Guide · WhatsApp
WhatsApp Business API pricing, explained.
Meta charges for the WhatsApp Business Platform per delivered message, by category and by the recipient’s country code. Since 1 October 2026 that includes service replies beyond the first 1,000 a month on each business phone number, and utility messages inside the customer service window. Providers usually add their own fees, so a quote has two parts: Meta’s rate and the provider’s.
The calculator
What will WhatsApp cost you in the UAE?
Your monthly messages, priced with Meta’s rate card for the United Arab Emirates. The estimate is Meta’s charge only, before any provider fee, and leaves out conversations opened from Click to WhatsApp ads, which are free while their window is open.
Enter at least one number to see the estimate.
The first 1,000 service replies a month on each number are free and are already taken off.
Rates from Meta’s rate card in dirhams for the United Arab Emirates, effective 1 October 2026, read on 22 October 2026. Meta changes rates on announced dates, so check its pricing page before you budget. Meta’s pricing page
Sources
- Meta for Developers. Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform, the official model and rate cards. Read for the model, not copied for figures. Read on .
01 · The model
Per message, by category and country
Meta moved to per message pricing on 1 July 2025. You pay when a message is delivered, and the rate is set by its category and by the country calling code of the recipient. Meta changed the rules again on 1 October 2026. The United Arab Emirates has its own line on Meta’s rate card.
The calculator on this page prices your monthly messages with Meta’s rate card in dirhams for the United Arab Emirates and shows the date of the card and the day we read it. Rates change on announced dates, so check Meta’s pricing page, linked below, before you budget.
02 · Categories
Four categories
Marketing templates, such as offers and announcements, utility templates, such as order and booking updates, and authentication templates, such as one time codes, are charged per delivered message. Since 1 October 2026 that includes utility templates sent inside the customer service window, which used to be free. Service messages, your free form replies to a customer who wrote to you, are free for the first 1,000 a month on each business phone number and charged per message after that.
03 · What is free
What is still free
When a customer messages you, a 24 hour customer service window opens, in which you may reply freely. The replies count toward the 1,000 free service messages of the month. A conversation that starts from a Click to WhatsApp ad opens a free entry point window, which Meta says may stay open for up to 7 days, and inside it Meta charges for none of the four categories.
04 · Tiers and billing
Volume tiers and currencies
Utility and authentication rates fall in tiers as your monthly volume in a market grows. Meta bills in one of several currencies, dirhams among them, and updates rates for some markets on announced dates, so check the rate card for the month you plan.
05 · Providers
Meta’s rate is only part of the bill
Most businesses reach the platform through a business solution provider or software built on one. Their fees, per message, per seat or per month, usually come on top of Meta’s rate. Ask any provider to show Meta’s rate and their own fee as separate lines.
Althea Growth does not publish prices. We build and run the assistant that uses the platform, priced once in a written proposal, with platform charges shown as their own line and no hidden line items.
Questions, answered.
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
Partly. The first 1,000 service replies each month on every business phone number are free, and so is a conversation opened from a Click to WhatsApp ad while its free entry point window is open. Everything else is charged per message by category and country, since 1 October 2026 including utility messages inside the customer service window.
Is WhatsApp Business API pricing per message or per conversation?
Per message, since 1 July 2025. Before that, Meta charged per conversation.
How much does a WhatsApp message cost in the UAE?
Meta publishes a UAE rate in dirhams for each category, and it changes on announced dates. The calculator on this page uses the current card and shows its date, and Meta’s pricing page is the final word before you budget.
Why is my provider’s price higher than Meta’s?
Providers add their own fees for software and support, which is normal. What matters is that the two parts are shown separately.
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