Per-message pricing (Effective since 1 July, 2025)

Starting 1 July 2025 at 12:00 AM (based on your WhatsApp Business Account’s timezone), WhatsApp will move from conversation-based to per-message pricing for all businesses. Under this model, you’ll be charged per delivered template message, depending on its category.
You will be charged:

• For each delivered marketing template message
• For each delivered authentication template message
• For each delivered utility template message sent outside of the customer service window

For example, if you send one marketing template and two utility templates to a customer, this will count as three charges. However, if the two utility messages are sent within an active customer service window, only the marketing message will be charged.
 

Free utility templates in the customer service window

Starting July 1, 2025, utility templates sent within a customer service window ("CSW") are free for all businesses. This means you won’t be charged when sending utility templates within 24 hours of a customer’s last message.

Utility templates sent outside the customer service window will continue to be charged at the standard utility rate.

Example behavior:
The diagram below shows two utility templates sent at different times:

• um1 is sent within the customer service window → ✅ Free
• um2 is sent after the window has closed → 💬 Charged

Volume tiers for utility and authentication messages

Effective 1 July 2025, WhatsApp is introducing volume-based pricing tiers for utility and authentication template messages. The more messages you send in these categories, the lower your rate — encouraging adoption of these use cases on WhatsApp.

How volume tiers work

• Tier-based rates: As you send more messages, you’ll unlock lower rates based on volume tiers. The reduced rate only applies to messages within the higher tier.
• Per market and category: Tiers are defined separately by market (e.g. Brazil, India) and message category (utility, authentication). Your volume in one category or market does not affect another.
• Monthly reset: Message counts reset to 0 at the start of each calendar month (12:00 AM in your WhatsApp Business Account timezone).
• Counts across business accounts: If your business manages multiple WhatsApp Business Accounts, your message volumes are aggregated by market and category across the entire business portfolio.

The new volume tiers, effective July 1, 2025, are reflected alongside our messaging rate below.

Example: how volume tiers apply

The table below shows how volume-based pricing works for authentication messages sent to India. This example is illustrative — actual tier thresholds and rates are available in the official rate card.

Example 1: Sending B utility messages in India

• The first A messages are charged at List Rate
• Messages A+1 to B are charged at Tier Rate 1
• Total cost = (messages in each tier) × (rate for that tier)
  
   

Example 2: Mid-month eligibility for new rates

If your business becomes eligible for authentication-international rates on the 15th of the month:

• From Day 1 to 14, messages use volume tiers for the original rate (e.g. authentication)
• From Day 15 onward, messages use volume tiers for the new rate (e.g. authentication-international), based on total messages sent that month

Free service conversations

Starting 1 November 2024, all service conversations are free for all businesses. This means the previous monthly cap of 1,000 free conversations no longer applies — you can now respond to users without limits as long as a customer service window (CSW) is open.

Example: how a free service conversation works

• Hour 0: A WhatsApp user messages your business outside working hours
   → This opens a customer service window
   
• Hour 0: Your AI bot auto-replies with a free-form text message confirming an agent will respond at 9 AM
   → This reply is free and valid under the open window
   
• Hour 12: A customer service agent replies with another text message
   → Still within the window and free of charge
   

✅ All messages exchanged within this 24-hour window count as one service conversation — and from 1 November 2024 onward, there’s no charge for these conversations.

Messaging rate and volume tier

WhatsApp messaging fees are charged by Meta. Moving forward, rates may be updated as frequently as quarterly. For the most current information, please refer to Meta's website: Meta WhatsApp Pricing.

This table reflects the latest updates from Meta (as of 1 July 2025)

Per-message rate (in USD)

Conversation-based pricing

WhatsApp charges a fee per conversation, not per individual message. The rate being charged per conversation depends on the category of conversation. This article outlines what a conversation is, the different conversation categories and how they are opened, as well as certain cases where conversations are free of charge. 
 

What is a conversation?

A conversation is a thread of messages sent within a 24-hour window between you and your customer. A conversation is opened and charged when an initial message you send to a customer or a customer sends to you is successfully delivered.


 

The type of message you open a conversation with will determine the category a conversation falls into, which will affect pricing. We will outline the different conversation categories below.
 

Conversation categories

All conversations fall into one of the following categories:

Marketing, Utility, and Authentication conversations can only be opened with template messages, while Service conversations can only be opened with free-form messages. We outline how these message types open their respective conversation categories below. 

As of 1 November 2024, Service conversations are completely free with no monthly cap. Previously, each WABA (WhatsApp Business Account) received 1,000 free service conversations per month. That cap has now been removed by Meta.
 

Opening Marketing, Utility, and Authentication conversations

When you send an approved Marketing, Utility, or Authentication template to a customer, we check if an open conversation matching the template's category already exists between you and the customer. If one exists, no new conversation is opened. If one does not exist, a new conversation of that category is opened, lasting 24 hours.

