---
title: WhatsApp API per-message pricing from 1 July 2025, explained
description: From 1 July 2025 Meta charges per delivered WhatsApp template, not
  per conversation. What changes for Bangladeshi shops, how to estimate costs,
  2026 updates.
url: https://salemag.net/blog/whatsapp-per-message-pricing-july-2025
language: en
published: 2025-05-20
updated: 2026-10-24
author: SaleMag Team
tags:
  - whatsapp pricing
  - whatsapp business api
  - message templates
  - bangladesh
---

# WhatsApp API per-message pricing from 1 July 2025, explained

> From 1 July 2025, Meta charges for the WhatsApp Business API per delivered template message instead of per 24-hour conversation. Marketing, utility and authentication templates each have a rate by country; utility templates inside an open customer service window are free, and so are free-form replies. Further changes arrived on 1 October 2026.

- Every delivered marketing template is charged on its own; sending two offers in one day now means two charges.
- Utility templates sent while the customer service window is open are free under the July 2025 model.
- Undelivered messages and messages customers send you are not charged.
- Utility and authentication rates get cheaper at higher monthly volumes; marketing does not.
- Update: since 1 October 2026, service replies beyond 1,000 per number per month and utility templates inside the window are charged.

Picture the accountant of a skincare brand in Dhanmondi asking a simple question in May: "I need a WhatsApp budget for July. What will Meta charge us?" Under the old model the honest answer was "it depends on how many conversations open", which no accountant likes. From 1 July 2025 the answer gets easier to calculate, but the bill may look different.

Meta is changing how it charges for the WhatsApp Business API, from per-conversation to per-message pricing. This post explains what is changing, which messages stay free, how to estimate your own bill, and what a Bangladeshi shop should do before July. We have added an update at the end covering the further changes of 1 October 2026.

## What is changing on 1 July 2025?

From 1 July 2025, Meta charges for each delivered template message instead of each 24-hour conversation. Each template has a category, marketing, utility or authentication, and each category has a rate for the customer’s country.

Under the old model, the first template you sent opened a 24-hour conversation of that category, and everything you sent in that category within 24 hours was covered by one charge. Under the new model, every delivered template is its own charge. Nothing is bundled.

| | Until 30 June 2025 | From 1 July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| What is charged | A 24-hour conversation, by category | Each delivered template message, by category |
| Two marketing templates to one customer in a day | One marketing conversation | Two marketing charges |
| Free-form replies inside the window | Free (service conversations) | Free |
| Utility template inside an open window | Free | Free |
| Utility template after the window closed | One utility conversation | One utility charge |
| Volume discounts | No | Yes, for utility and authentication |
| Failed or undelivered messages | Not charged | Not charged |

Messages customers send to you are free in both models.

## Which WhatsApp messages stay free?

Under the July 2025 model, three kinds of messages cost nothing: free-form replies inside the customer service window, utility templates sent while that window is open, and messages inside a free entry point window.

1. **Free-form replies.** When a customer writes "price koto?", you have 24 hours from their latest message to reply with any text, photo, voice note or button. These service messages are free. Every new customer message resets the clock.
2. **Utility templates inside the window.** If the customer is still in an open chat and you send a utility template, such as an order confirmation, it is free.
3. **Free entry point.** When a customer messages you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Page’s WhatsApp button and you reply within the window, Meta opens a longer free window in which your messages, templates included, are not charged. Meta sets the length and conditions, so check its pricing page.

The practical lesson: messages sent while the customer is talking to you are cheap. Messages sent days later are where the bill comes from.

## Which messages are charged, and how much?

Marketing templates, utility templates sent outside an open window, and authentication templates are charged per delivered message. The rate depends on the category and the country code of the customer’s number.

| Category | Typical shop use | Charged from 1 July 2025? |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Eid offer, new arrivals, "we miss you", cart reminders with a discount | Yes, every delivered message |
| Utility | Order confirmed, parcel handed to courier, delivery-day reminder | Only when sent outside an open window |
| Authentication | Login or checkout one-time codes | Yes, every delivered message |

We are not quoting taka or dollar figures here on purpose. Meta updates its rates several times a year, and at the time of writing Bangladesh numbers are priced under Meta’s "Rest of Asia Pacific" market. Use Meta’s official [pricing page and rate card](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing) for the current numbers.

Two details matter for planning. Utility and authentication rates drop in volume tiers as your monthly count grows; marketing rates do not. And Meta may limit how many marketing templates one person receives from businesses, so a message can fail to deliver if that customer has had too many recently. Undelivered means not charged, but also not seen.

## How do I estimate my monthly WhatsApp bill?

Count your delivered templates by category, multiply each by its current rate, and add them up. Free-form replies and in-window utility templates are left out.

Say a hypothetical Facebook shop in Narayanganj plans its July:

| Message | Count per month | Charged? |
|---|---|---|
| Free-form replies to customer questions | 9,000 | No |
| Order confirmation (utility), sent while the customer is still in the chat | 1,200 | No |
| Delivery-day reminder (utility), sent 2–3 days later | 1,200 | Yes, at the utility rate |
| Two offer broadcasts (marketing) to 2,500 opted-in buyers each | 5,000 | Yes, at the marketing rate |

The estimate is:

```
Monthly cost = (1,200 × utility rate) + (5,000 × marketing rate)
```

Notice where the money goes. The 9,000 replies that keep the shop running cost nothing. The broadcasts are the biggest line, which makes sense: they are the messages the customer didn’t ask for.

