WhatsApp Business API pricing: what Meta charges per message
Meta charges for the API per delivered message, based on the recipient's country and the message category. Here you'll find the rate table by country, what is free and what is not, and a calculator to run the numbers with your own volume.
How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost?
Meta charges for the WhatsApp Business API for every delivered message, at a rate that depends on the recipient's country and the category: marketing, utility, authentication or service. In Latin America, Spain and North America, a marketing message costs from USD 0.0125 in Colombia to USD 0.0889 in Chile, and utility and authentication messages cost much less. Service replies include 1,000 free messages per number per month; from message 1,001 on, they are billed at the country's utility rate (Meta, 2026).
On top of Meta's rate you pay your official provider (BSP) and the platform or agent that runs the channel. That is why the useful question is not only how much each message costs, but what that conversation produces: an order or a qualified lead in your CRM pays for the messaging cents many times over.
How Meta bills the WhatsApp Business API
The API does not work like licensed software: you pay for usage, message by message. There is no per-user or per-seat fee, and the verified number belongs to your company, not to the provider.
Each message is billed on two variables: the country of the receiving number and the message category. Meta charges for messages that are delivered, not for those that are sent, and it never charges for the messages your customers send you. The old 24-hour conversation charge, which grouped several messages into a single fee, no longer exists: every message counts on its own.
| Category | Who starts it | Typical use | How it is billed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | The business, with an approved template | Promotions, launches, customer reactivation | Always billed. In the markets on this page, it is the highest rate |
| Utility | The business, with an approved template | Order confirmations, reminders, delivery updates | Every delivered template is billed, including inside the service window |
| Authentication | The business, with an approved template | Verification and access codes | Every delivered template is billed; in the markets on this page, at the utility rate |
| Service | The customer writes first | Inbound questions, support, lead qualification, orders | 1,000 free messages per number per month; after that, the country's utility rate |
Rules of the model according to Meta's pricing page for developers (2026). The rates for each country are in the table further down.
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
The WhatsApp Business app is free; the API is not: Meta charges for every message your company delivers and never for the ones your customers send you. There are two cases in which Meta does not charge for what you send, according to its pricing page (2026):
- 1,000 service messages per month: each number gets 1,000 free service replies per month, which do not roll over from one month to the next. From reply 1,001 on, they are billed at the country's utility rate.
- The ad window: if the customer wrote to you from an ad that opens WhatsApp on their phone and you reply within 24 hours, Meta does not charge for marketing, utility, authentication or service while that window stays open, for up to 7 days. Replies from Meta Business Agent are still billed.
What is not free, but gets cheaper: outside those two cases there are no free messages. What you do get are volume discounts, only on utility and authentication: the rate drops in tiers as the volume you send to a country in the month grows, and it resets every month. Service has no volume discounts.
What Meta charges per message in each country
Meta charges based on the country of the number that receives the message, not on where your company is: if you sell from the United States to customers in Mexico, you pay Mexico's rate. These are the list prices in US dollars for Latin America, Spain and North America.
For another country, such as Brazil, which has its own rate, check Meta's rate sheet, which covers 47 markets across countries and regions.
| Customer's country | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service * |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 0.0618 | 0.0260 | 0.0260 | 0.0260 |
| Chile | 0.0889 | 0.0200 | 0.0200 | 0.0200 |
| Colombia | 0.0125 | 0.0008 | 0.0008 | 0.0008 |
| Spain | 0.0707 | 0.0200 | 0.0200 | 0.0200 |
| Mexico | 0.0397 | 0.0085 | 0.0085 | 0.0085 |
| Peru | 0.0703 | 0.0300 | 0.0300 | 0.0300 |
| United States and Canada | 0.0250 | 0.0034 | 0.0034 | 0.0034 |
| Rest of Latin America ** | 0.0740 | 0.0113 | 0.0113 | 0.0113 |
USD per delivered message, list prices before the volume discounts on utility and authentication. * Service: the first 1,000 per number per month are free; from message 1,001 on, they are billed at the country's utility rate. ** Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela; Brazil has its own rate. Source: Meta for Developers rate card. Meta can only change its rates on January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1.
Run the numbers with your messages
Pick your customers' country and enter how many messages you send per month in each category. The calculator uses the rates in the table, deducts the 1,000 free service messages of each number and gives you Meta's monthly cost, with a PDF report to bring to the budget meeting.
