This page describes Meta’s own billing for WhatsApp conversations. It is not the same as your Simio subscription, which covers access to the Simio product.
What gets billed
Every message you send is billed under one single category. Messages your contacts send to you are never charged.
Only delivered messages are charged.
Service messages
Service messages are charged at the utility rate of the contact’s country, with no volume discount. Each WhatsApp phone number includes 1,000 free service messages per month. Billing starts from the 1,001st delivered message. The allowance is counted per message, resets every month, does not carry over, and is not shared between phone numbers. Replies sent by your chatbots and AI agents are billed like replies sent by your team.Utility and authentication volume tiers
In many markets, Meta lowers utility and authentication rates as your monthly volume grows. Tiers are specific to each destination market and category, are calculated across all the WhatsApp Business accounts of your business portfolio, and reset every month. Thresholds differ from one market to another, and Meta determines the tiers. Example: utility messages to France (rates in EUR, effective October 1, 2026)
Authentication messages follow the same logic with different thresholds (for France, the first tier ends at 300,000 messages per month).
To check whether tiers apply to a market and what the thresholds are, see the rate cards on Meta’s WhatsApp platform pricing page. Rates are updated by Meta every quarter.
The reply window
When a contact messages you, a 24-hour reply window opens. Each new message from the contact resets it. During this window you can send free-form messages. They are no longer free, but they are included in your monthly allowance of free service messages. Once the window closes, you can only send template messages, billed according to their category.Free entry point window
If a contact reaches you through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button and you reply in time, a free window opens during which your messages are not charged. This window is independent of the reply window: if the 24-hour reply window closes, you can still only send templates.How your template category is set
Meta reviews each template and assigns its category. A template written as Utility can still be classified as Marketing, because the review is automated. The category in effect when the template is sent determines the price, so check the category Meta assigned to each approved template. If a template was classified differently than you expected, you can edit its content and submit it again for review.Examples
Reaching a customer after the window closes
Once the 24-hour window is closed, you can no longer send free-form messages. You have two options, and they can be combined:- Send an approved template, for example “Do you still need help?”. As soon as the customer replies, the window reopens and you can go back to free-form messages.
- Use another channel: call, SMS, or another messaging channel you have configured.