India · ₹ INR · Meta’s rates
WhatsApp Business API pricing in India (2026)
The WhatsApp Business app is free. The Business API — the one that powers automation and scale — is billed by Meta per delivered template message. Replies to your customers are free for the first 1,000 a month on each number, then charged per reply. These are Meta’s India rates. Meta bills them to you directly, and we add no markup.
Rates last updated 8 October 2026
Start here
You get two bills, and only one of them is ours
This is the single thing people get wrong about WhatsApp pricing, so it goes first.
Per-message charges
Meta charges for each template message delivered, at published rates that vary by country and category. Replies to a customer within 24 hours of their last message are free for the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number, then charged per reply.
Meta bills these to you directly. We never add a markup.
Your platform plan
A flat monthly or yearly fee for the software: the shared inbox, chatbot builder, broadcasts, CRM, payments and analytics. It doesn’t change with how much you send — your plan sets your volume allowance and team size.
See plan pricingThe free WhatsApp Business app costs nothing and never will — but it runs on one phone, has no team inbox, no automation and no API. The moment you need more than one person answering, you need the Business API, and that is where these charges begin.
Using AI or connecting other apps? Those are billed separately too, by the companies that run them. AI features use your own AI provider account (OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic and others), which bills you for what you use. Apps such as Shopify, Zoho, Razorpay or an SMS provider bill their own subscription, usage and transaction fees. None of these are in a MotherBot plan price.
Meta’s rate card
Four categories — and your first 1,000 replies each month are free
Every template you send is charged once, when it is delivered, at the rate for its category. Replies inside the 24-hour window are service messages: the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number are free, then each one is charged.
Marketing
Business-initiated promotional messages
₹0.863/ message
- Started by
- Business
- Template needed
- Yes
Typical use
- Promotional offers
- Product launches
- Newsletters
- Re-engagement broadcasts
Utility
LowestBusiness-initiated transactional messages
₹0.115/ message
- Started by
- Business
- Template needed
- Yes
Typical use
- Order confirmations
- Shipping updates
- Payment receipts
- Appointment reminders
Authentication
LowestBusiness-initiated OTP / authentication messages
₹0.115/ message
- Started by
- Business
- Template needed
- Yes
Typical use
- One-time passwords (OTP)
- Login verification codes
- Account alerts
- 2FA codes
Service
1,000 free / monthReplies to customers inside the 24-hour window
₹0.115/ reply
- Started by
- Customer
- Template needed
- No
Typical use
- Customer support queries
- Product questions
- Feedback & reviews
- General enquiries
What’s still free
Your first 1,000 replies each month on each WhatsApp number — replies sent within 24 hours of a customer’s last message. And everything for 72 hours after a customer arrives from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad. Since 1 October 2026, replies beyond the first 1,000 are charged, and so are utility templates sent inside the 24-hour window.
Outside India? Meta prices messages per country, and the rates above are India’s. Businesses in 40+ countries run on MotherBot — tell us where you send and we’ll give you the exact rate card for your markets. Ask for your rates.
How it’s counted
Per message since July 2025
Meta retired per-conversation pricing on 1 July 2025. Most WhatsApp pricing guides still describe the old model — here is how the current one counts.
One charge per template delivered
Each marketing, utility or authentication template is charged once, when it is delivered. Ten templates to one customer are ten charges.
Replies: 1,000 free a month
When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens for replies. Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges for each delivered reply after the first 1,000 in a calendar month on each WhatsApp number. Utility templates sent inside the window are charged at the utility rate.
Billed by Meta, never marked up
Meta bills these to the payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account. We add nothing on top, and your dashboard tracks the running spend so there's no surprise at month end.
Estimate it
Work out your monthly Meta bill
Put in the template messages, replies and calls you expect each month. The first 1,000 replies on each number are free, and the calculator takes them off.
Estimates use Meta's per-message rates for India, for one WhatsApp number. Since 1 October 2026 replies to customers inside the 24-hour window are free for the first 1,000 each month on each number, then charged per reply. Calls you make are charged per 6-second pulse, and each call is rounded up to whole pulses — a 50-second call is 9 pulses. Rates are shown and used to three decimals. Actual billing depends on your usage mix, volume tiers and applicable taxes.
WhatsApp calling
Calls you make: ₹0.389 per 6-second pulse
Calls customers make to you are free. Calls your business makes are charged by Meta only once the customer answers, counted in 6-second pulses and billed separately from messages.
- Calls customers make to you
- Free
- answered or not
- Calls your business makes
- ₹0.389
- per 6-second pulse
- Calls your business places are charged per 6-second pulse, and only once the customer answers. Part of a pulse counts as a whole one, so a 20-second call is 4 pulses and a 56-second call is 10 pulses. Calls customers make to you are free.
- A call that rings out unanswered costs nothing.
- Asking a customer for permission to call is a message, charged like any other message — not call time.
- Calling works only on numbers connected to the WhatsApp Cloud API — not on a number you also keep on the WhatsApp Business app (coexistence).
- MotherBot’s AI voice agent can answer, resolve and transcribe calls; its calls are charged the same way.
| Call length | Pulses charged | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 6 seconds | 1 × ₹0.389 | ₹0.389 |
| 20 seconds | 4 × ₹0.389 | ₹1.556 |
| 50 seconds | 9 × ₹0.389 | ₹3.501 |
| 56 seconds | 10 × ₹0.389 | ₹3.89 |
| 1 minute | 10 × ₹0.389 | ₹3.89 |
| 1 minute 1 second | 11 × ₹0.389 | ₹4.279 |
| 5 minutes | 50 × ₹0.389 | ₹19.45 |
Pulses are counted on the whole call and rounded up to the next 6 seconds — a 56-second call is 9.33 pulses, charged as 10. Rates are Meta’s for India, to three decimals.
At a glance
The whole rate card, one table
Meta's India rates, per message and per call pulse, to three decimals.
| Category | Started by | Template | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Business | Required | ₹0.863 |
| Utility | Business | Required | ₹0.115 |
| Authentication | Business | Required | ₹0.115 |
| Service | Customer | Not required | First 1,000 a month free, then ₹0.115 |
| Utility templates sent inside an open 24-hour window | ₹0.115 (charged since 1 Oct 2026) | ||
| Calls you make | Business | — | ₹0.389 per 6-second pulse |
| Calls customers make to you | Customer | — | Free |
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