It also has its own page, the WhatsApp API cost calculator, with the formula in plain sight and a link to share your scenario.
Meta charges according to the country of the number that receives the message, not where your company is.
Your messages per month
Each number gets 1,000 free service messages per month.
Promotions, launches and win-back messages.
Order confirmations, reminders and delivery notices.
Verification and login codes.
Your replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message.
Meta's rates (USD per message)
Preloaded for the selected country. If you change the country, they go back to its rates.
Rates per delivered message from Meta's USD rate card for each market (2026). Meta updates them several times a year.
Estimated monthly cost from Meta
$84.00
Only Meta's rate, before volume discounts. Not a quote.
Marketing
$50.00
Utility and authentication
$10.20
Service
$23.80
1,000 free and 7,000 paid.
Estimated annual cost
$1,008.00
Average of $0.0065 per message sent.
Breakdown by category, annual projection and rates table. The result on screen is free and requires no sign-up.
The 24-hour window and service messages
When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and it starts over with each new message from them. Inside that window you can reply with free-form messages, no template needed: these are service messages, the ones a sales agent uses to answer questions, send quotes and take orders.
For a small operation, the free allowance on each number means nothing changes; for one that handles thousands of inquiries a month, service becomes one more budget line, at the country's utility rate.
Outside the window, the business can only write with an approved template, which is always billed by its category.
What to measure: how many service messages you send per conversation. An agent that resolves in a few messages, without repeating questions or asking for data it already has, lowers the cost directly.
What makes up the real cost of running the API
The most common budgeting mistake is looking only at Meta's rate. The total cost of operation has more components, and some never show up on an invoice.
- Meta's per-message rate: the base of the model, by country and category. It is the one in the table above.
- The official provider (BSP): the API is contracted through a Business Solution Provider; some charge a per-message margin, others a monthly fee, and several charge both. For example, Twilio charges USD 0.005 for every message sent or received, plus Meta's rate, according to its pricing page.
- The platform or agent that runs the channel: the software that answers, qualifies, quotes and connects to your CRM and ERP. This is where Sellium fits.
- The hidden cost of not automating: sales hours spent answering the same questions and leads that go cold after hours. It never shows on the invoice, but it is usually the most expensive part.
Compare carefully: two proposals with the same price per message can cost very different amounts at the end of the month. Volume, the category mix and how many messages the agent needs to resolve each inquiry weigh more than the cents of the base rate.
How much Meta's AI agent costs
Meta offers its own AI agent for WhatsApp, Meta Business Agent, with a free entry tier. Its replies are billed per token: USD 2 per million tokens, which Meta puts at roughly 4 to 5 cents per reply (2026).
It is a reasonable choice for simple catalogs and FAQs. When the agent has to check stock in your ERP, apply each customer's price list or log the order in your CRM, the cost that matters is no longer the reply but integrating the agent with your systems.
How much Sellium costs on top of the API
Sellium is priced in two parts. A one-time implementation, quoted for each company, that covers mapping the processes you want to digitize, training the agent with your information, integrating it with your systems and the adjustments you need. And a monthly subscription that includes AI credits to run the agent, with the option to add credits as your volume grows. There is no minimum term.
You pay Meta directly for WhatsApp messages, with your own account, and they do not use up Salesforce messaging credits even if your company has Salesforce's WhatsApp channel. To see what it would cost in your case, request a quote with your inquiry volume and the systems you want to connect.
How to estimate your monthly cost in six steps
Before you sign with any provider, run these numbers. It takes one afternoon, not a project.
Count your messages per month
Take a typical month and count the messages you send, not the conversations. If your team answers from personal phones, one week of sampling is enough to project.
Split them by category
Replies to inquiries (service), operational notices (utility) and campaigns (marketing). The mix drives the cost far more than the total volume.
Find your country's rate
It is in the table above for Latin America, Spain and North America, and in Meta's rate sheet for everywhere else. Use the rate of each category for your customers' country, not a blog average.
Subtract the 1,000 service messages
Each number gets 1,000 free service messages per month. You only pay for those above the allowance, at the utility rate.
Add the BSP and the platform
Ask each provider for the breakdown: per-message margin, monthly fee and implementation, separately.
Compare it with not automating
Sales hours spent on repeated questions and leads left unanswered after hours. That is the line everything else is measured against.
