Meta updated its WhatsApp pricing model. The main change is that Service messages (the ones your company sends to reply to a user without using a template) now have a cost. Marketing, Utility, and Authentication templates stay exactly as they are today.

What's changing

• Service messages now have a cost. Until now they carried no charge.
• Marketing, Utility, and Authentication templates don't change: you keep paying per template sent, just as before.
• A Service message is any reply your company sends to a user without using a template, within the customer service window.

Key dates

• August 1, 2026: Meta starts charging for Meta Business Agent.
• October 1, 2026: Service messages become billable.

Where to check official pricing

Because pricing is set by Meta and can change by market, the always-current reference is Meta's official documentation:

• WhatsApp Business Platform pricing: developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing

What you can do

Here are two options for managing your conversations:

Keep using WhatsApp as you do today

You can keep the entire conversation on WhatsApp without changing anything. Keep in mind that, starting October 1, every Service message your company replies with will have a cost, so your WhatsApp spend may rise depending on your conversation volume.

Hand the conversation off to Central

The first reply goes out over WhatsApp with a button for the user to continue the conversation in Central. That way you only pay for that invitation message, and the rest of the conversation happens outside WhatsApp.

Support continues without interruption: the user doesn't have to repeat their question, your flows and AI agents work exactly the same, and for your team it remains the same unified conversation under the same user profile. The invitation link is signed with your customer's phone number and is single-use, so their identity is preserved. Central also carries no extra cost: it's included in the conversation cost you already pay.

We walk through how it works, step by step, in the article WhatsApp handoff to Central.

Coexistence Lines

If you use your WhatsApp number in Coexistence mode, meaning at the same time in the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and on the Botmaker platform, the cost depends on where each message is sent from. Messages sent from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone are free of charge. However, all messages sent from the Botmaker platform are charged according to Meta’s current pricing, whether they are agent replies, flows, AI agents, or templates. Also, routing to Central is not enabled on Coexistence numbers, because redirecting the user would interrupt the conversation being handled from the phone.

Remember to visit our Help Center for further information.