# WhatsApp Business API pricing in India, explained

> Meta charges per delivered message on the WhatsApp Business Platform. On Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026, a message to an Indian number costs ₹0.8631 for marketing, ₹0.115 for utility and authentication, and ₹0.115 for service messages once a number's 1,000 free service messages that month are used. Messages people send to the business are free. Rates change, so check Meta's page before budgeting.

Source: https://milvao.com/whatsapp-business-api-pricing-india · Updated 2026-11-05

Searches for WhatsApp Business API pricing India usually lead to reseller price lists, each with its own markup and its own idea of which rates are current. The figures here come from the source instead: Meta's own pricing documentation and its INR rate card, read on 5 November 2026.

Meta can change rates on the first day of any quarter, and it has changed what it charges for twice since mid-2025. Treat every figure here as dated. The Sources list links to the pages we read, and Meta's pricing page is the one to check before you commit to a budget. Milvao is not affiliated with Meta.

## WhatsApp Business API pricing India: Meta's rates on 5 November 2026

Meta charges by the category of each message and the country code of the number it is delivered to. The rates below are for numbers starting +91, from Meta's INR list rates file, which is titled as effective 1 October 2026. Meta charges only for delivered messages, not for messages sent.

Meta's per-message rates for messages delivered to Indian numbers, in rupees (INR rate card effective 1 October 2026, read 5 November 2026)

| Category | What it is | Rate per delivered message | When it is free |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Marketing | Template messages with a promotional purpose | ₹0.8631 | In a free entry point window from a Click to WhatsApp ad |
| Utility | Template messages with a transactional or informational purpose | ₹0.115 | In a free entry point window |
| Authentication | Template messages for one-time passcodes and identity checks | ₹0.115 | In a free entry point window |
| Authentication-international | A separate rate Meta applies to some authentication messages | ₹2.4971 | See Meta's page for when it applies |
| Service | Non-template replies inside an open customer service window | ₹0.115 | The first 1,000 each month per business number, and in a free entry point window |
| Messages from people to the business | Anything a member or customer sends you | Free | Always |

Utility and authentication messages have volume tiers that lower the rate as monthly volume grows. On Meta's INR volume tier sheet, the list rate for utility messages to India applies up to 25 million messages a month, so a community will pay the list rate. Meta also sells a fifth category, Meta Business Agent, for replies written by Meta's own AI agent, priced per token in US dollars. Most communities will not use it.

## Service messages, template messages and the 24-hour window

Everything in WhatsApp pricing follows from one rule. When a person messages or calls a business, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and each new message from them resets it. While the window is open, the business can send ordinary, non-template messages: text, images, buttons and lists. Meta calls these service messages.

Outside the window, Meta says template messages are the only type a business can send. A template is written in advance, submitted to Meta with a category (marketing, utility or authentication) and reviewed before use. Businesses can also choose to answer inside the window with a template, and that template is charged at its category's rate.

So the price of a conversation depends on who speaks first and when. If a member writes and you answer within 24 hours, your replies are service messages. If you write first, or reply after the window has closed, you pay for a template. The [WhatsApp 24-hour window](https://milvao.com/glossary/whatsapp-24-hour-window) glossary entry covers the rule on its own.

## What changed on 1 October 2026

Meta moved from charging per conversation to charging per message on 1 July 2025. For a while after that, two kinds of message were free: service messages, free since 1 November 2024, and utility templates sent inside an open window, free since 1 July 2025.

From 1 October 2026, Meta's pricing page says it resumed charging for both. In their place, each business phone number gets a free tier of 1,000 delivered service messages a month. Unused messages in the free tier do not roll over, and the tier resets monthly. Meta charges from the 1,001st service message each month.

- Payment method: Meta warned that businesses without a payment method on file by 30 September 2026 would stop getting service messages delivered once they became charged. With no payment method, Meta delivers service messages within the free tier only.
- Billing in rupees: Meta launched billing in INR for eligible businesses whose sold-to country is India on 1 January 2026. Eligible businesses must move all their messaging accounts to INR by 31 December 2026, because from 1 January 2027 Meta will stop delivering messages from their non-INR accounts.
- Pricing calendar: Meta says it may update pricing only on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, with at least a month's notice for rate changes.
- India rate history: Meta's calendar lists a higher marketing rate for India from 1 January 2026 and a higher authentication-international rate from 1 April 2026.

