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How WhatsApp Business pricing works.

This page answers two questions: what Meta charges per message, and what it costs to have your integration built. Since 1 October 2026, you pay €0.1323 per marketing message in the Netherlands, excluding VAT. The other three categories cost €0.0414.

Jamal CederMeta Tech Provider · Updated October 2026 · 8 min read
Meta Tech Provider

See the rate for

Marketing

€ 0,1323

Utility

€ 0,0414

Authentication

€ 0,0414

Service

€ 0,0414

1,000 per month free

Calculate your monthly cost

Meta charges per message, per country and per category. Enter your volume and see what you pay. Figures are from the October 2026 rate card.

1.000messages / month
1001k10k100k

Estimated monthly cost

€ 132,30

1.000 × € 0,1323 = € 132,30

Netherlands · Marketing · per-message rate € 0,1323

The calculator uses Meta’s base rate. Utility and authentication receive tiered discounts above roughly 80,000 messages per month in some countries; your actual bill will then be lower. Service messages have no tiered pricing.

What you pay, and to whom

Meta charges per delivered message. We charge for the integration, its maintenance and changes. These are two separate items.

The WhatsApp Business app on your phone is free. This page covers the API, which connects to your own systems and is billed per message.

What Meta charges

Meta charges per delivered message, and the rate depends on country and category. In the Netherlands, a marketing message costs €0.1323 since 1 October 2026, excluding VAT. Utility, authentication and service messages cost €0.0414 each. The first 1,000 service messages per business phone number per month are free: these are your replies within 24 hours after a customer wrote to you. Pick your country above to see your own rate and monthly amount.

What building it costs

You get a custom quote before we start. It shows one fixed monthly fee covering the integration, maintenance and changes. Sometimes there is a setup fee too. Then you get two options: more upfront and less per month, or the other way round. After that, Meta's message costs are your only variable cost. You can cancel monthly, and your WhatsApp Business account stays yours.

Send Jamal a short outline of what you want to build, by email or WhatsApp. Mention the system you use, the messages you want to send and roughly how many per month. For example: a webshop, shipping updates and about 2,000 messages a month. Jamal replies personally, and those three details speed up your quote.

Send your outline

Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges for service messages and for utility templates within the service window. Replies now cost something. The first 1,000 service messages per month remain free.

Templates, explained.

You may only contact someone who has not messaged you first with an approved template. You submit this to Meta first and it receives a name and category.

Every template you send costs money. You pay Meta a rate per message, depending on country and category.

The 24-hour service window opens when a customer messages you. Within this window you may reply freely without a template. Since 1 October 2026 this reply costs money. The window no longer makes any template cheaper.

There are four categories: marketing, utility, authentication and service for replies within the window. The first 1,000 service messages per business number per month are free. This resets monthly and does not roll over.

Marketing

Promotions, offers, newsletters

Highest price tier

Utility

Updates, confirmations, order status

Transactions and updates

Authentication

Codes for login and verification

Codes and security

Service

Unstructured replies within 24 hours

1,000 per month free

Per category: what it actually costs.

Four short conversations. Watch the chat play out, then read what makes each category cheap or expensive. Costs follow the country and currency you picked above.

ServiceSanne→De Korenbloem Flower Shop

No template needed But a small fee

Since 1 October this also costs money

Scenario

A customer asks if a peony bouquet fits an 80 cm table. You reply with text, a photo on an oak table, and a voice message. No template. Since 1 October 2026, each reply costs the service rate.

D

De Korenbloem Flower Shop

online

24h service window open24:00:00

Messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Estimated conversation cost

Three replies, three times the service rate. No template needed, but not free either. The first 1,000 of the month are free. After that you pay per message.

Speed
UtilityDaan→Postbode Shoes

Send order update Inside or outside window

The service window no longer changes the price

Scenario

You send an order confirmation with a closed window. The customer replies, the window opens, and you send a shipping notice. Both utility templates are charged. Since 1 October 2026, the window no longer makes any template cheaper.

P

Postbode Shoes

last seen recently

24h service window closed

Messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Estimated conversation cost

The window determines whether you may reply freely without a template, not what a template costs. Anyone who built their flow on free utility within the window now pays for it.

Speed
AuthenticationMila→Klimaat Bank

Send login code Own rate per message

The window does not change the price

Scenario

A customer logs into your website and requests a code via WhatsApp. You send a six-digit code. This is an authentication template, with its own rate per message.

