «Biz» versions, and the company details in both places must match
source, checked 2026-07-28
Two ways of adding a channel: «Follow Channel» shows the add screen inside your service and returns the result immediately; «Add Channel» takes the user into the KakaoTalk app through an intermediate page, and the result is checked with a separate request
source, checked 2026-07-28
Six REST send methods are documented: to yourself using a standard template, using a custom template and using «scrap», and the same again to friends
source, checked 2026-07-28
in the app settings section there is a separate guide to PAID use of the API and to quotas
Terms and prices were not gathered: a separate pass is required
source, checked 2026-07-28
Languages
home page interface language: ko; language versions declared: en, ko
The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang
source, checked 2026-07-28
Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: South Korea · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions