hatsApp Business pricing has been per delivered template message since 1 July 2025 — and what you pay depends on the template category and whether the customer's 24-hour window is open. The most important concept: the 24-hour customer-service window. Get this right and your WhatsApp implementation costs are predictable; get it wrong and you'll burn through Marketing-category templates while customers are actually engaging with you for free.
How the window works
When a customer sends a message to your WhatsApp Business number, you can reply with Service-category messages for the next 24 hours — billed per message since 1 October 2026 after a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month (free until 30 September 2026). After 24 hours of customer silence, the window closes. To re-initiate, you must use a pre-approved template — billed per delivered message as Marketing, Utility or Authentication depending on category.
What this means for architecture
- Maintain a per-MSISDN window-timer in your system — or use BroadNet's, which is automatic.
- For customer-initiated workflows (support, claims, product Q&A), do everything inside the 24-hour window if you can.
- For business-initiated workflows (delivery notifications, OTPs), choose the lowest-cost template category that fits.
- Template variables save you template-approval cycles. Plan your templates around variable substitution from the start.
Free allowances Meta offers
Meta keeps two free allowances: the free entry point window (when a customer starts the chat from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad on Facebook or Instagram and you reply within the customer service window, a window opens that can stay open for up to 7 days, with no charge for marketing, utility, authentication or service messages) and, since 1 October 2026, a free tier of 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month, which resets monthly and does not roll over. BroadNet's billing reflects both — you only pay for messages that fall outside them.