Skip to content

Whatsapp Pricing

About billing

A conversation starts when the first business message in a conversation is delivered and ends 24 hours later. The first message can be initiated by the business (business-initiated) or can be a business reply to a user message.

With the conversation-based pricing model, WhatsApp Business platform conversations fall into two categories that are priced differently:

  • User-initiated: A conversation that initiates in response to a user message. Whenever a business replies to a user within the 24-hour customer service window, that message will be associated with a user-initiated conversation. Businesses can send free-form messages within this 24-hour customer service window.
  • Business-initiated: A conversation that initiates from a business sending a user a message outside the 24-hour customer service window. Messages that initiate a business-initiated conversation will require a message template. Using this endpoint, you can fetch the current price offerings for your account.

Rates for business-initiated conversations and user-initiated conversations vary by market (country or region) and template type. Charges for conversations are based on the country code of the user (recipient).

Customer Service Windows

When a customer messages you, a 24 hour timer called a customer service window starts. If you are within the window, you can send free-form messages or template messages. If you are outside the window, you can only send template messages. So the pricing of whatsapp message also depends the Customer Service Windows.

  • Marketing and utility conversations are opened when you send an approved marketing or utility template message to a customer and no open conversation with that category exists between you and that customer. (For example, if an open authentication conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them another authentication template message within 24 hours, a new conversation is not opened. If you send them a marketing message, however, a new marketing conversation is opened, resulting in two open conversations.)

  • Service conversations are opened when you are within a customer service window, you send a free-form message to a customer, and no open conversation of any category exists between you and the customer. (For example, if an open conversation of any category exists between you and a customer and you send them a free-form message within 24 hours, no new conversation is opened. However, if no open conversation exists and the customer messages you (which starts a customer service window) and you reply within 24 hours with a free-form message, a new service conversation is opened.)

  • It is possible to have multiple open conversations between you and a customer. An open marketing or utility conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them a template message of a different category within 24 hours or an open service conversation exists between you and a customer and you send them a template message within 24 hours.