How does WhatsApp conversation pricing work?

WhatsApp business messaging is priced per delivered message; your provider bills this usage via transparent per-message pricing, alongside its platform fee. Historically Meta billed per 24-hour conversation, but that model was deprecated on 1 July 2025 — Meta now charges per delivered message, priced by the template's category.

There are three billable template categories, plus free-form service replies. Marketing messages (promotions, offers, re-engagement) are charged on every delivered message with no volume discount and are generally the most expensive; Utility messages (order updates, receipts, account notifications) are free when sent inside an open 24-hour customer service window and charged otherwise, at a lower rate than marketing; Authentication messages (one-time passwords) are charged per delivered message. Free-form "service" replies you send inside an open 24-hour window are free today — though Meta plans to begin charging for service messages from 1 October 2026.

Crucially, exact rates are not fixed globally. They vary by the customer's country and by category, and Meta periodically revises them. For that reason InfiQ does not quote per-message rates as fact — the live, authoritative figures are in your dashboard rate card, which reflects the current Meta rates for each country and category.

What you can plan around is the shape of the model: you pay by category and per delivered message, marketing costs more than utility, authentication is its own line, and answering customers within the open window is the cheapest way to engage. Design flows to prefer utility and in-window service messaging, reserve marketing for opted-in audiences, and check the rate card before budgeting a campaign.