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When dealing with the WhatsApp API the pricing depends on the country and wether a conversation was initiated by the user or the business and the type of message sent. For business initiated conversation there are 3 possible categories of messages:
  1. Utility conversations - Facilitate a specific, agreed-upon request or transaction or update to a customer about an ongoing transaction, including post-purchase notifications and recurring billing statements
  2. Authentication conversations - Enable businesses to authenticate users with one-time passcodes, potentially at multiple steps in the login process (e.g., account verification, account recovery, integrity challenges)
  3. Marketing conversations - Include promotions or offers, informational updates, or invitations for customers to respond / take action. Any conversation that does not qualify as utility or authentication is a marketing conversation.
All user initiated conversations are considered Service conversations which help users to get support from businesses. Conversation initiated from Facebook ads or Facebook pages call to actions are free of charge and have a different time window of 72hrs instead of the regular 24hrs.
From June 1st onwards only user (service) conversations will be counted towards the free 1,000 monthly conversations limit, business initiated conversations will no longer be within this limit.
If a template is sent within a 24h conversation window that corresponds to the same category that the one that initiated a conversation no additional charges will be made, however if you send a different category template or a template outside of the 24h window you will be charged for the template message. For example, if you initiate a conversation with a Marketing template and during the conversation you send a Utility template, then 2 charges will be made for the conversation even if they land within the same 24h window. Same for when the user initiates the conversation, if the user sends a message then the conversation is categorized as Service conversation, but if you send a template message then you will be charged for the template message depending on the category.
Be sure to have a payment method configured on your WhatsApp account so your WhatsApp number is able to send messages uninterruptedly.
Be sure to check the rate card for your country and category of message on Meta’s documentation here. Please note that this rates are separate from the subscription price which you can find on our pricing page.