📔 Conversations are 24-hour message threads between you and your customers. They are opened and charged when messages you send to customers are delivered (Source: Meta)
Before we get into how the conversation-based pricing works, we need to understand how Meta categorizes conversations ⬇️
Conversation types
Conversations are categorized with one of the following categories:
Category | Description | Example |
Marketing | Enables you to achieve a wide range of goals, from generating awareness to driving sales and retargeting customers. | New product, service, or feature announcements, targeted promotions/offers, and cart abandonment reminders |
Utility | Enables you to follow-up on user actions or requests. | Opt-in confirmation, order/delivery management (e.g., delivery update); account updates or alerts (e.g., payment reminder); or feedback surveys. |
Authentication | Enables you authenticate users with one-time passcodes, potentially at multiple steps in the login process. | Account verification, account recovery, integrity challenges |
Service | Enables you to resolve customer inquiries. | A customer messages you asking about a return and you respond to their enquiry. |
Opening conversations
Conversations are opened under the following conditions:
Marketing, Utility, and Authentication Conversations | Service Conversations |
You send an approved marketing, utility, or authentication template message to a customer and no open conversation with that category exists between you and that customer. | You reply to a customer freely or with a templated response after they’ve messaged you. |
💡 Once you’ve opened a conversation, you can send as many conversations of the same type within 24 hours without additional charge.
For example, if an open marketing conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them another marketing template message within 24 hours, a new conversation is not opened. If you send them a Utility message, however, a new utility conversation is opened, resulting in two open conversations (now you pay for 2 conversations).
24 hr customer service window
When a customer messages you, a 24 hour timer called a customer service window starts.
If you are within the window, you can send free-form (+ templated free form) messages or update template messages (at additional cost). If you are outside the window, you can only send update template messages.
💡 Each WhatsApp Business Account gets 1,000 free service conversations each month across all of its business phone numbers. This number is refreshed at the beginning of each month, based on WhatsApp Business Account time zone.
Marketing, utility and authentication conversations are not part of the free tier. (Source: Meta)
Multiple conversations
It’s possible to have multiple conversations open between you and a customer - this is especially important to keep in mind when creating flows.
For example, you may have an open utility conversation about their delivery information open and you send a marketing message for an upcoming sale.
💡 Remember: mixing update template categories means you’re paying for multiple conversations at once.
Conversation types in charles
Campaigns
When you submit your campaign to WhatsApp for approval via Campaigns it’ll be automatically assigned the category.
Studio
When you create your new template, it will ask you first the template type.
Journeys
💡 A good rule of thumb is to be aware of your template categories and be careful when mixing them.
Opt-in flows
Your opt-in flow could be opening both a service conversation and a marketing conversation depending on what nodes you’re using. If your flow is using a combination of Send Message and Send Update you may be charged for both conversation types:
Try and stick to one type of message template – either Service (using Send Message nodes) or Marketing (using Send Update nodes). By using only 1 type, you can avoid being charged for both.
Post-purchase flows
Your post-purchase flows may become cheaper with the use of Utility conversations:
Meta’s cost-per-conversation
Meta’s rates vary based on conversation category and country/region rate. See Rates here to download the rate cards.