Meta's billing rules, in numbers
Figures from Meta's pricing page for developers. They are platform rules, not Sellium results.
1,000
Free service messages per WhatsApp number per month; they do not roll over
Up to 7 days
With no Meta charge in the window opened by an ad that leads to WhatsApp, if you reply within 24 hours
USD 2
Per million tokens for Meta Business Agent replies, about 4 to 5 cents per reply
4 times
A year, at most, Meta can change its rate table: only on the first day of each quarter
Caveats: Meta can only change its rates on the first day of each quarter, and it has changed its billing model more than once. Check the current cost in Meta's official documentation before budgeting.
Sellium: the agent that makes every message count
Paying per message changes the incentive: every reply has to move a sale forward. Sellium resolves in a few messages and with real data (stock, prices, account balance) and logs every conversation in your CRM.
Sellium
AI sales agent for WhatsApp
Sellium is Vantegrate's AI sales agent for WhatsApp: it runs on the official API, answers instantly, quotes with your rules and logs every order or lead in your CRM, around the clock.
Explore SelliumSecure AI agents
Sellium runs 100% on Salesforce and Oracle Cloud infrastructure, certified SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. Vantegrate enables, the customer operates and certifies.
See the security modelISV and Consulting PartnerRuns inside your Salesforce
Sellium reads and writes your objects, respects your profiles and permissions, and works alongside Agentforce and your existing flows.
Vantegrate and SalesforceFrequently asked questions about WhatsApp Business API pricing
What finance and sales usually ask before approving the channel.
How much does a WhatsApp Business API message cost?
How much does a WhatsApp Business API message cost?
It depends on the recipient's country and the category. Marketing costs more than utility in every country on Meta's rate card, and in the markets on this page (Latin America, Spain and North America) it ranges from USD 0.0125 in Colombia to USD 0.0889 in Chile. There, authentication costs the same as utility, and service has 1,000 free messages per number per month and is then billed as utility. Each country's rate is in the table on this page.
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
No. The WhatsApp Business app is free and is meant for answering by hand from a phone. The API is paid to Meta per delivered message, except in two cases: the first 1,000 service messages of each number per month, and messages inside the window opened by an ad that leads to WhatsApp, for up to 7 days. What your customers send you is never billed.
How much does WhatsApp charge per broadcast message?
How much does WhatsApp charge per broadcast message?
In the API, a broadcast message is a marketing template, and Meta bills it for every delivered message based on the recipient's country: in Latin America, Spain and North America, from USD 0.0125 in Colombia to USD 0.0889 in Chile. There is no free allowance for marketing, except inside the window opened by an ad that leads to WhatsApp.
Are messages billed when the customer writes first?
Are messages billed when the customer writes first?
Replies inside the 24-hour window are service messages: each number gets 1,000 free per month and, from message 1,001, they are billed at the country's utility rate. Templates you send inside that window, such as an order confirmation, are billed by their category.
How often do the rates change?
How often do the rates change?
Meta can only change its rates on the first day of each quarter: January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1, with advance notice. That is why the table on this page says when it took effect: it is the one that applies until Meta's next update.
What is a BSP and why do I need one?
What is a BSP and why do I need one?
A Business Solution Provider is the official intermediary authorized by Meta to give access to the API. Besides access, each BSP sets its own pricing (per-message margin, monthly fee or both), which is why two companies with the same volume can pay different amounts. When comparing proposals, always ask for the split between Meta's rate and the provider's margin.
How much does Meta's AI agent cost?
How much does Meta's AI agent cost?
Meta Business Agent has a free entry tier and its replies are billed per token: USD 2 per million tokens, about 4 to 5 cents per reply according to Meta (2026). It works for simple catalogs; when the agent has to connect to your ERP or CRM, integration costs weigh more than the cost of each reply.
How much does Sellium cost?
How much does Sellium cost?
Sellium has a one-time implementation, quoted for each company based on the processes to digitize and the systems to integrate, and a monthly subscription that includes AI credits, expandable as volume grows. There is no minimum term and you pay Meta directly for WhatsApp messages. Request a quote with your numbers.
Let's run the numbers with your data
Bring your inquiry volume and the systems you want to connect, and we will put together a Sellium quote along with an estimate of Meta messages for your country. No fine print and no minimum term.
Francisco Morales, co-founder, takes your call. We reply on WhatsApp within 4 business hours, no strings attached.
