From 1 October 2026, you pay for the replies you send to customers through the WhatsApp Business API. Until now, those replies were free. Meta calls them service messages, and the first 1,000 per phone number per month stay free. So what exactly is a service message, what does it cost, and should you worry? This article answers the questions we hear most. The short answer: for most businesses, the cost is negligible.
Using aishaa? You never pay more than Meta’s own rate.
aishaa charges zero markup on WhatsApp messages. No per-message fee, no message bundles and no WhatsApp surcharge in your subscription. Meta bills you directly, at exactly the rates in this article.
What changes on 1 October 2026?
Meta is making two changes, effective at midnight in your WhatsApp Business Account’s time zone:
- Service messages become billable. Every free-form reply you send through the API within the 24-hour window costs money from the 1,001st message each month. These messages had been free since November 2024.
- Utility templates inside the 24-hour window become billable. A template such as an order confirmation or appointment reminder used to be free while the window was open. From 1 October, you always pay for it.
What stays the same: incoming messages from customers remain free, and Meta only charges for messages that are actually delivered.
What is a WhatsApp service message?
A service message is a regular reply to a customer, without a template. When a customer sends you a message, it opens a 24-hour customer service window. Inside that window you can reply freely, and every reply you send through the API is a service message. It doesn’t matter whether an agent types it or an AI tool sends it.
Is a service message the same as a template?
No. Meta uses four categories:
- Marketing: templates for offers, newsletters and promotions.
- Utility: templates about an existing order or appointment, such as a shipping update or reminder.
- Authentication: templates containing a one-time login or verification code.
- Service: free-form replies inside the 24-hour window, without a template.
You need a template to message a customer when the 24-hour window is closed. Templates were already charged per message. What’s new is that regular replies now have a price too.
How much does a WhatsApp message cost?
The rate depends on the country of the recipient’s phone number, not on where your business is based. A service message costs exactly the same as a utility message in each market. These are Meta’s official GBP rates effective 1 October 2026:
| Recipient country | Service | Utility | Authentication | Marketing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | £0.0159 | £0.0159 | £0.0159 | £0.0458 |
| Ireland | £0.0123 | £0.0123 | £0.0123 | £0.0427 |
| Germany | £0.0397 | £0.0397 | £0.0397 | £0.0985 |
| France | £0.0216 | £0.0216 | £0.0216 | £0.0620 |
| Netherlands | £0.0361 | £0.0361 | £0.0361 | £0.1152 |
| United States & Canada | £0.0025 | £0.0025 | £0.0025 | £0.0180 |
A reply to a UK number costs about 1.6p, a reply to a number in Ireland about 1.2p. Meta offers no volume discounts on service messages. Utility and authentication messages do get tiered discounts at high monthly volumes.
How do the 1,000 free service messages work?
Every business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages each calendar month. You only pay from the 1,001st service message onward. A few things to know:
- The allowance is per phone number, not per business. Three numbers, for example for different departments, means 3,000 free replies in total.
- Unused free messages don’t roll over to the next month.
- The free 1,000 only apply to service messages. Templates are charged from the first message.
What happens if you don’t have a payment method?
This is the most important thing to sort out now. If your WhatsApp Business Account has no payment method in Meta Billing Hub, Meta will still deliver the first 1,000 service messages each month, but stops delivering from the 1,001st message. Your customer simply won’t get a reply. Add a payment method before 30 September 2026, even if you expect to stay under 1,000. It costs nothing as long as you stay within the free tier.
Do you pay for incoming messages?
No. Messages customers send you remain free, no matter how many. Meta only charges for messages your business sends to customers, and only when they’re delivered.
Do messages from the WhatsApp Business app count?
No. If you use the WhatsApp Business app and the API on the same number at the same time (known as coexistence), messages you send from the app on your phone stay free. Only messages sent through the API fall under the new pricing.
Cost examples: what will your business pay?
Three hypothetical examples, all replying to UK numbers from a single phone number:
| Scenario | Replies per month | Cost per month |
|---|---|---|
| Webshop or small agency | 600 | £0 |
| Growing small business | 2,500 | 1,500 × £0.0159 = £23.85 |
| Large online retailer | 10,000 | 9,000 × £0.0159 = £143.10 |
If you also send the occasional template, for example to follow up with a customer a few days later, a utility template to a UK number adds about 1.6p each. A hundred follow-ups cost you about £1.60.
Put it in perspective: resolving a customer question usually takes a few replies. Even without the free tier, that’s around 5p per fully resolved conversation in the UK. That’s a tiny fraction of what a phone call or a long email thread costs in staff time.
Why WhatsApp is still well worth it
The reason more and more businesses move customer service to WhatsApp doesn’t change because of a fraction of a cent per message. WhatsApp messages almost always get read: open rates of 90% and higher are common, compared with roughly 20 to 30% for email. Customers respond faster, conversations are shorter and you need fewer follow-up calls. For customer service, a reply that actually gets read is worth far more than what it costs.
How to keep your WhatsApp costs low
- Send one complete reply instead of three short ones. Every message counts separately.
- Drop automatic acknowledgements. A message like “Thanks, we’ve received your question” is a service message too. Answer the actual question right away instead.
- Reply within 24 hours. While the window is open, a regular reply is all you need. Miss it and you need a template, which doesn’t count toward the free 1,000.
- Use marketing templates deliberately. They’re by far the most expensive messages.
- Watch your volume per number. WhatsApp Manager shows how many messages you send per category each month.
What does this mean if you use aishaa?
aishaa makes no money on your WhatsApp messages. We charge no markup, no margin and no message bundles: you pay Meta’s own rate, directly to Meta. Some platforms add their own fee on top of every WhatsApp message. We don’t. On top of that, aishaa helps you keep your message count down. The AI drafts one complete reply with the right order or customer details, instead of a string of short back-and-forth messages. Your team sees every WhatsApp conversation in one shared inbox, alongside email and your other channels.
Curious what WhatsApp can do for your customer service? Take a look at our pricing or book a demo.
Frequently asked questions
When do I start paying for WhatsApp replies?
From 1 October 2026, at midnight in your WhatsApp Business Account’s time zone. The first 1,000 service messages per phone number per month remain free.
How much does a WhatsApp service message cost in the UK?
£0.0159 per delivered message to a UK number, from the 1,001st service message each month.
Does this apply to the regular WhatsApp Business app?
No. The rates only apply to messages sent through the WhatsApp Business API (the WhatsApp Business Platform). The free app stays free.
Are messages from an AI chatbot priced differently?
Replies from your own AI tool or customer service software are regular service messages. Only messages from Meta’s own AI agent (Meta Business Agent) have had separate token-based pricing since 1 August 2026.
Do I need to do anything?
Yes: check before 30 September 2026 that there’s a payment method in Meta Billing Hub. Without one, replies beyond 1,000 per month will no longer be delivered.
Updated 25 September 2026. Source: Meta’s official rates effective 1 October 2026 (Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform). Meta usually updates its rates every quarter; we’ll update this article when it does.