## Reseller prices versus Meta's rates

Many businesses reach the WhatsApp Business Platform through a solution provider: a company that connects the number, provides an inbox or campaign tool, and bills for messages. Their published per-message prices often differ from Meta's because they add a margin, a platform fee or both, and some quote prices including tax.

When you compare offers, ask three questions. What is Meta's rate for each category, and what is the provider's own fee on top? Is the WhatsApp Business Account in your community's name, so you keep the number if you leave? And who is billed by Meta: you, or the provider on your behalf?

With [Milvao](https://milvao.com/how-it-works), the community connects its own number in its own WhatsApp Business Account, and Meta bills message charges to the payment method on that account directly. Milvao does not resell or mark up messages. Milvao's own plans are separate and shown on the [pricing](https://milvao.com/pricing) page.

## How this affects a community using Milvao

In a community that uses Milvao, most messages start with the member. A member taps a join link, asks for help or answers a profile question, and Milvao replies inside the 24-hour window. Those replies are service messages, and the member's own messages are free.

Milvao uses templates when it has to write first: offering a request to a member who has not messaged recently, sending both people each other's contact after they agree, giving a request update, or sending a profile link. Its four templates are submitted in the Utility category, so each one delivered to an Indian number is charged at the utility rate. Operators who message a member from a request can write freely within 24 hours of the member's last message, and otherwise send the approved update template.

A worked example, using made-up volumes to show the arithmetic rather than a measurement: if your number sent 1,400 service messages and 150 utility templates to Indian numbers in a month, the first 1,000 service messages would be free, the other 400 would cost 400 × ₹0.115 = ₹46, and the templates 150 × ₹0.115 = ₹17.25, so about ₹63 for the month at the rates read on 5 November 2026, before any taxes on Meta's invoice. Your real volumes will differ, so watch the first month's bill in WhatsApp Manager.

## How to keep your WhatsApp bill predictable

A few habits keep costs small and easy to explain to a committee or a finance team.

1. Add a payment method in WhatsApp Manager before going live, so service messages are not cut off after the free tier.
2. Keep utility templates to updates the member expects. Meta defines marketing templates as those with a promotional purpose, and they cost more per message.
3. Let members start conversations where you can, for example through a join link, so replies fall inside the window.
4. Check Meta's rate card at the start of each quarter, when rates may change.
5. Look at the billing view in WhatsApp Manager monthly and compare it with the number of active members and requests.

The Help Center article [Connect your WhatsApp number](https://milvao.com/help/team-and-settings/connect-your-whatsapp-number) shows where to add the payment method and lists the exact wording of Milvao's templates. Our guide to the [WhatsApp Business API for communities](https://milvao.com/whatsapp-business-api-for-communities) explains the rest of the platform's rules.

## Questions

### How much does one WhatsApp marketing message cost in India?

₹0.8631 per delivered message to an Indian number, on Meta's INR rate card effective 1 October 2026, read on 5 November 2026. Resellers may add fees. Check Meta's pricing page for the current rate.

### Are WhatsApp service messages still free?

Not entirely. Since 1 October 2026, each business number gets 1,000 free service messages a month. After that, Meta charges per service message, ₹0.115 for Indian numbers at the rates we read.

### Do members pay anything to message a community's business number?

No. Meta charges only for messages from the business to people. Members pay nothing to Meta or to Milvao.

### Who pays Meta's charges when a community uses Milvao?

The community. Meta bills its message charges to the community's own WhatsApp Business Account, separately from Milvao's plan. Milvao does not mark up messages.

## Sources

- [Meta for Developers: Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (INR list rates and volume tiers, effective 1 October 2026)](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing) (checked 2026-11-05)
- [Meta for Developers: Template fundamentals](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/overview) (checked 2026-11-05)
- [Meta for Developers: Service messages and customer service windows](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messages/send-messages) (checked 2026-11-05)

## Related pages

- [WhatsApp 24-hour window](https://milvao.com/glossary/whatsapp-24-hour-window)
- [WhatsApp Business Platform integration](https://milvao.com/integrations/whatsapp-business-platform)
- [Milvao pricing](https://milvao.com/pricing)
- [WhatsApp Business API for communities](https://milvao.com/whatsapp-business-api-for-communities)