## What should a Bangladeshi shop change before July?

Change three habits: send order updates while the chat is still open, send fewer and better marketing templates, and get your categories right.

- **Confirm orders inside the chat.** If the confirmation goes out within minutes of the order, the window is still open and the utility template is free. A confirmation sent the next morning may not be.
- **Stop double-sending offers.** Under conversation pricing, a second marketing template on the same day was effectively free. From July it is a second charge. One clear offer beats two half-offers.
- **Segment before you broadcast.** Sending the Eid-ul-Adha panjabi offer to people who bought saris last year costs the same per message as sending it to people who bought panjabi. Smaller, relevant lists cost less and get fewer blocks.
- **Keep utility templates clean.** A utility template that adds "use code EID10 for 10% off" can be reclassified as marketing, and charged as marketing. Keep order updates about the order.
- **Answer fast.** A customer who gets a reply in two minutes keeps chatting inside the free window. One who waits until tomorrow may need a paid template to restart.

Here is a utility confirmation that stays utility:

```
Assalamu alaikum {{1}}, apnar order {{2}} confirm hoyeche.
Mot: ৳{{3}} (cash on delivery). Delivery: {{4}}.
Kono poriborton lagle ei chat e janan.
```

## Where can I see what I’m actually paying?

Meta’s billing and analytics in WhatsApp Manager show charges per category. Your platform should also show delivered counts per campaign, so you can match the two. If they differ a lot, look for templates that Meta classified differently from what you expected.

## How does SaleMag help keep WhatsApp costs predictable?

SaleMag doesn’t change Meta’s prices; Meta bills your WhatsApp Business Account directly. What SaleMag does is make the cheaper habits easy. Templates are drafted with their category and submitted to Meta from SaleMag, with approval status synced back. [WhatsApp broadcasts](https://salemag.net/features/whatsapp-broadcast) go only to contacts with WhatsApp opt-in, can target a saved segment instead of the whole list, and show delivered, read and failed counts per recipient, so you can check your bill against real numbers.

In the inbox, the composer shows whether the customer’s [24-hour window](https://salemag.net/glossary/24-hour-window) is open before you send. An AI chatbot that answers in seconds also keeps more conversations inside the window. For broader setup, see the [WhatsApp Business API guide for Bangladesh](https://salemag.net/blog/whatsapp-business-api-bangladesh-guide).

## Update: what changed on 1 October 2026?

On 1 October 2026 Meta made three more changes. The July 2025 model above still applies, with these differences:

| Change | Effect for a Bangladeshi shop |
|---|---|
| Service messages charged after a free tier | Each business number gets 1,000 free service messages (free-form replies) per month, with no rollover. From the 1,001st, they are charged. |
| Utility templates inside the window charged | Order confirmations sent during an open chat are no longer free. |
| Bangladesh becomes its own market | Bangladesh moved out of "Rest of Asia Pacific" and got its own rates. Utility and authentication rates went down, and an authentication-international rate was added. |
| Payment method required | Meta stops delivering service messages once they become charged if the account has no payment method on file. |

For a busy shop, that changes the estimate above. The 9,000 free-form replies now cost something beyond the first 1,000 per number, and the 1,200 in-window confirmations are charged at the utility rate. Fast, short answers still matter, but the main saving now comes from replying well rather than often, and from sending fewer, better-targeted broadcasts. Meta’s [pricing updates page](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing/updates-to-pricing) lists every change by date.

## Next steps

Pull last month’s template sends, sort them into the categories above, and run the formula with the current rate card. Then fix the biggest line first, which is usually marketing.

[Start free](https://salemag.net/register) to see your template and broadcast numbers in one place, or [see pricing](https://salemag.net/pricing) for SaleMag plans.

## Steps

1. **Export last month’s template sends**: From your platform or WhatsApp Manager, list how many templates you sent by category: marketing, utility and authentication.
2. **Split utility by window**: Mark which utility templates went out while the customer’s 24-hour window was open and which went out after it closed.
3. **Look up the current rates**: Open Meta’s rate card and find the marketing, utility and authentication rates for Bangladesh in your billing currency.
4. **Multiply and add**: Multiply each charged category’s delivered count by its rate, then add them up to estimate the month.

## FAQ

### When does WhatsApp per-message pricing start?

WhatsApp per-message pricing started on 1 July 2025. From that date Meta charges for each delivered template message instead of for each 24-hour conversation.

### Are free-form WhatsApp replies charged under per-message pricing?

No, not under the July 2025 model. Free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer service window were free. Since 1 October 2026, each number gets 1,000 free service messages a month and Meta charges for service messages after that.

### Is a WhatsApp order confirmation free?

Under the July 2025 model, yes, if it is a utility template sent while the customer’s service window is open. A utility template sent after the window closes is charged, and since 1 October 2026 utility templates are charged inside the window too.

### Does Meta charge for WhatsApp messages that fail?

No. Meta charges only for messages that are delivered, so a template sent to a number without WhatsApp or one that fails is not billed.

### What are the WhatsApp API rates for Bangladesh?

Meta publishes the rates on its rate card by category and country, and updates them several times a year. Bangladesh was part of the Rest of Asia Pacific market until 1 October 2026, when it became its own market; check Meta’s pricing page for the current figures.

### Do I pay Meta in taka?

Meta bills the WhatsApp Business Account in the currency set on that account, and supports only a limited list of billing currencies. Check the currency and payment method in Billing in Meta Business Suite.

### Is it cheaper than the old conversation pricing?

It depends on how you send. Shops that sent several marketing templates to the same customer in one day pay more, while shops that send order updates inside open chats often pay less.