WhatsApp Business API Pricing in India (2026): Per-Message Rates Explained
Meta charges per delivered template message, at a rate set by category. In India that means about ₹0.86 for marketing and ₹0.115 for utility and authentication, while replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are free.
Since 1 July 2025, Meta charges for the WhatsApp Business API per delivered template message, not per conversation. For messages to Indian numbers, Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026 lists ₹0.8631 per marketing message and ₹0.115 per utility or authentication message. Replies you send inside the 24-hour customer service window are free, and so are utility templates sent while that window is open. Your provider's own fee sits on top of Meta's rate.
This guide explains each category, the free windows, volume discounts, the authentication-international rate and the 2026 move to INR billing, with worked examples you can adapt to your own message mix.
How WhatsApp pricing works since July 2025
Under per-message pricing, you are charged only when a template message is delivered. The rate depends on two things: the template's category (marketing, utility or authentication) and the recipient's country calling code. A message to a +91 number is charged at India's rate, wherever your business is based (with one exception for authentication, covered below).
Messages that aren't templates, meaning free-form replies, are free, but you can only send them inside a customer service window. That window opens for 24 hours each time a customer messages you. Outside it, you can only send approved templates.
India rates by category
These are Meta's list rates for messages delivered to Indian numbers, taken from its INR rate card effective 1 October 2026:
| Category | Typical use | Meta rate per delivered message (INR) |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, re-engagement, newsletters | ₹0.8631 |
| Utility | Order updates, booking confirmations, payment reminders, account alerts | ₹0.115 (free inside an open customer service window) |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes for login, sign-up or payments | ₹0.115 |
| Authentication-international | OTPs sent to Indian users by eligible businesses based outside India | ₹2.4971 |
| Service (non-template replies) | Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window | Free |
Marketing
Marketing is the most expensive category and has no volume discount. Meta raised India's marketing rate on 1 January 2026. Every marketing template is charged, even one sent while a customer service window is open. Templates that mix utility and promotional content, such as an order update with a coupon, are classed as marketing, so keep offers out of your transactional templates.
Utility
Utility templates are non-promotional messages tied to something the customer did or asked for: an order, a booking, a payment or their account. In India they cost a fraction of a marketing message, and they are free when sent inside an open customer service window. For example, if a customer messages you about a delivery and you reply with an order-status template within 24 hours, Meta doesn't charge for it.
Authentication and authentication-international
One-time passcodes on WhatsApp must use authentication templates. For an India-based business the rate is ₹0.115. The authentication-international rate of ₹2.4971 applies only to businesses based outside India that Meta has made eligible, which happens after they send more than 750,000 messages outside customer service windows in a rolling 30-day period. Meta states that you are always charged the domestic rate in your primary business location, so an Indian company sending OTPs to Indian users pays ₹0.115.
Free messages: the 24-hour and 72-hour windows
- Customer service window (24 hours): opens each time a customer messages you. Free-form replies and utility templates sent inside it are free.
- Free entry point window (72 hours): opens when someone messages you from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call-to-action button on the Android or iOS app, and you reply within 24 hours. Meta says all messages in this window, including templates, are free for 72 hours.
- Marketing templates are always charged outside a free entry point window, even when a customer service window is open.
Volume tiers for utility and authentication
Utility and authentication rates drop as monthly volume grows. Tiers are counted across all the WhatsApp Business Accounts in your business portfolio, reset every month, and don't apply to marketing. For India, Meta's October 2026 INR rate card sets these tiers:
| Discount vs list rate | Utility messages per month | Authentication messages per month | Rate (INR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| List rate | Up to 2.5 crore | Up to 7.5 lakh | ₹0.115 |
| 6% lower | 2.5–5 crore | 7.5 lakh–1.5 crore | ₹0.1081 |
| 12% lower | 5–10 crore | 1.5–2 crore | ₹0.1012 |
| 18% lower | 10–20 crore | 2–5 crore | ₹0.0943 |
| 24% lower | 20–30 crore | 5–10 crore | ₹0.0874 |
| 30% lower | Over 30 crore | Over 10 crore | ₹0.0805 |
Worked examples
These examples use Meta's list rates only. Add your provider's fee to get the full cost.
- A retailer sends a festive offer to 10,000 opted-in customers: 10,000 × ₹0.8631 = ₹8,631 in Meta charges.
- A clinic sends 50,000 appointment reminders a month as utility templates, outside any customer service window: 50,000 × ₹0.115 = ₹5,750. Reminders sent to patients who messaged the clinic in the previous 24 hours cost nothing.
- A fintech sends 50,000 login OTPs a month as authentication templates: 50,000 × ₹0.115 = ₹5,750, well inside the first volume tier.
- A support team answers 20,000 customer questions with free-form replies inside the customer service window: ₹0.
INR billing in 2026
Meta launched billing localisation for India on 1 January 2026. Partners and directly integrated businesses whose Sold-To country is India in Meta's Billing Hub are eligible, and must move all WhatsApp Business Accounts in their business portfolio to INR by 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, Meta will stop delivering messages from those customers' accounts that are still billed in another currency. If you work through a provider, ask whether your account is already on INR billing.
What a provider adds
Meta's rate covers delivery. A provider adds the software around it, such as the inbox, campaign tools, chatbots, template management and support, and charges for it in its own way: per message, per month or both. Messagify's published starting rates are ₹0.95 per marketing message and ₹0.14 per utility or authentication message, and ₹0.14 per service reply inside the 24-hour customer service window, where Meta itself doesn't charge. Current rates are on our pricing page.
When comparing providers, ask for the per-message rate by category, whether it is quoted in INR, whether there are platform or setup fees, and whether the free windows are passed through to you.
How to keep WhatsApp costs down
- Categorise templates correctly, and keep offers out of utility templates so they aren't charged as marketing.
- Send transactional follow-ups while a customer service window is open where it makes sense, because utility templates are free then.
- Use Click to WhatsApp ads for acquisition campaigns. Conversations started that way get a 72-hour free entry point window.
- Message only opted-in customers who want to hear from you. Unwanted marketing messages cost money and give people a reason to block you.
- Get templates approved first time. A rejected template delays the campaign it was meant for. See why WhatsApp templates get rejected.
Want an estimate for your own message mix? Send us your monthly volumes by category and we'll work out what you would pay, including Meta's charges. Or read how the WhatsApp Business API works with Messagify.
Authoritative sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026 lists ₹0.8631 per marketing message and ₹0.115 per utility or authentication message for Indian numbers. Free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are free. Your provider's fee is added on top.
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