# WhatsApp Business message pricing by country in 2026

> Meta charges per delivered WhatsApp Business message: in the UK, €0.0526 for a marketing message and €0.0182 for a utility or authentication message (rate card of 1 October 2026). Incoming messages are free, and so are your free-form replies within the 24-hour window, up to 1,000 per month per number. WYP.chat estimates this cost before every campaign.

Key points

- Meta charges for WhatsApp Business messages per delivered message, by template category and recipient country.
- Incoming messages are free; so are your free-form replies within the [24-hour window](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary#fenetre-24h), up to 1,000 per month per number.
- Since 1 October 2026, utility templates have been charged, even when sent within the 24-hour window.
- In the UK: €0.0526 per marketing message, €0.0182 per utility message.

## Rates by country

| Country | Marketing | Utility | Authentication |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | €0.0526 | €0.0182 | €0.0182 |
| Algeria | €0.0186 | €0.0033 | €0.0033 |
| Belgium | €0.0490 | €0.0142 | €0.0142 |
| Canada | €0.0207 | €0.0028 | €0.0028 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | €0.0186 | €0.0033 | €0.0033 |
| France | €0.0712 | €0.0248 | €0.0248 |
| Germany | €0.1131 | €0.0456 | €0.0456 |
| Italy | €0.0658 | €0.0248 | €0.0248 |
| Morocco | €0.0342 | €0.0190 | €0.0190 |
| Netherlands | €0.1323 | €0.0414 | €0.0414 |
| Portugal | €0.0490 | €0.0142 | €0.0142 |
| Senegal | €0.0186 | €0.0033 | €0.0033 |
| Spain | €0.0585 | €0.0166 | €0.0166 |
| Switzerland | €0.0490 | €0.0142 | €0.0142 |
| Tunisia | €0.0186 | €0.0033 | €0.0033 |
| United States | €0.0207 | €0.0028 | €0.0028 |

*Price per delivered message, in euros excluding VAT, Meta rate card of 1 October 2026, checked on 18 October 2026.*

Belgium, Switzerland and Portugal have no rate of their own: Meta bills them at its “Rest of Western Europe” rate. The same goes for Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire (“Rest of Africa”), and for Canada and the United States (“North America”).

Morocco: since the rate card of 1 October 2026, Meta also applies an “authentication-international” rate of €0.0669. It only affects very large senders, above 750,000 messages in 30 days to countries with this rate, after 30 days’ notice from Meta. Every other business pays the rate in the table.

For other countries, Meta publishes the full rate card (see sources). WYP.chat only shows a campaign estimate for the countries in this table, rather than a wrong figure.

## What is free

- Messages your customers send you.
- Your free-form replies within the 24 hours after the customer’s last message, up to 1,000 per month per number. Beyond that, Meta has charged them since 1 October 2026 at the utility rate of the customer’s country, with no volume discount.
- All your messages, templates included, when the customer contacts you from a Click to WhatsApp ad: Meta’s free window lasts up to 7 days.
- Messages you send from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, if you keep it alongside WYP.chat: Meta does not charge for them.

The free reply counter resets on the 1st of every month, with no rollover.

Note: utility templates are no longer free within the 24-hour window. Meta waived the charge for them from 1 July 2025 to 30 September 2026. Since 1 October 2026, each one has been charged at the country’s utility rate.

## Message categories

Since 1 July 2025, Meta has charged per delivered message rather than per 24-hour conversation. A template’s price depends on its category, chosen when it is created and checked by Meta.

- **Marketing**: Offers, news, sales follow-ups: campaigns. The most expensive.
- **Utility**: Order confirmations, appointment reminders, updates on a customer request. Charged since 1 October 2026, even within the 24-hour window.
- **Authentication**: One-time verification codes.
- **Service**: Free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer’s last message. 1,000 free per month per number, then the utility rate.
- **Meta Business Agent**: Replies written by Meta’s own AI agent, a category created on 1 July 2026. Meta charges them by the tokens used, $2 per million, about 4 to 5 US cents per message according to Meta, even within an ad’s free window. Replies from WYP.chat’s AI agents, by contrast, are [service messages](https://wyp.chat/en/glossary#message-service).

## Example: a campaign of 1,000 messages in the UK

1,000 marketing messages × €0.0526 = €52.60 excl. VAT, charged by Meta. On the WYP.chat side, the Solo plan includes 1,000 campaign recipients a month: this campaign adds nothing to the subscription.

## What a small business pays: three examples

Meta’s cost depends mainly on two things: the templates you send, and your replies beyond 1,000 per month per number. Examples in the UK, on a single number, at the rate card of 1 October 2026.

| Example | Replies in the month | Templates sent | Paid to Meta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| A tradesperson | 300 | 40 appointment reminders (utility) | €0.73 |
| A shop | 600 | 500 messages in a sale campaign (marketing) | €26.30 |
| A service SME | 2,500 | 1,000 order confirmations (utility) | €45.50 |

*Amounts excluding VAT, paid to Meta by the business. Replies beyond 1,000 at the service rate (€0.0182), templates at their category rate.*

The tradesperson only pays for reminders: replies stay within the free tier. The shop pays for its campaign. The SME also pays for replies beyond the free tier. The WYP.chat subscription comes on top, billed separately.

## Who charges what

Meta bills your WhatsApp Business account directly, using the payment method added at Meta. Without a payment method, paid messages are no longer delivered. The WYP.chat subscription is billed separately.

- [WYP.chat pricing](https://wyp.chat/en/pricing)
- [Using WhatsApp Business with multiple users](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-business-multiple-users)

## Sources

1. Meta, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform: [developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing)
2. Meta, Non-template messages: [developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing/non-template-messages](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing/non-template-messages)
3. Meta, Authentication-international rates: [developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing/authentication-international-rates](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing/authentication-international-rates)
4. WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing: [business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing](https://business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing)

Rate card of 1 October 2026; pages accessed on 18 October 2026.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost a small business?

In our three examples, from €0.73 to €45.50 a month. Incoming messages are free, and so are your replies up to 1,000 per month per number. You mainly pay for templates: €0.0526 per marketing message and €0.0182 per utility message in the UK. The details are in the three examples.

### Is WhatsApp Business free?

The WhatsApp Business app is free. The WhatsApp Business API is billed by Meta for each delivered message, by category and recipient country. Be wary of messages announcing a paid WhatsApp subscription: they are hoaxes.

### Are incoming messages charged?

No. Messages your customers send you are always free.

### How much does a WhatsApp marketing message cost in the UK?

€0.0526 excluding VAT per delivered message, according to Meta’s rate card of 1 October 2026. In France, €0.0712; in Spain, €0.0585.

### Are replies to customers free?

Free-form replies within the 24-hour window are free, up to 1,000 per month per number. Beyond that, Meta has charged for them since 1 October 2026. A utility template sent in that window has been charged since the same date.

### Why does the price depend on the country?

Meta sets a rate per recipient country, based on the country code of their number, not on where your business is.

### Do I pay Meta on top of WYP.chat?

Yes, for the messages Meta charges for. Meta bills them to your WhatsApp Business account, separately from the WYP.chat subscription.

## Read next

- [How do you use WhatsApp Business with multiple users without sharing a phone?](https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-business-multiple-users)
- [WhatsApp for tradespeople](https://wyp.chat/en/industries/trades)
- [WYP.chat pricing](https://wyp.chat/en/pricing)

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Source: https://wyp.chat/en/guides/whatsapp-message-pricing · Updated on 18 October 2026