For example:

• Hour 0 - You send a targeted promotion (Marketing template) to a customer. No open Marketing conversation exists between you and the customer, so a Marketing conversation lasting 24 hours is opened.
• Hour 4 - You send another marketing template to the customer. An open Marketing conversation already exists between you and the customer, so a new Marketing conversation is not opened.
• Hour 6 - The customer purchases a product on your site and you send them an order confirmation (utility template). An open Utility conversation does not exist between you and the customer, so a Utility conversation is opened, lasting 24 hours. This results in two conversations open between you and the customer: a Marketing conversation and a Utility conversation.

Please note that it is possible for multiple conversations to be open between you and a customer. To learn more about how multiple conversations can be open, click here.
 

Opening Services conversations

When you send a free-form message to a customer, which can only be done within 24 hours of a customer messaging you (also known as the customer service window),  we check if an open conversation — of any category — already exists between you and the customer. If one exists, no new conversation is opened. If a conversation does not exist, a new Service conversation is opened, lasting 24 hours.

For example:

• Hour 0 - You send a targeted promotion (marketing template) to a customer. No open Marketing conversation exists between you and the customer, so a Marketing conversation lasting 24 hours is opened.
• Hour 4 - The customer messages you. This opens a customer service window between you and the customer, allowing you to send them free-form messages for the next 24 hours.
• Hour 5 - You send a free-form message to the customer. An open conversation already exists between you and the customer (a Marketing conversation in this case), so a Service conversation is not opened.
• Hour 24 - The Marketing conversation expires
• Hour 25 - The 24-hour customer service window is still open, so you send a second free-form message to the customer. No open conversation exists between you and the customer anymore, so a Service conversation is opened, lasting 24 hours.
• Hour 26 - The 24-hour customer service window is still open, so you send a third free-form message to the customer. An open Service conversation already exists between you and the customer, so a new Service conversation is not opened.

Please note that it is possible for multiple conversations to be open between you and a customer. We outline  how multiple conversations can be open in the section below.
 

Multiple conversations

It is possible to have multiple open conversations between you and a customer. This can happen in the following situations:

• An open Marketing, Utility, or Authentication conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them a template message of a different category within 24 hours, e.g. if the existing open conversation is a Utility conversation, then you send a targeted promotion (marketing template) during the conversation, a Marketing conversation will be opened
• An open Service conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them a template message within 24 hours. In this scenario, depending on the template you used (i.e. marketing, utility, or authentication template), a respective conversation will be opened alongside a Service conversation.
   

Conversation duration

Marketing, Utility, Authentication, and Service conversations last 24 hours unless closed by a newly opened Free-entry point conversation.

Free-entry point conversations last 72 hours, and we outline which conversations are included in the free tier and how free-entry point conversations work in the following sections.
 

Service conversation pricing

Starting 1 November 2024, Meta has removed the monthly cap of 1,000 free Service conversations for WhatsApp Business API accounts.

Now, all user-initiated Service conversations are completely free and unlimited across all phone numbers linked to your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA).

• This applies automatically — no setup or configuration is required.
• Only Service conversations are included in this free tier.
• Marketing, Utility, and Authentication conversations are not covered and will still be charged based on the applicable template rates.
   

Free-entry point conversations

Free-entry point conversations are free conversations opened when your customers perform specific actions to initiate a conversation with you.

A free-entry point conversation is opened if:

• a customer using a device running Android or iOS messages you via a Click-to-WhatsApp Ad (CTWA)  or Facebook Page Call-to-Action (CTA) button and
• you respond within 24 hours. If you do not respond within 24 hours, a free-entry point conversation is not opened and you must use a template to message the customer, which opens a Marketing, Utility, or Authentication conversation, per the category of the template.

The free-entry point conversation is opened as soon as your message is delivered and lasts 72 hours.

When a free-entry point conversation is opened, it automatically closes all other open conversations between you and the customer, and no new conversations will be opened until the free-entry point conversation expires.

Once the free-entry point conversation is opened, you can send any type of message to the customer without incurring additional charges. However, you can only send free-form messages if there is an open customer service window between you and the customer.

For example, if the customer messages you via a CTWA at 10am and you respond via a template message at 10pm the same day:

• The free-entry point conversation starts at 10pm and lasts 72 hours
• You can send template messages at no charge in those 72 hours
• You can send free-form messages until 10am the next day, at which point the customer service window closes, as it is independent of the free-entry point conversation (if the customer messages you again, however, it opens another 24-hour customer service window in which you can send free-form messages).
   

Conversation rates

Conversation rates are based on conversation category and country/region. Please go to the Meta for Developers site to download the rate card that corresponds to your WhatsApp Business API Account's currency for each conversation category.

These rates apply for any conversation opened on or after June 1, 2023 at 12:00am, based on your WhatsApp Business API Account’s time zone.
 

WhatsApp messaging fees are charged by Meta. Moving forward, rates may be updated as frequently as quarterly. For the most current information, please refer to Meta's website: Meta WhatsApp Pricing.

This table reflects the latest updates from Meta (as of July 22, 2024)

• Utility conversation rates — Effective August 1, 2024, Meta is lowering rates to be competitive with alternative channels and encourage businesses to bring more end-to-end post-purchase customer journeys to WhatsApp.
• Marketing conversation rates — Effective October 1, 2024, Meta is updating rates in specific markets as part of more frequent updates to rates to reflect demand and the value marketing messages deliver.

Region rate mapping