The WhatsApp Business API is priced per delivered message. Meta sets the rate by message category and by the recipient's country, and most businesses pay a provider's subscription on top.
The rules changed on 1 October 2026. Replies to customers, free without limit for almost two years, are now charged after the first 1,000 a month on each number.
iShort answer
A reply to a US customer costs $0.0034 after 1,000 free replies a month. A reply to a UK customer costs $0.0220, or £0.0159 on a sterling account. Marketing templates cost far more: $0.0635 to a UK number, and Meta does not currently deliver them to US numbers at all.
Meta's fee is one of two. Your provider either passes it through, marks it up, or includes it in a flat price. Ask which before you compare subscriptions.
Category and country set Meta's rate. Your provider decides what is added.
Message category
Marketing, utility, authentication, or service. Marketing costs the most.
Recipient's country
The rate follows the customer's country code. A UK reply costs over six times a US one.
Free allowances
1,000 service messages a month on each number, plus free windows opened by click-to-WhatsApp ads.
Your provider
A per-message markup, a monthly licence, or a flat price that includes Meta's fees.
How does WhatsApp Business API pricing work?
Meta charges for each message a business delivers to a user. Messages customers send to you are never charged by Meta. The rules are set out in Meta's pricing documentation.
A few terms first. The WhatsApp Business Platform is Meta's API for businesses, still widely called the WhatsApp Business API. The Cloud API is the version Meta hosts.
A BSP, or Business Solution Provider, is a company that connects businesses to the API. A template is a pre-approved message.
Every charged message falls into one of five categories.
| Category | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | A promotional template | A sale announcement |
| Utility | A transactional template | An order or delivery update |
| Authentication | An identity verification template | A one-time passcode |
| Service | Any non-template message, sent by a person or by third-party AI | A reply to a customer's question |
| Meta Business Agent | A message from Meta's own AI agent | An automated answer from Meta's agent |
Per-message pricing replaced conversation-based pricing on 1 July 2025. Meta Business Agent became a category on 1 July 2026 and is billed by tokens. Meta puts that at about 4 to 5 US cents a message.
What are the rates for the US and UK?
These are Meta's list rates per delivered message, effective 1 October 2026. The rate follows the recipient's country code. The billing currency is fixed when the account is created.
| Recipient | Billing | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service, after 1,000 free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America (US and Canada) | USD | $0.0250 | $0.0034 | $0.0034 | $0.0034 |
| North America (US and Canada) | GBP | £0.0180 | £0.0025 | £0.0025 | £0.0025 |
| United Kingdom | USD | $0.0635 | $0.0220 | $0.0220 | $0.0220 |
| United Kingdom | GBP | £0.0458 | £0.0159 | £0.0159 | £0.0159 |
Two details matter for US senders.
Marketing templates do not reach US numbers. Meta's marketing template documentation says WhatsApp "does not currently deliver marketing template messages" to users with United States phone numbers. The North America marketing rate applies in practice to Canadian numbers.
The UK costs more per reply. A service message to a UK number is $0.0220 against $0.0034 for a US number. A UK-facing business reaches meaningful cost at a lower volume.
Utility and authentication messages earn volume discounts. Tiers accrue across the whole business portfolio each month, and each tier's rate applies only to messages inside that tier.
| Discount | US utility, messages a month | UK utility, messages a month |
|---|---|---|
| List rate | 0-80,000 | 0-100,000 |
| 5% off | 80,001-750,000 | 100,001-1 million |
| 10% off | 750,001-2.25 million | 1 million-4.5 million |
| 15% off | 2.25 million-3 million | 4.5 million-40 million |
| 20% off | 3 million-6 million | 40 million-80 million |
| 25% off | Over 6 million | Over 80 million |
Meta can change rates only on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July, or 1 October, with at least one month's notice. Check the rate card linked from its pricing page before you budget.
What is still free?
Meta's documentation names two cases where it does not charge.
- The first 1,000 service messages a month. Each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages. They reset monthly and do not roll over, so Meta charges from the 1,001st.
- The free entry point window. When a customer messages you through a click-to-WhatsApp ad and you reply inside the customer service window, a free window opens. Meta says it "may remain open for up to 7 days". Marketing, utility, authentication, and service messages are not charged inside it.
Messages your team sends from the WhatsApp Business app are also free. Meta's coexistence documentation says app-sent messages continue to be free when the same number is also connected to the Cloud API.
Two things that used to be free no longer are. Service messages had been free without limit since 1 November 2024. Utility templates sent inside an open window had been free since 1 July 2025. Both are charged from 1 October 2026.
Without a payment method on file, Meta delivers service messages inside the free tier and stops delivering them after it.
What does a real bill look like?
Meta bills each delivered message. A conversation in which you send five replies is five service messages.
About 200
Conversations covered by the 1,000 free service messages, at five business replies each
Source: Meta for Developers, pricing documentationThree examples show the range. Each uses Meta's list rates and excludes any provider fee.
| Business | Monthly volume on one number | Meta's charge |
|---|---|---|
| US home services firm answering inbound questions | 3,000 service replies to US numbers | 2,000 charged x $0.0034 = $6.80 |
| UK retailer answering inbound questions | 3,000 service replies to UK numbers | 2,000 charged x £0.0159 = £31.80 |
| UK retailer sending a promotion and order updates | 5,000 marketing and 2,000 utility templates to UK numbers | £229.00 + £31.80 = £260.80 |
Inbound service is cheap, and marketing drives the bill. A business that only answers questions will often stay inside or near the free tier. A business that broadcasts pays for every delivered template from the first one.
