If you use the official WhatsApp API, you pay for two separate things: the system you use to serve customers and send broadcasts (such as InvestCRM) and the messages, which Meta bills to your account directly. This article covers the second part, with the rules in force since October 1, 2026.
Meta charges per delivered message
Since July 2025, billing is per message, and only when it is delivered. The price depends on two things: the message category and the country of the recipient's number. Messages customers send you cost nothing.
The four categories you pay for
- Marketing: offers, invitations and news. The most expensive one.
- Utility: an update about something the customer asked for or agreed to, such as an order, appointment or payment.
- Authentication: access and confirmation codes.
- Service: regular replies (not templates) inside the 24-hour window opened by the customer.
Meta also has a fifth one, Meta Business Agent (Meta's own AI, billed by usage), which InvestCRM does not use.
What changed in October 2026
Until September, replies inside the 24-hour window were free. Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges for these service messages again, and for utility templates sent inside the window too. In exchange, each WhatsApp number gets 1,000 free service messages per month, which do not roll over.
That is why your Meta account needs a payment method: without one, Meta stops delivering replies after the month's 1,000 free ones.
The BRL rate card
| Category | Price per message |
|---|---|
| Marketing | R$ 0.3217 |
| Utility | R$ 0.0350 |
| Authentication | R$ 0.0350 |
| Service | R$ 0.0350 |
Utility and authentication get cheaper by volume tier: above 250,000 utility messages in a month (or 500,000 authentication), the next messages cost less.
Want to check the source? Check the rate card at Meta
A worked example
A business with one number that sends, in a month, 2,000 marketing templates, 500 utility templates and 3,000 support replies pays Meta:
- 2,000 × R$ 0.3217 = R$ 643.40 for marketing
- 500 × R$ 0.0350 = R$ 17.50 for utility
- 3,000 replies − 1,000 free = 2,000 × R$ 0.0350 = R$ 70.00 for service
- Monthly total: R$ 730.90
Plug your own numbers into the Meta cost calculator
When Meta does not charge
- Messages customers send you.
- The first 1,000 service messages from each number, every month.
- Everything you send while the free window is open (up to 7 days), if you reply within 24 hours to someone who came from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on the phone app.
How to spend less without losing sales
- Use the right category: an order update is utility, not marketing.
- Send marketing to people who are interested, filtering by tag and segment.
- Reply within 24 hours to people who come from click-to-WhatsApp ads: that way the conversation can run for up to 7 days at no cost.
- Track deliveries, reads and clicks to cut what does not work.
By Consig Invest, the InvestCRM team
