Blog

WhatsApp official API: what is paid and how much it costs per message

Published on October 04, 2026 · Updated on October 11, 2026

Using the WhatsApp official API is free, but messages are not.

Since October 1, 2026 Meta charges per message the business delivers: about $0.0034 per service or utility message in the United States and $0.0068 in Brazil, with the first 1,000 service messages per number free each month, and marketing templates at about $0.025 in the United States and $0.0625 in Brazil (Meta’s official rates).

You pay that directly to Meta, on your business account.

Vexor does not handle that payment.

What is free and what you pay for

  • The connection to Meta’s official API, with your number verified under your business name: Meta charges no monthly fee.
  • Messages your business delivers: Meta charges per message, by category and by the recipient’s country (Meta pricing). Messages customers send you are free.
  • Setting up and running the assistant: setup has no fee, and we charge for operation monthly.

What changes your Meta bill

  • Volume: how many messages your service sends each month.
  • Message category: Meta has different rules and prices for each type and window, and the official table is the source.
  • Chats the customer started versus chats you started.

The official table is in Meta’s pricing documentation.

It changes from time to time, which is why anyone answering from memory gets it wrong.

The rule is simple: check the source before doing any big math.

What we charge

No setup fee, and a monthly fee of $500 to $1,050, depending on the size of the operation.

On the annual plan, 12 months paid upfront, the monthly fee gets a 20% discount ($400, $640 or $840 per month).

There is no per-message commission, and there is no unlimited message.

The math that matters

Take your monthly service message volume, subtract the 1,000 free ones and multiply the rest by about $0.0034 in the United States.

A reminder sent outside the 24-hour window goes out as a utility template, at the same rate, and does not count toward the free tier (Meta’s official rates).

Then compare that with what you lose today to empty slots and unanswered questions.

For a small operation, the Meta cost is usually lower than what a single weekly no-show costs.

What gets setup moving

Setup starts when your material arrives.

The assistant goes live within 1 business day of receiving the information.

The Meta account is in your name from day one.

Sources