Meta has updated its pricing structure. Each business phone number receives 1,000 free service replies per month. Additional service messages beyond this threshold are billed at standard per-message rates aligned with utility/authentication tiers depending on the market.
From October 1, 2026, businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform, the API that connects WhatsApp to CRMs, contact-center software, chatbots, and other systems, will begin paying for some messages that were previously free.
Service messages will become chargeable after a monthly allowance of 1,000 delivered messages per business phone number, while utility templates sent during an active customer-service window will also become billable.
That distinction matters because the change will affect businesses very differently depending on how they use WhatsApp.
What is changing is the cost of those replies. Until September 30, businesses could send them without a Meta messaging charge.
Meta will count each delivered service message individually, with the first 1,000 per business phone number each month remaining free and charges starting from the 1,001st.
The allowance does not roll over, and each business number receives its own. That also means 1,000 free messages is not the same as 1,000 free customers or conversations.
A customer who asks a bank three questions could trigger several outgoing replies, and if an agent answers each question separately, every delivered reply uses up part of the allowance.
Automated replies count too, so a chatbot answering customers through the API is still producing billable service messages.
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