# WhatsApp Pricing Calculator 2026: What You'll Pay from October > Meta starts charging for service messages on October 1, 2026. Work out what you'll pay from your own volume and numbers, with 1,000 free per number. WhatsApp pricing change · October 1, 2026 ## How many messages you'll pay for from October. From October 1, 2026, Meta charges for every message your company sends inside the 24-hour customer service window. But each number gets 1,000 free service messages a month. Work out where your operation lands. The calculator ### What you'll pay, with your own numbers and volume. Your operation Active WhatsApp numbers – + The 1,000-message free tier applies per number, not per account. Service messages you send per month 0 120,000 Only those your company sends that aren't templates: agent and AI replies inside the 24 h window. Messages you receive don't count. Share that starts from Click-to-WhatsApp ads % 0 100 Those conversations get 72 entirely free hours and stay free after October. Utility templates sent inside an open conversation 0 30,000 From October they're billed again, and **they don't use up the free tier** : billing starts with the first one. If you don't send templates inside the window, leave it at zero. Main market Central America, Ecuador and Dominican Rep. Mexico Colombia Brazil Peru Chile Argentina Spain United States and Canada Another market · I'll enter it Rate per message (USD) Meta's official rate for that market, per its public rate card. You can change it if your rate is different. Estimated billable messages 5,240 – 7,960 messages a month ≈ US$ 59.21 – 89.95 per month Out of 8,000 service messages, 1,000 fall inside the free tier and 1,200 inside the 72 h window. - Inside the tier 1,000 - Billable 5,800 Service messages sent 8,000 Click-to-WhatsApp 72 h window − 1,200 Free tier (1 × 1,000) − 1,000 Billable service 5,800 Utility templates Billed from the first one · outside the free tier + 800 Total billable 6,600 The result is shown as a range because real volume varies month to month. The estimate assumes ±20% variability. Your estimate US$ 59.21 – 89.95 View Why that number ### The three rules that set your bill. #### 1,000 free per number Each number gets 1,000 free service messages a month, non-cumulative; billing starts at message 1,001. #### 72 free hours from ads Conversations that start from Click-to-WhatsApp ads keep 72 hours entirely free. #### What's billed changes, not the category No market changes category on October 1. Separately from this adjustment, Meta announced rate increases for that same date in Peru (utility and authentication) and Mexico (marketing only). How to reduce it ### What moves the number, in order of impact. 01 #### Shift spend to Click-to-WhatsApp. Conversations that start from an ad get 72 free hours. Going from 15% to 40% would take about 2,000 messages a month out of billing. 02 #### Review your in-window templates. From October, a utility template sent inside an already open conversation is billed from the very first one: it doesn't count against the free tier, which only covers service messages. That's why a number with 10 of its 1,000 messages used can still be billed. If the information fits in the agent's reply, don't send a template. 03 #### Consolidate your replies. Every bubble is billed separately. Short acknowledgements — “ok”, “one moment”, “I'll check” — are usually 25-30% of outbound volume and almost never carry information. 04 #### Resolve in fewer turns. Replace chains of open questions with interactive lists and buttons in the Flow Builder. A 9-step flow cut down to 4 costs less than half. ### This is an estimate, not a final price The preloaded rates correspond to the official prices published by Meta in its [WhatsApp Business Platform rate card](https://business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing) , consulted on September 2, 2026. The calculations are approximate and not exact: Meta determines the final charge based on the messages actually delivered, the market of each recipient and the rates in force at the time of sending. Meta updates its rates periodically, so they may differ from the ones shown here. In addition, the cost you see on your platform may vary from this calculation due to additional charges, taxes, commissions, exchange rate differences or other items specific to each provider. This tool does not constitute a quote, an invoice or a billing guarantee. Meta does not endorse or sponsor this tool. Rate source: business.whatsapp.com/products/platform-pricing. If your WhatsApp service is billed through Shimli, your rate is the one in your contract: check it with your account executive. ### Build your AI agent for collections credit customer support billing back office We take 30 minutes and define which metric you'll move. Or you create the account and start today. Book a demo [Create account](https://shimli.app/user/auth/create-account)