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Meta charges for WhatsApp Business API messages per delivered message, at a rate that depends on the recipient's country and the message category. For numbers in India, Meta's rate card effective 1 October 2026 is: marketing Rs 0.8631, utility Rs 0.115, authentication Rs 0.115, and replies (service messages inside a customer-opened 24-hour window) free for the first 1,000 each month on each business phone number, then Rs 0.115. All figures are in Indian rupees as Meta publishes them; Meta bills them to your Meta Business account, not to your CRM vendor.
Rate card for India (effective 1 October 2026)
India: what Meta charges per message
Billed by Meta directly. VGraple CRM adds no markup.
| Category | What it is | Price per delivered message |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, re-engagement; needs opt-in and an opt-out line | Rs 0.8631 |
| Utility | Order, booking, payment and account updates the customer expects | Rs 0.115, inside or outside the 24-hour window |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes | Rs 0.115 |
| Service | Your replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message | First 1,000 a month per number free, then Rs 0.115 |
Source: the rates above are Meta's published rate card effective 1 October 2026, as imported into VGraple CRM. Meta's own figures are on its WhatsApp Business Platform pricing page; if Meta publishes a newer card, that one applies from its effective date.
What a month costs: three worked examples
The table assumes every recipient is in India, every message is delivered, and all replies go from one business phone number (each number has its own 1,000 free replies). Suppressed and failed messages are not billed.
| Business size | Marketing msgs | Utility msgs | Authentication msgs | Replies | Meta charges per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small (salon, clinic, tuition centre) | 1,000 | 1,500 | 0 | 800 (0 charged) | Rs 1,036 |
| Growing (D2C store, real-estate agency) | 10,000 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 3,500 (2,500 charged) | Rs 10,069 |
| High volume (e-commerce, edtech) | 50,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 (19,000 charged) | Rs 51,665 |
Add the platform fee on top. VGraple CRM is Rs 0 on the free forever plan, Rs 1,499 on Starter, Rs 3,499 on Growth and Rs 7,999 on Scale a month, with no per-message markup. Platforms that resell the API typically add 10 to 25 percent to Meta's rate or charge per-message "credits"; ask for the Meta rate card and compare.
How to lower the bill
- Move transactional messages to utility. Booking reminders, order updates and payment receipts belong in utility templates at Rs 0.115 instead of marketing at Rs 0.8631. Keep the body free of promotional text or Meta reclassifies the template.
- Make each reply count. The first 1,000 replies a month on each number cost nothing, and after that a reply costs the same as a utility template (Rs 0.115). Answering a question fully in one message instead of three, and using in-chat forms for details, keeps more chats inside the free replies.
- Answer ad leads while the ad window is open. A chat that starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad is free for up to 7 days after your first reply, replies and templates included.
- Send marketing to engaged segments. Meta's per-user frequency cap means low-engagement blasts are increasingly held or dropped (error 131049) and still cost money when delivered. VGraple CRM lets you retarget only readers and repliers of the previous campaign.
- Suppress before you send. Opted-out, blocked and recently capped contacts are excluded automatically, so nothing is attempted that cannot be delivered.
If your Meta account has no payment method
Meta refuses templates from a WhatsApp Business Account with no payment method (error 141006). From 1 October 2026 it also delivers only the first 1,000 replies a month on each number, then stops delivering replies until a payment method is added in Meta Business Suite. VGraple CRM shows each number's free replies used this month on its settings card and warns you at 80% and at 100%, so this never comes as a surprise.
Volume and tier limits in India
Pricing is only half the constraint. Meta also limits how many unique customers you can start marketing conversations with per rolling 24 hours: 250 for unverified businesses, then 1,000, 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited as quality stays green and volume grows. Since October 2025 the limit applies to your whole business portfolio, not to each phone number. VGraple CRM tracks the budget and parks a campaign until the window reopens instead of failing the remainder. See message delivery protection.
Estimate your own cost
The WhatsApp API pricing calculator applies these rates to your monthly volumes and compares platform fees. Rates for other countries: all countries.
What Indian businesses actually pay
India's rates did not change on Meta's card effective 1 October 2026, but two rules did. Utility templates are charged per delivered message, including inside the 24-hour window, from 1 October 2026. Until 30 September 2026 an order update or booking confirmation sent while the customer was still in an open window was free; now every utility message costs Rs 0.115. And From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for replies too; the first 1,000 each month on each WhatsApp number are free. After that each reply costs Rs 0.115, so 3,500 replies from one number in a month cost Rs 287.50 (2,500 charged). The billable part of a typical Indian SMB's month is the marketing line, every utility message, and replies past each number's free 1,000, which is why a clinic or a salon pays Meta a few hundred rupees and a retailer running weekly offers pays a few thousand. Meta's 1 October 2026 pricing change walks through it.
Two rules shape the bill more than the rate card. Consent-first marketing to engaged segments keeps blocks low, which keeps the number green and the daily limit high; and the free entry point window (up to 7 days) after a click-to-WhatsApp ad tap makes the offer, and every reply, free for customers who came through ads. The true cost guide has five worked examples for Indian industries.
GST and the invoice
Meta invoices the Business Portfolio monthly in the currency of your payment method; tax is applied per Meta's own registration and shown on the invoice. This is separate from GST on any software subscription. Reconcile the invoice against delivered counts on your broadcast reports; held, failed and suppressed messages never appear on it.