---
title: "WhatsApp Business Charges per Message, Explained"
description: "WhatsApp Business API cost per marketing message: Meta's charge per delivered message, every country's rate and worked examples."
url: https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-api-cost/
updated: 2026-10-01
---

[Resources](https://getrapio.com/resources/) › Cost per message

# What WhatsApp charges for a marketing message

Meta charges per delivered message, by the recipient's country. Every market's rate, a few worked examples, and the rules that decide the bill.

By Ömer İlhan, Founder · Updated 1 October 2026 · 6 min read

In short

On the WhatsApp Business Platform you pay Meta for each message that is delivered. The price depends on the message's category and on the country code of the person who receives it. A delivered marketing message costs from $0.0109 in Turkey to $0.1597 in the Netherlands (as of October 1, 2026). Connecting is free, and there is no volume discount on marketing messages. Software on top is billed separately.

## How Meta charges

Per delivered message — not per send, and not per conversation.

**Delivered, not sent** — You pay when a message reaches the phone. A message that fails isn't charged — including one to someone who stopped your marketing messages.

**By category** — A template is marketing, utility or authentication, and the category sets the rate. Replies you write by hand form a fourth category: service.

**By the recipient's country** — The rate comes from the country code of the number you send to, not from where your business is.

**Per message since July 1, 2025** — Before that date Meta charged per 24-hour conversation. Today every delivered message is charged on its own.

Messages people send to you are never charged. Meta also charges the category a template has at the moment it's sent: if Meta decides a template is marketing rather than utility, it is billed as marketing.

## Four categories, four prices

Marketing is the one that is always charged.

| Category | What it is | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, reminders, invitations — anything that promotes. | Every delivered message, from the first one. One rate per country, no volume discount. |
| Utility | A follow-up to something the customer did, such as an order update. | Every delivered message. Since October 1, 2026 that includes utility messages sent inside the 24 hours after a customer writes to you. The rate falls as monthly volume grows. |
| Authentication | One-time codes that confirm who someone is. | Every delivered message, with volume tiers. In some countries a higher international rate applies. |
| Service | Free-form replies inside the [24 hours after a customer writes to you](https://getrapio.com/resources/glossary/#customer-service-window). | Charged since October 1, 2026, at the same rate as utility and authentication in that country. No volume tiers. |

One exception covers all four: when someone starts a chat from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page's call-to-action button and you reply within 24 hours, every message for the next three days is free. Meta calls this a free entry point window.

## Marketing rates by country

What Meta charges for one delivered marketing message, in US dollars (as of October 1, 2026).

| Market | Per delivered message |
|---|---|
| Argentina | $0.0618 |
| Bangladesh | $0.0732 |
| Brazil | $0.0625 |
| Chile | $0.0889 |
| Colombia | $0.0125 |
| Egypt | $0.0644 |
| France | $0.0859 |
| Germany | $0.1365 |
| Hong Kong | $0.0732 |
| Hungary | $0.0860 |
| India | $0.0118 |
| Indonesia | $0.0411 |
| Iraq | $0.0341 |
| Israel | $0.0353 |
| Italy | $0.0795 |
| Kazakhstan | $0.0604 |
| Kuwait | $0.0792 |
| Malaysia | $0.0860 |
| Mexico | $0.0397 |
| Morocco | $0.0414 |
| Nepal | $0.0732 |
| Netherlands | $0.1597 |
| Nigeria | $0.0516 |
| North America | $0.0250 |
| Oman | $0.0341 |
| Pakistan | $0.0473 |
| Peru | $0.0703 |
| Poland | $0.0366 |
| Qatar | $0.0341 |
| Romania | $0.0860 |
| Russia | $0.0802 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0576 |
| Singapore | $0.0732 |
| South Africa | $0.0379 |
| Spain | $0.0707 |
| Sri Lanka | $0.0732 |
| Turkey | $0.0109 |
| Ukraine | $0.0860 |
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0576 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0635 |

Countries without a row of their own pay a regional rate:

| Region | Per delivered message |
|---|---|
| Rest of Africa | $0.0225 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | $0.0842 |
| Rest of Central & Eastern Europe | $0.0860 |
| Rest of Latin America | $0.0740 |
| Rest of Middle East | $0.0392 |
| Rest of Western Europe | $0.0592 |
| Other | $0.0604 |

The rate follows the phone number's country calling code. Numbers starting with +1 pay the North America rate, except the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, which pay the Rest of Latin America rate. Marketing messages aren't delivered to phone numbers in the United States, so in practice the North America rate is the rate for Canada.

