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WhatsApp message costs: how Meta's pricing works

Updated 2026-07-21

In two lines: message costs are set and charged by Meta, not by MB Suite — they are billed against your WhatsApp Business account. Replying within the 24-hour window is free; starting a conversation with a template has a per-message price that varies by country and category.

Who charges for the messages: MB Suite or Meta?

Meta. WhatsApp Business is Meta's platform, and Meta bills message costs directly to your WhatsApp Business account, against the payment method you configure in your Meta Business Manager. Your MB Suite plan does not include those costs, does not mark them up and does not intermediate them: what you pay MB Suite and what you pay Meta are two separate things.

How does Meta's pricing model work?

Since July 2025, Meta charges per message (before, it charged per conversation — many older articles still describe that model). You only pay when a template is delivered, and the price depends on two things: the country of the recipient's number and the template's category:

  • Marketing: promotions, offers, announcements. It's the highest rate.
  • Utility: transactional follow-ups on something the contact already has in progress (order confirmations, reminders, status updates). Cheaper — and free if you send it while the contact's 24-hour window is open.
  • Authentication: one-time verification codes. Its own per-message rate.
  • Service: free-text replies inside the 24-hour window. Free, no per-message cost.

What has no cost?

  • Replying within the 24-hour window. Every time a contact writes to you, you have 24 hours to reply with free text at no per-message cost. This covers most day-to-day sales conversations. More detail: How WhatsApp Business works in the CRM.
  • Utility templates inside an open window. If the contact's 24-hour window is open, utility templates are free.
  • Conversations that start from your ads. When someone writes to you from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call-to-action button and you reply, Meta opens a 72-hour free window: everything you send in it, templates included, has no cost. (The ad itself is billed as advertising, separately.)

Where do I see the current rates?

Meta updates its rates frequently, so we don't reproduce them here — any figure we printed would go stale. The official pages, always current:

- Official rate cards by country and currency (downloadable): business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing - Technical pricing documentation: developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing

So what do I pay MB Suite for?

Your MB Suite plan covers the tool: the inbox, templates, automations, attribution and everything around your WhatsApp line in the CRM. If you bought a dedicated line from CRM > Phones, the prepaid balance covers the line and calls — WhatsApp messages are still billed by Meta against your WhatsApp Business account, like in every other mode.

Set up a payment method in your Meta Business Manager as soon as you connect your line: Meta requires an active payment method to send paid template messages. From there you can also track your WhatsApp spend, invoice by invoice.

Where do I go next?

Still have questions?

Ask MIA, the MB Suite AI assistant: open it with the MB AI button (⌘J) in the top bar. MIA knows the section you're in, so you can ask it about what you see on screen — and it can also answer how-to questions about using MB Suite.