K

Klimaat Bank

last seen recently

24h service window closed

Messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Estimated conversation cost

An authentication template at the country rate. The service window does not change the price for login codes, and did not before 1 October either.

Speed
MarketingTess→Bloomers Garden

Send marketing template Customer taps to continue

The tap enables replies, not free replies

Scenario

You send a spring promotion with a Quick Reply button. The customer taps, opening the service window. You reply freely with text. That reply is a service message and costs the service rate.

B

Bloomers Garden

last seen recently

24h service window closed

Messages are end-to-end encrypted.

Estimated conversation cost

Marketing is the most expensive category. The customer’s tap makes the follow-up possible, not free. The reply costs the service rate, which in the Netherlands is over three times lower than marketing.

Speed

Figures show the rate per message. The first 1,000 service messages per business number per month are free and not counted here.

Conversation is still the cheapest.

SMS and WhatsApp both charge per message. Email is a broadcast channel. The difference is that replies on WhatsApp cost the same as the lowest rate, and your first 1,000 per month are free. For most SMEs, the bill for replies stays near zero.

  1. 1

    Every message now costs something, including your reply

    Since 1 October 2026 you also pay for service messages. In the Netherlands this is EUR 0.0414. That is less than a third of a marketing template at EUR 0.1323. The window now only determines whether you may reply freely, not what it costs.

  2. 2

    The first 1,000 service messages per month are free

    Per business number you receive 1,000 delivered service messages exempt each month. This resets monthly and does not roll over. Emoji reactions do not count. For many SMBs the bill for daily replies therefore stays near zero.

  3. 3

    The pricing model still pushes toward conversation

    The difference now lies in the composition. A conversation consists of cheap messages. A campaign of expensive ones. Three short replies now cost three times. Bundle your replies where you can.

Frequently asked questions.

Quick answers to the questions that come up most.

What exactly is a service window?

The service window opens when a customer sends you a message. From that moment you have 24 hours to reply freely without a template. The window only determines whether you may reply freely. Since 1 October 2026 it no longer changes the price of any template.

What do service messages cost now?

Service messages are charged at the service rate of the selected country. Today this equals the utility rate in every market. The first 1,000 delivered service messages per business number per month are free. This resets monthly and does not roll over. Group messages count per recipient. Reactions to messages are always free and do not count.

How do I know which template category I need?

Marketing is for promotions and news. Utility is for transactions, deliveries and appointments. Authentication is for login codes and verification. Service is not a template; it is your reply within the window. Meta pre-approves every template and assigns the category.

Are utility templates in the service window still free?

No, not since 1 October 2026. They were free from 1 July 2025 until that date. There is no allowance for utility, so you pay from the first message. Since then the window no longer makes any template cheaper.

What happens if I use up the 1,000 service messages?

Then every further service message is charged at the country rate. And without a payment method on your account, Meta stops delivering service messages after the allowance. Your customer service falls silent without an error message.

Do governments and non-profits get a discount?

Recognised non-profits and government bodies keep service messages free above the monthly allowance of 1,000. This arrangement runs until 31 December 2027. Meta decides eligibility itself. Ask us which documentation you need to apply.

What are Free Entry Points (FEP)?

The free entry point window opens when someone starts via a click-to-WhatsApp ad or the button on your Facebook page. It is extended from 72 hours to up to seven days. Meta is rolling this out gradually. Templates and service messages are free within it. Meta Business Agent is charged even here.

What do AI replies via Meta Business Agent cost?

Meta Business Agent is a separate category since 1 August 2026. It is billed per token at USD 2.00 per million tokens. Meta calculates with roughly 20,000 to 25,000 tokens per message. That works out to about four to five US cents per message. The 1,000 message exemption does not apply. It is not free within the free entry point window either.

Does the price change for international customers?

Authentication has a separate international rate, now in eighteen markets. For the other categories the rate of the customer’s country applies.

How often does Meta change the rates?

Meta publishes a new rate card roughly every quarter. The figures here are from the card effective 1 October 2026. Your BSP or provider may add their own margin on top of Meta’s rate. Overtoom currently charges no margin. Meta invoices message costs directly to you.

What you get back for that cost depends on how many people read your message. We measured that over 226 messages, and we show how to measure per step where a campaign gets stuck.

Need a hand?

First a quote, then we build

Describe in a few lines what you want to connect to WhatsApp. Email or message Jamal via the contact page. You see the fixed monthly amount in your quote before you begin.

Message Jamal