WhatsApp Business API pricing in India, October 2026
MRBy Mitesh Rao, Founder, CloudFigma· Updated
The short answer
In India, Meta charges per delivered template message: ₹0.8631 for a marketing message and ₹0.115 for a utility or authentication message, before 18% GST, effective 1 July 2026. Replies to customers within 24 hours of their message are free. Providers then add a platform fee and often a markup on every message.
How Meta charges for WhatsApp messages
Since July 2025, Meta bills the WhatsApp Business Platform per delivered template message. A template is a message Meta has approved in advance, which a business needs to start a conversation. The price depends on the category of the template and the country of the person receiving it.
Meta does not bill a message it did not deliver. A message held back by WhatsApp’s limits, or sent to a number not on WhatsApp, costs nothing. Meta sets out these rules on its WhatsApp pricing page.
Meta’s rates in India
These are Meta’s own rates for messages delivered to Indian numbers, before GST. A provider that bills you more than this per message is adding a markup.
| Category | What it is for | Per message |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, announcements, festival greetings, re-engagement | ₹0.8631 |
| Utility | Booking confirmations, reminders, order and delivery updates | ₹0.115 |
| Authentication | One-time passwords and login codes | ₹0.115 |
| Service (replies) | Your replies within 24 hours of a customer’s message | Free |
When WhatsApp messages are free
Several messages cost nothing at all, which matters more than the headline rate for most small businesses.
- Every reply that is not a template, sent within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.
- A utility template sent while the customer’s 24-hour service window is open.
- Everything in the 72 hours after a customer messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad, once you reply within 24 hours. How the free window works.
- Any message Meta could not deliver.
What providers add on top
Every provider resells the same Meta platform. They charge in two ways: a platform fee for their software, and in most cases a markup on each message, collected from prepaid credit you buy from them. The markup is the cost most businesses never see stated.
| Provider | Platform fee a year | Added per message |
|---|---|---|
| Pulse by CloudFigma | ₹9,999, GST included | Nothing: Meta bills your card directly |
| AiSensy Basic | ₹16,200 + GST | About 26% |
| Interakt Growth | ₹26,399 + GST | 11% to 30% |
| WATI Growth | ₹26,388 + GST | 20% to 30% |
| WATI Growth | ₹26,388 + GST | About 20% |
A worked example: a salon’s monthly bill
A salon sends 2,000 booking confirmations and reminders and 500 offers a month. At Meta’s rates that is 2,000 × ₹0.115 plus 500 × ₹0.8631, about ₹662 a month or ₹7,939 a year before GST.
On Pulse the year costs ₹9,999 plus those Meta charges, paid to Meta on the salon’s own card. On a provider adding about 26% per message, such as AiSensy Basic, the same messages cost about ₹2,081 more a year before their platform fee is counted.
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Questions people ask
Is the WhatsApp Business API free in India?
No. Meta charges per delivered template message, from ₹0.115 for a utility message to ₹0.8631 for a marketing message before GST, and providers charge for their software. Some messages are free: your replies within 24 hours of a customer’s message, and utility templates sent while that window is open.
Is GST charged on WhatsApp messages?
Yes. Meta’s rates are before GST, and 18% GST applies. Businesses registered for GST can usually claim it back as input credit.
What is the cheapest way to use the WhatsApp Business API?
Pay Meta’s rates directly with no markup per message, and keep reminders and confirmations as utility templates rather than marketing. Pulse is built this way: ₹9,999 a year including GST, with Meta billing each message to your own card.
Why are marketing messages more expensive?
Meta prices marketing messages higher to keep WhatsApp from filling with promotions. It also limits how many marketing messages each person receives from all businesses, so offers work best sent to customers who know you.
Read next
- What is the WhatsApp Business API?
- WhatsApp Business app vs WhatsApp Business API
- How to get the WhatsApp Business API in India
- WhatsApp template categories: marketing, utility and authentication
- WhatsApp marketing message limits: why some messages are not delivered
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads: the free 72-hour window explained
- WhatsApp for Shopify and WooCommerce stores in India
- Arabic WhatsApp templates for UAE businesses
- Best WhatsApp Business API providers in India