Work out your monthly bill
Rates are Meta's INR list rates effective 1 October 2026, checked on 3 November 2026. Our guide to WhatsApp Business API pricing in India explains each category and works through the clinic example step by step.
What is and isn't in this number
- Included: Meta's charge for each message delivered to a +91 number, at the list rate in Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026. The first 1,000 service messages a month are taken off for one business number.
- Not included: GST: The total is before tax. Meta's pricing documentation doesn't say how GST applies, so check the tax lines on your first invoice with your CA.
- Not included: your provider's fee: Most businesses send through a provider that adds a monthly platform fee, a markup on each message, or both. Ask for Meta's charge and the provider's fee as separate lines.
- Not included: volume tiers: Utility and authentication rates drop as your monthly count grows. The calculator uses the first tier, which is the most you would pay.
- Not included: free entry point windows: Messages sent in the free window after a customer taps a Click to WhatsApp ad cost nothing, so a business that runs those ads pays less than shown.
- Not included: other countries: Messages to numbers outside India are billed at that country's rate.
- Not included: Meta's own AI: Replies written by Meta Business Agent are billed per token in US dollars. Replies from a person or from another AI count as service messages, which the calculator does include.
If you run more than one business number, each gets its own 1,000 free service messages. Work each number out on its own.
How to cut the bill
- Keep reminders to the appointment: A reminder is a utility template at ₹0.115. Add an offer to it and Meta can bill it as marketing at ₹0.8631, about seven and a half times as much. Send offers as their own message, to the people who want them.
- Answer inside the 24-hour window: When a customer writes to you, your typed replies for the next 24 hours are service messages, and the first 1,000 a month are free for each number. Since 1 October 2026 a utility template sent inside that window is charged, so reply in your own words where you can.
- Start chats from Click to WhatsApp ads: If a customer taps a Click to WhatsApp ad on their phone and you reply within 24 hours, Meta opens a free entry point window of up to 7 days. Every message in it is free, marketing included.
- Send marketing to fewer people: Marketing is the expensive line. In the clinic example, one offer to 400 patients costs nearly three times as much as all 1,040 reminders. Test one broadcast and see who replies before sending more.
Questions
How much does one WhatsApp Business API message cost in India?
For an Indian number, Meta charges ₹0.8631 per marketing message and ₹0.115 per utility, authentication or service message, at the INR rates effective 1 October 2026. Service messages are free for the first 1,000 a month per business number. GST and any provider fee come on top.
Are the first 1,000 WhatsApp messages free?
Only service messages, which are your replies inside the 24-hour window after a customer writes to you. Each business phone number gets 1,000 free a month, and unused ones don't roll over. Marketing, utility and authentication templates are charged from the first message.
Do I pay for messages customers send me?
No. Meta charges only for messages your business sends that are delivered.
Is this what my WhatsApp provider will charge me?
No. This is Meta's part of the bill. Providers add their own platform fee or a markup on each message, and some bill Meta's charge through to you. Ask for a quote that shows both as separate lines and compare Meta's line with this calculator.
When will these rates change?
Meta changes rates only on the first day of a quarter, with at least a month's notice, so 1 January 2027 is the next date anything could change. We update the calculator and our pricing guide when the rate card changes.
Where the rates come from
- Meta's WhatsApp pricing documentation, rate cards section: the India rates, from the INR list rates file effective 1 October 2026. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Meta's WhatsApp pricing documentation: per-message pricing, the four categories, the 24-hour window, volume tiers, the 1,000 free service messages, the free entry point window, the 1 October 2026 changes and the Meta Business Agent rate. Checked 3 November 2026.
- WhatsApp Business Platform pricing: WhatsApp's own page on what is free. It still called service messages free when we checked, so we went with the dated rate card in the developer documentation. Checked 3 November 2026.