WhatsApp Business API Pricing in India After 1 October
From 1 October 2026, Meta charges for two kinds of WhatsApp messages that used to be free:
- Your team's replies to customers, after the first 1,000 each month on each number.
- Update messages, such as payment or order confirmations, sent while a chat is open.
This post explains WhatsApp Business API pricing in India after that change: what each message costs, what is still free, what a small team will pay each month, and what to do before 31 December. It applies whether you use WhatsApp through Camrio or any other provider.
What changed on 1 October 2026
Before this date, replying to a customer on WhatsApp was free, as long as you replied within 24 hours of their last message. Update messages sent in that 24-hour period were free too.
Now both are charged, according to Meta's page on pricing for non-template messages. Here is the full picture:
| Message | Until 30 September 2026 | From 1 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Customer's message to you | Free | Free |
| Your reply within 24 hours | Free | Charged after 1,000 a month |
| Update message within 24 hours | Free | Charged from the first message |
| Update message after 24 hours | Charged | Charged |
| Marketing and OTP messages | Charged | Charged |
Two things are still free:
- Your first 1,000 replies each month, on each WhatsApp number. After that, every reply is charged, as Twilio's notice on the change confirms.
- Messages to customers who come from your ads. When a customer messages you from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button and you reply within 24 hours, every message for the next 72 hours is free.
Messages your customers send you are always free.
The four types of WhatsApp message
Meta charges by message type and by the customer's country. A message to an Indian number (+91) is charged at the India rate, according to Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform pricing page.
| Type | What it is used for | When you can send it |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, festive sales | Any time, using a template Meta has approved |
| Utility | Payment confirmations, receipts, order or policy updates | Any time, using an approved template |
| Authentication | One-time passwords (OTPs) | Any time, using an approved template |
| Service | Normal replies typed by your team or sent by an AI tool | Only within 24 hours of the customer's last message |
That 24-hour period is called the customer service window. After it closes, you can only send approved templates.
WhatsApp Business API pricing in India: cost per message
India's rates did not change on 1 October. Only the list of charged messages changed. These are Meta's rates for Indian numbers, from its rate cards, before 18% GST:
| Type | Price per message |
|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹0.8631 |
| Utility | ₹0.115 |
| Authentication | ₹0.115 |
| Service (replies) | ₹0.115, after 1,000 free a month per number |
The marketing rate went up from ₹0.7846 to ₹0.8631 on 1 January 2026, as Authkey's summary of that update records. A marketing message costs about 7.5 times a utility message, so check that Meta has put each template in the right category. You pay for the category the template has on the day you send it.
How much a small team will pay each month
Here is an example with made-up figures. A five-person insurance agency has one WhatsApp number. In one month it:
- sends 3,200 replies across 400 customer chats
- sends 400 payment confirmations while chats are open
- sends 300 renewal reminders after chats have closed
- runs one campaign of 2,000 marketing messages
| Item | Sent | Charged | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replies | 3,200 | 2,200 (first 1,000 free) | ₹253.00 |
| Confirmations in open chats | 400 | 400 | ₹46.00 |
| Renewal reminders | 300 | 300 | ₹34.50 |
| Marketing campaign | 2,000 | 2,000 | ₹1,726.20 |
| Total before GST | ₹2,059.70 | ||
| Total with 18% GST | ₹2,430.45 |
Before 1 October, the same month cost ₹1,760.70 before GST (₹2,077.63 with GST), because replies and in-chat confirmations were free. That is about 17% more, and ₹253 of the increase comes from replies.
What your provider adds on top of Meta's rates
Most businesses use WhatsApp through a provider or a CRM, not directly through Meta. Providers charge in one of two ways, or both:
- a monthly plan fee
- a markup: an extra amount added to every message Meta charges for
The markup is easy to miss because it is built into the price per message. Whautomate's September 2026 comparison lists markups of 10% to 30% on Meta's rates. Whautomate is a provider that charges no markup itself, so check each provider's rate yourself.
This is what a markup adds over a year on marketing messages alone, before GST:
| Marketing messages a month | 10% markup | 20% markup | 30% markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 | ₹2,071.44 a year | ₹4,142.88 a year | ₹6,214.32 a year |
| 50,000 | ₹51,786 a year | ₹1,03,572 a year | ₹1,55,358 a year |
The markup also applies to every charged reply and update message, so since October it costs more than before.
Camrio charges 0% markup. Camrio is a Meta Tech Provider and adds 0% markup to WhatsApp message charges. You pay Meta's own per-message charges and taxes, and the Camrio plan fee is separate, as listed on our pricing page. Whichever provider you use, ask for its price per message for Indian numbers in writing.
What to do before 31 December 2026
- Switch to rupee billing by 31 December 2026. If your business is registered in India in Meta's Billing Hub, all your WhatsApp Business Accounts must move to rupee billing. From 1 January 2027, Meta will stop delivering messages from accounts that have not switched. Meta's billing guide for India explains who this applies to.
- Send fewer, complete messages. Every message is charged separately. "Checking now", then the premium, then the PDF, then a confirmation is four charges, or ₹0.46. Sending the PDF with the premium written in its caption, then the confirmation, is two charges, or ₹0.23.
- Reply to ad leads within 24 hours. It opens 72 free hours with that customer. Assigning each new enquiry to someone automatically makes this easier; see how Camrio Workflows do it.
- Count AI replies as paid messages. Replies sent by an AI tool are charged like any other reply, and the AI provider usually charges as well. Our guide on what an AI agent does in a CRM explains which replies are worth automating. In Camrio, a person approves every AI-drafted reply before it is sent.
- Send long documents by email. Email does not use WhatsApp message charges, so send quotes and full policy documents that way. Camrio keeps Google Workspace email and WhatsApp in the same inbox; see how to keep WhatsApp and email leads in one place.
Want to know what WhatsApp will cost your team on Camrio? Talk to us.
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Written by
Priyanshu Singh
Camrio publishes practical notes from building customer conversation, campaign, and workflow tools for customer-facing teams.
Last updated October 14, 2026