## What 10,000 messages cost

The same send, delivered in six countries.

| Country | Rate | 10,000 delivered marketing messages |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey | $0.0109 | $109 |
| India | $0.0118 | $118 |
| Indonesia | $0.0411 | $411 |
| Brazil | $0.0625 | $625 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0635 | $635 |
| Germany | $0.1365 | $1,365 |

A list that spans several countries is charged message by message, each at its own country's rate. Only delivered messages count, so the bill for a send is usually a little lower than the size of the list suggests. For your own countries and volumes, [the calculator on our pricing page](https://getrapio.com/pricing/#calculator) works it out.

## Which currency you pay in

Your WhatsApp Business Account has a currency, and India and Brazil now require their own.

Meta bills each [WhatsApp Business Account](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-business-account/) in its own currency and publishes its rate card in US dollars and several local currencies. Two countries have moved to local billing:

**India** — Since January 1, 2026, businesses whose billing country is India can be billed in rupees, and all of their accounts have to move to INR by December 31, 2026. From January 1, 2027, Meta stops delivering messages from their accounts that haven't moved (as of October 2026).

**Brazil** — Since July 1, 2026, businesses whose billing country is Brazil can open accounts in reais, invoiced by Meta's company in Brazil. Their accounts have to move to BRL by June 30, 2027 (as of October 2026).

The billing country is the one set for your business in Meta's Billing Hub. Moving to a new currency creates a new account and moves your templates and numbers to it; past analytics stay with the old one.

## When prices change

Only on the first day of a quarter, and never without notice.

Meta changes rates on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, and announces a new rate card at least a month ahead. A change to how pricing works is announced three to six months ahead. On October 1, 2026 the marketing rate rose in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Rest of Asia Pacific and Rest of Middle East, and nine countries left their regional rate for a row of their own. The next possible change is January 1, 2027.

## Who sends you the bill

Meta, directly — or a partner, with Meta's charge inside its invoice.

Bill one · Meta **Per delivered message** — Set by the message's category and the recipient's country. Charged to the card on your WhatsApp Business Account.

+

Bill two · your software **Priced by the provider** — Some add a markup to every message. Some charge a fixed fee and leave Meta's price alone.

Most businesses add a card to their own account and Meta charges it at the rates above. Some partners can pay Meta for you from their own credit line and invoice you instead; then Meta's charge reaches you through the partner's invoice, and Meta stops showing you its own cost figure. [How providers differ, and what to ask one.](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-business-solution-provider/)

Where Rapio fits

Rapio adds nothing per message. Meta bills your card at the rates above, and Rapio charges a fixed monthly fee for the software: Growth is $79 a month for 60,000 marketing messages, and Scale is $199 a month for 180,000.

## Sources

1. [Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing) — Meta
2. [Platform pricing: rates](https://business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing#rates) — WhatsApp
3. [Change billing currency](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing/change-billing-currency) — Meta
4. [Template categorization](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/template-categorization) — Meta
5. [Pricing analytics](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/analytics#pricing-analytics) — Meta

## Keep reading

- [What a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider does, and what to ask one](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-business-solution-provider/)
- [How to set up your account for marketing messages](https://getrapio.com/resources/set-up-whatsapp-business-account/)
- [WhatsApp promotional messages: templates and examples](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-marketing-message-templates/)

[Glossary](https://getrapio.com/resources/glossary/) · [All resources](https://getrapio.com/resources/)