Starting July 1, 2025, Meta will implement a new per-message pricing model for the WhatsApp Business Platform.
How Meta Charges
Charges apply only when a message is delivered.
Pricing is based on:
Recipient's country, determined by their phone number’s calling code.
Message category: Marketing, Utility, or Authentication.
Rates vary by country and message type. Download Meta’s Rate Cards here.
Before we get into how the per-message pricing model works, we need to understand how Meta categorizes templates.
Message templates can be categorized as:
Marketing templates – Enable businesses to achieve a wide range of goals, from generating awareness to driving sales and retargeting customers.
Utility templates – Enable businesses to follow up on user actions or requests, since these messages are typically triggered by user actions.
Authentication templates – Enable businesses to verify a user’s identity, potentially at various steps of the customer journey.
This is how the per-message pricing model works:
Meta charges on a per-message basis on the WhatsApp Business Platform
Each template message sent by your business is charged individually. For example: Sending 1 marketing and 1 utility message = 2 separate charges.
Businesses can respond to users at no charge with free-form messages
You can respond to users for free with free-form or utility template messages within the 24-hour customer service window.
What’s the 24 hr customer service window?
When a customer messages you, a 24 hour timer called a customer service window starts.
It resets every time the user replies. While it’s open, you can send: Free-form messages (no Meta approval needed) and Utility template messages for free. If you are outside the window, you can only send update template messages.
That means Businesses can be available for and engage with their customers on WhatsApp, including via AI-powered conversational experiences, at no extra cost during the 24-hour window.
Businesses can use free entry points to get more value on WhatsApp
When a user messages a business from an ad that clicks to WhatsApp or a Facebook Page action button, and the business responds within 24 hours, that response opens a 72-hour (3-day) ‘free entry point’ window where template messages are not charged.
You can use these entry points to get more value when messaging users on WhatsApp.