What are message templates and when do you need them?
A template is the only kind of message you can send outside the 24-hour customer service window. You need templates to start a conversation, send a reminder, or follow up after the window closes.
Meta's template documentation sets the rules.
- Review. Templates are reviewed automatically when created or edited. Review can take up to 24 hours, and only approved templates can be sent.
- Limits. An unverified business portfolio can hold 250 templates. A verified one can hold 6,000.
- Quality. Each template is rated High, Medium, or Low. Low-rated templates can be paused or disabled.
- Opt-in. Recipients must have opted in to hear from you.
A business that only replies to customers who message first needs no templates. That is how an inbound AI chatbot works: every reply is a service message inside the window.
What do providers add on top?
Most businesses reach the API through a provider, and providers charge in three different ways.
| Provider | What it adds to Meta's fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Twilio | $0.005 a message, inbound or outbound | Twilio pricing |
| 360dialog | No per-message markup. Licence from €49 a number each month | 360dialog pricing |
| respond.io | No markup. Plans from $79 a month billed yearly | respond.io FAQ |
| Tidio | No markup. WhatsApp on every plan | Tidio Help Center |
| Manychat | Published rates about 15% above Meta's for marketing and utility | Manychat pricing guide |
| Landbot | Meta's cost plus €0.05 on each template | Landbot pricing |
| SiteGPT | Nothing per message. The add-on covers Meta's conversation fees | SiteGPT docs |
A small per-message fee adds up differently by direction. Twilio's $0.005 applies to inbound messages too, so a chat with five customer messages and five replies carries ten fees. Against a $0.0034 US service rate, the provider fee is larger than Meta's.
Manychat's figure comes from its own published table. It lists $0.0287 for a marketing message to North America against Meta's $0.0250, and $0.0253 for a UK utility message against Meta's $0.0220. Its service rates match Meta's.
SiteGPT prices the channel as a flat add-on: $59 a month billed monthly, or $39 a month billed yearly, on top of a plan. Its documentation says Meta does not bill you for WhatsApp conversations and that the add-on covers them. WhatsApp messages count against the plan's monthly message allowance. Its documentation describes no broadcasts, so the marketing and utility rates above do not arise.
How the platforms compare beyond price is in best WhatsApp AI chatbots.
How do you keep the bill down?
Five habits make the largest difference.
| Scenario | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Most of your volume is inbound questions | Answer inside the window | Service messages are free for the first 1,000 a month and cost a fraction of a template after that. |
| A chatbot sends several short messages per answer | Send one complete reply | Meta bills each delivered message. One full answer costs less than three fragments. |
| You send order updates as marketing templates | Use the utility category | A UK utility message is £0.0159 against £0.0458 for marketing. |
| Your team still answers some chats by hand | Reply from the WhatsApp Business app | With coexistence, messages sent from the app stay free. |
| You are comparing providers | Ask how Meta's fee is charged | Pass-through, markup, and flat pricing produce very different totals at the same volume. |
If your WhatsApp use is answering customers from your own content, the flat-priced route is described at WhatsApp AI chatbot. The setup is in how to create a WhatsApp chatbot.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?
Meta charges per delivered message, by category and by the recipient's country. A service reply to a US number costs $0.0034 after the first 1,000 a month. A marketing template to a UK number costs $0.0635, or £0.0458 on a sterling account.
Most businesses also pay a provider for the software that connects them to the API.
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
Access to Meta's Cloud API has no licence fee, and each business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month. Meta charges for service messages beyond that and for every delivered template.
Are replies to customers still free on WhatsApp?
Only the first 1,000 a month on each business number. Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges from the 1,001st service message.
Replies inside a free entry point window, opened by a click-to-WhatsApp ad, are not charged.
What changed in WhatsApp pricing on 1 October 2026?
Service messages are now charged after 1,000 a month on each number. Utility templates sent inside an open window, free since 1 July 2025, are charged again at the utility rate.
What is a WhatsApp message template?
A template is a pre-approved message a business can send outside the 24-hour customer service window. The three categories are marketing, utility, and authentication.
Meta reviews each template automatically, and review can take up to 24 hours.
Can I send WhatsApp marketing messages to US numbers?
Not at present. Meta's documentation says WhatsApp does not currently deliver marketing template messages to users with United States phone numbers.
Utility and authentication templates, and replies inside the customer service window, still work.
Do WhatsApp providers mark up Meta's fees?
It varies. Twilio adds $0.005 to every message, and Landbot adds €0.05 to each template. 360dialog, respond.io, and Tidio state that they add no per-message markup.
SiteGPT's WhatsApp add-on covers Meta's conversation fees.
How many messages is a WhatsApp conversation?
Meta no longer bills by conversation. It bills each delivered message from the business.
A chat in which a chatbot sends five replies counts as five service messages, so the 1,000 free messages cover about 200 conversations of that length.
Sources
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta for Developers. Categories, free tiers, the customer service window, and the USD and GBP rate cards effective 1 October 2026.
- Marketing templates, per-user limits, Meta for Developers. Delivery of marketing templates to US numbers.
- Message templates, Meta for Developers. Review, limits, and quality ratings.
- Onboarding WhatsApp Business app users, Meta for Developers. App-sent messages under coexistence.
- Twilio WhatsApp pricing, 360dialog pricing, and Landbot pricing. Provider fees.
- WhatsApp pricing guide, Manychat Help Center. Published per-message rates.
- Connect WhatsApp, SiteGPT documentation. How the add-on covers conversation fees.