How WhatsApp Business API pricing works.
WhatsApp Business API pricing has two parts. Meta charges for each template message a business sends, at a rate set by the template's category (marketing, utility or authentication) and the customer's country. Your provider charges for its platform. Replies within 24 hours of a customer's message are not charged by Meta.
Capabilities
Everything WAPI ships with.
Shared team inbox
Broadcasts + templates
AI chatbots
WhatsApp Pay
Developer API
Automations
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What do you pay for with the WhatsApp Business API?
Every business on the WhatsApp Business API pays for two things.
The first is Meta's charge for the template messages you send. Templates are the pre-approved messages businesses use to start a conversation or to message a customer more than 24 hours after they last wrote. Meta bills these per message.
The second is your provider's fee for the platform you work in: the shared inbox, broadcasts, automation, chatbot and support. With Flaxxa this is your Flaxxa plan, billed in INR or USD, and there is a Free plan to start on.
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How does Meta price template messages?
Meta's rate for a template depends on two things.
- The category: marketing templates (offers, announcements) cost the most; utility templates (order and booking updates) and authentication templates (one-time passwords) cost less.
- The customer's country: rates are set per country, so a message to a customer in India is priced differently from one to a customer in the UK or the US.
- Meta publishes its current rates and changes them from time to time, so check Meta's rate card for exact figures.
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Which WhatsApp messages are free?
When a customer messages your business, a 24-hour window opens. Inside that window you can reply with normal messages, such as text, images, documents and buttons, and Meta doesn't charge for those replies. Every new message from the customer starts the 24 hours again.
That makes support conversations and replies to customer questions cheap to run. You pay Meta when you start a conversation or follow up after the window has closed, which is when you need a template.
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How can you keep WhatsApp API costs down?
A few habits keep the Meta part of the bill in check.
- Choose the right category: order updates and reminders belong in utility templates, not marketing.
- Answer inside the 24-hour window: replies to customer messages aren't charged.
- Send marketing to segments that want it, rather than your whole list: fewer wasted messages and fewer blocks.
- Let customers start conversations, for example with click-to-WhatsApp ads, a website chat button or a QR code.
- Track replies and sales per broadcast, so you know which messages are worth sending.
WhatsApp Business API pricing: common questions
No. Meta charges for template messages a business sends, and providers charge for their platform. Replies within 24 hours of a customer's message are not charged by Meta.
Put it to work
WAPI features for this
Templates
Build WhatsApp template messages, submit them to Meta and track approval live. Marketing, utility and OTP templates, checked before you submit.
Broadcasts
Send bulk WhatsApp broadcasts officially with Meta-approved templates: segments, personalisation, paced sending, scheduling and read and reply rates.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads
Run click-to-WhatsApp ads on Facebook and Instagram and answer every lead in seconds: automatic greeting, qualifying questions and handoff to sales.
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