Platform fee vs Meta message charges

Running WhatsApp on the API involves two separate bills from two separate companies. VGraple CRM charges a flat platform fee for the software. Meta charges per delivered message, by category and country, and bills your Business Portfolio directly. From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for replies too; the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number are free. Keeping the two apart is the key to estimating cost and to comparing vendors honestly.

The two bills side by side

Meta's rates in India (card effective 1 October 2026)

India rates on this card are unchanged from the previous one. What changed on 1 October 2026 is which messages are charged: replies after each number's first 1,000 a month, and utility templates inside the 24-hour window, both free until 30 September 2026. A free entry point window (up to 7 days) opens when a customer messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call-to-action button. Meta's 1 October 2026 pricing change walks through it.

Meta changes rates by country and occasionally by category; the WhatsApp API pricing pages track the current numbers per country, the pricing calculator totals a month, and VGraple CRM's cost estimates use the rate card in effect.

What each bill responds to

The platform fee responds to how your team works: how many people need seats, how many contacts you keep, how many people you talk to in a month. It does not change with message volume within the plan. Meta's bill responds to what you send: every marketing message costs the same whether it is your first or your ten-thousandth, and every utility message costs Rs 0.115 in India regardless of plan, and from 1 October 2026 so does every reply after the number's first 1,000 of the month. Designing around that split is the whole game: resolve questions in fewer, fuller replies, answer click-to-WhatsApp ad leads inside the free window of up to 7 days, keep operations on utility templates, and spend marketing money only on people who consented and engage.

How the pricing model changed

Until June 2025 Meta charged per 24-hour conversation, and older articles still talk about free conversation allowances and per-conversation rates. Since 1 July 2025 the charge is per delivered message by category. From 1 July 2025 to 30 September 2026 replies were not charged, and utility templates delivered inside an open customer service window were not charged either. From 1 October 2026 both are charged: replies after each number's first 1,000 a month, at the utility rate, and utility templates on every delivery. Since October 2025 the marketing messaging limit is pooled at Business Portfolio level, which affects how many people you can reach in a day but not the price per message.

Reading Meta's invoice

Meta invoices the Business Portfolio, not the phone number, so several numbers appear on one invoice with line items by country and category. Delivered counts on VGraple CRM's broadcast reports reconcile to those line items; held, failed and suppressed recipients never appear on Meta's bill. Tax on Meta's invoice follows Meta's own registration and is separate from GST on the VGraple CRM platform fee.

Estimating a month

1. Count the replies each WhatsApp number sends in a month (every free-form message inside a 24-hour window, human, bot or AI). Subtract 1,000 per number and multiply the rest by Rs 0.115. Replies inside a free entry point window (up to 7 days) are not charged.
2. Count utility templates you send, inside a window or not (reminders, order updates): multiply by Rs 0.115.
3. Count marketing messages to consenting contacts: multiply by Rs 0.8631.
4. Add your plan's platform fee.

Example: a clinic on Starter sending 3,600 utility reminders, 2,000 replies from one number and no marketing pays Rs 1,499 to VGraple CRM and about Rs 529 to Meta (Rs 414 for the reminders plus 1,000 charged replies at Rs 0.115). A retailer on Growth sending 10,000 marketing messages, 5,000 utility updates and 800 replies pays Rs 3,499 to VGraple CRM and about Rs 9,206 to Meta, because 800 replies fit inside the number's free 1,000.

Where to see Meta's charges

• Before a broadcast: the Estimated cost in the wizard, which prices each recipient at their country's rate for the template's category, and prices a free-form broadcast as replies after what is left of the sending number's 1,000 free replies this month.
• During the month: each WhatsApp number's card in Settings, which shows free replies used out of 1,000, the rate after that, and a warning when the account has no payment method. VGraple CRM notifies you at 80% and 100% of the free replies.
• After: the broadcast report's delivered count times the rate.
• On Meta's side: Business Suite, Billing, where the invoice for the WABA appears and the payment method is set.

Why there is no markup

VGraple CRM is a Meta Tech Provider: the WhatsApp Business Account is yours and Meta bills you. BSPs that own the account pay Meta and re-bill customers, which is where markups of 5 to 20 percent and prepaid credits come from. The Tech Provider vs BSP guide has the full comparison.

Comparing vendors fairly

Put the two bills in separate columns for each vendor: the platform fee for your seat and contact counts, and the message charges at the vendor's quoted per-message rate multiplied by your monthly volume. If a vendor quotes a single blended number, ask for Meta's rate and their rate side by side; the difference is the markup, and at volume it dwarfs the platform fee.

Troubleshooting