Pricing
Since 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered template message, not per 24-hour conversation. What you pay depends on three things: the template category, the recipient's country, and — for utility and authentication only — how many you have already sent that month. Replies you send inside the 24-hour window that opens when a customer messages you are not charged at all.
| Message type | How Meta charges |
|---|---|
| Free-form reply inside the 24-hour service window | Not charged |
| Utility template (order updates, reminders, invoices) | Lower rate; steps down as monthly volume rises |
| Authentication template (one-time passcodes) | Lower rate; steps down as monthly volume rises |
| Marketing template (offers, launches, re-engagement) | Highest rate; no volume discount |
Meta's rates move. India's marketing rate rose by roughly ten percent in 2026 while utility and authentication held steady, and per-country rate cards are revised periodically. A specific rupee figure baked into a page built to rank for years is a liability — it will be wrong, and people will plan budgets around it. The mechanics below are stable; for current figures, use Meta's published rate card or the cost calculator, which asks you to enter the rates you have been quoted rather than assuming ours.
Every inbound customer message opens a 24-hour window in which you can reply freely at no messaging cost, and every subsequent customer reply resets it. A business that answers promptly and asks a question at the end of its last message can hold a conversation going for days without paying for a single template. A business that replies two days later pays for a template every time.
| Lever | Effect |
|---|---|
| Categorise transactional messages as utility, not marketing | Large — marketing is the most expensive category by a wide margin |
| Reply inside the 24-hour window instead of opening a new template | Large — window replies cost nothing |
| Segment campaigns instead of broadcasting to everyone | Large — you pay per delivered message either way |
| Concentrate utility volume so you cross the tier thresholds | Moderate — tiers reset monthly |
Meta's charge is only part of the bill. A provider can add a platform subscription (normal), a margin on Meta's messaging (common among resellers, and invisible unless you ask), and a one-time setup fee (widely charged in India). ConneXus charges the first and neither of the other two — your WhatsApp Business Account is in your name and Meta bills you directly, so we are not in a position to mark anything up even if we wanted to.
Per delivered template message. Meta moved away from the older per-24-hour-conversation model on 1 July 2025, so any guide describing conversation-based pricing is out of date — including a lot of material still ranking for this query.
It depends on the template category and changes over time — Meta raised India marketing rates by roughly 10% in 2026 while utility and authentication held steady. Marketing is the most expensive by a wide margin; utility and authentication are much cheaper and get volume discounts. Check Meta's current published rates for exact figures rather than trusting a number on a blog.
Yes. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour service window opens, and free-form replies inside it carry no Meta messaging charge. This is why businesses that genuinely converse pay far less per customer than headline rates suggest.
Yes. Utility and authentication templates have per-market volume tiers: once your delivered volume crosses Meta's thresholds in a month, the per-message rate drops. Tiers reset monthly. Marketing has no such discount.
With ConneXus, Meta — directly, because the WhatsApp Business Account is in your name. Some providers resell messaging and invoice you themselves, which lets them add a margin. Ask which model applies before you sign.
Estimate your monthly Meta spend with the calculator, then run a small campaign on a 14-day trial and compare it against the estimate before you commit.