Meta to charge for WhatsApp Business service messages from October 1
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Meta will begin charging for service messages sent via WhatsApp Business Platform starting October 1, 2026. Businesses will receive a free monthly quota of 1,000 service messages per number, after which messages will be billed at market rates. Kazakhstan will also move to a separate tariff market for utility and authentication messages, raising rates.
Key Facts
- From October 1, 2026, Meta will charge for delivered service messages sent within the 24-hour customer service window on WhatsApp Business Platform.
- Each business number will receive a free monthly quota of 1,000 service messages, with unused quota not carried over to the next month.
- Utility templates sent within the open 24-hour window will also become chargeable from October 1, 2026.
- Kazakhstan will switch to a separate tariff market for utility and authentication messages on October 1, 2026, resulting in higher rates.
- A Threads post estimated the cost at about 5 cents or 23 tenge per message, with 500 conversations of 10 messages each costing roughly 115,000 tenge.
New Pricing Structure
Meta will start charging for service messages delivered through WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026. Businesses will receive a free monthly quota of 1,000 service messages per business number. After the quota is exhausted, messages will be billed at the applicable market rate. Unused quota does not carry over to the following month. The 24-hour customer service window remains in place, allowing free-form messages only within 24 hours of the customer's last message.
Template Changes
Utility templates sent within the open 24-hour window will become chargeable from October 1, 2026. Previously, utility templates were not billed in this scenario. Marketing and authentication templates are already billed under current rules, so the change does not affect their free-window status. Incoming messages from customers remain free of charge.
Kazakhstan Tariff Shift
Starting October 1, 2026, Kazakhstan will move to a separate tariff market for utility and authentication messages, replacing the previous regional category. Published data indicates this change will raise rates for Kazakhstan. Service messages will be billed at the utility/authentication rate for the specific market, affecting their cost. A Threads post estimated the cost at about 5 cents or 23 tenge per message, with 500 conversations of 10 messages each costing roughly 115,000 tenge.
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