Meta starts charging for customer service replies on the WhatsApp Business Platform from 1 October 2026
Service messages sent inside the 24-hour window on the WhatsApp Business Platform are charged from 1 October; the first 1,000 per number each month carry no fee.
According to a Teknoblog report dated 25 September 2026, Meta is charging for open-ended text replies sent to customers inside the 24-hour window on the WhatsApp Business Platform from 1 October 2026. Meta's documentation says each business number keeps 1,000 service messages a month at no charge. Personal WhatsApp chats are not affected by the change.
According to a Teknoblog report dated 25 September 2026, Meta begins charging on 1 October 2026 for service messages that businesses send through the WhatsApp Business Platform (API). Service messages are the open-ended text replies a business sends inside the 24-hour customer service window that opens after a customer writes to it. Meta's developer documentation says these messages had been delivered at no charge since 1 November 2024.
- The no-charge allowance is counted per business number and per month: up to 1,000 delivered service messages carry no fee, and every message after that is billed at the destination country's rate. Unused allowance does not carry over.
- Teknoblog says billing is based on messages that reach the user, not on send attempts. According to Meta, utility templates sent inside an open window are now charged as well.
- According to Meta, accounts that had not added a payment method by 30 September 2026 only get service messages delivered within the monthly allowance; delivery stops once it is used up.
- Eligible government bodies and non-profit organisations keep service messages without charge until 31 December 2027.
Why it matters
The change directly affects companies that run high-volume customer service on WhatsApp through the API or a solution provider. According to Teknoblog, the change concerns business messaging through the API; personal chats are not affected, and no general per-message fee has been announced for the standalone WhatsApp Business app used by small businesses. Rates depend on the destination country, and solution providers may add their own fees. Companies in Türkiye that handle orders, shipping updates and support over the API may want to review their monthly message volume, the no-charge allowance per number and their provider invoice together.
For companies planning sales and support flows on WhatsApp, we describe the general setup of this channel on our WhatsApp sales and customer service assistant page.
Sources
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