WhatsApp API Pricing Explained: What You Actually Pay
Meta charges per conversation, not per message. Here is how the billing model works and how to estimate your costs before going live.
How Meta Bills for WhatsApp API
WhatsApp Business API pricing is based on conversations, not individual messages. A conversation is a 24-hour window opened by either the business or the customer.
Conversation Categories
Meta splits conversations into four categories, each with its own rate:
- Marketing — Promotions and offers initiated by the business.
- Utility — Transactional messages like order confirmations and shipping updates.
- Authentication — One-time passwords and verification codes.
- Service — Responses within a customer-initiated conversation window.
Rates vary significantly by country. Nigeria and India are among the cheapest; some European markets are substantially higher.
Free Tier
Meta provides 1,000 free service conversations per month for all businesses on the API. Marketing, utility, and authentication conversations are not included in the free tier.
Estimate Before You Commit
Use the free WhatsApp API Pricing Calculator to see current live rates by country and category before you build out your integration.