WhatsApp Business Messaging To Get Costlier Under Meta’s New Per-Message Pricing Model
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Businesses using WhatsApp to connect with customers may soon face higher monthly bills, as Meta is set to roll out a revised global pricing model starting July 1, 2025. The update will move from a per-conversation to a per-message billing system—causing a potential spike in overall communication costs for enterprises.
While some companies may shift their messaging volumes to alternatives like traditional SMS or Google RCS, Meta insists the new structure will be more transparent and appealing, especially for those operating at scale.
Per-Message Pricing Begins July 1
According to Meta's updated pricing details, marketing messages will now cost Rs 0.78 per message, rather than the previous flat rate of Rs 0.78 for all messages sent within a 24-hour conversation window. This shift means every individual message will be billable, likely pushing businesses’ total spend upward.
For utility messages, such as order confirmations or thank-you notes, the rate is now Rs 0.11 per message. Earlier, businesses could send multiple utility messages within the same 24-hour period at no additional cost. Still, WhatsApp remains marginally cheaper than SMS (Rs 0.12–0.15) and RCS (Rs 0.20–0.25) services in India.
Meta Justifies Simpler, Predictable Structure
“The reason for us to do this is to simplify the pricing structure. It's how most businesses think of how they allocate their budgets and per message pricing just makes it a lot simpler for them because it brings more predictability. It's more valuable and utilitarian,” said Nikila Srinivasan, Vice-President, Business Messaging at Meta.
She added that the new tiered model, based on volume, offers attractive rates for high-usage businesses, especially those sending millions of messages monthly.
Tiered Pricing Structure Unveiled
For the first time, WhatsApp has introduced volume-based pricing, which will take effect on July 1. Businesses sending:
Multiple tiers exist between these two extremes, allowing reduced rates with higher volumes.
Concerns and Adjustments in the Industry
Despite the potential long-term benefits, several industry aggregators and communications firms predict businesses may initially cut back on WhatsApp usage or reallocate budgets to cheaper platforms. With India and Brazil being WhatsApp’s largest business messaging markets, these changes are particularly relevant for Indian companies that have benefited from historically low prices.
“Enterprises will take some time to adjust to the change because communication budgets do not change monthly,” said the founder of a communications firm. “Hence, we expect some reallocation towards other channels or simple cut-down on marketing campaigns. But WhatsApp is emerging as a sticky channel and enterprises will need to address their needs where the customers are.”
From Discounts to Restructuring
This major shift follows a year of aggressive global price cuts from WhatsApp in 2024, where the platform slashed messaging rates by 16–97% in multiple markets, including a 63% reduction in India. The upcoming pricing strategy appears to be a course correction aimed at long-term monetisation.
Focus on Engagement Over Volume
According to Beerud Sheth, co-founder and CEO of communication platform Gupshup, the key for businesses now is to prioritise engaging content over mass communication.
“Interactive messages that generate user responses will prove to be cost-effective, as compared to one-way business messages. Therefore, businesses have to adapt. They have to focus on engaging the customer, rather than bombarding them with marketing messages,” he noted.
While some companies may shift their messaging volumes to alternatives like traditional SMS or Google RCS, Meta insists the new structure will be more transparent and appealing, especially for those operating at scale.
Per-Message Pricing Begins July 1
According to Meta's updated pricing details, marketing messages will now cost Rs 0.78 per message, rather than the previous flat rate of Rs 0.78 for all messages sent within a 24-hour conversation window. This shift means every individual message will be billable, likely pushing businesses’ total spend upward.
For utility messages, such as order confirmations or thank-you notes, the rate is now Rs 0.11 per message. Earlier, businesses could send multiple utility messages within the same 24-hour period at no additional cost. Still, WhatsApp remains marginally cheaper than SMS (Rs 0.12–0.15) and RCS (Rs 0.20–0.25) services in India.
Meta Justifies Simpler, Predictable Structure
“The reason for us to do this is to simplify the pricing structure. It's how most businesses think of how they allocate their budgets and per message pricing just makes it a lot simpler for them because it brings more predictability. It's more valuable and utilitarian,” said Nikila Srinivasan, Vice-President, Business Messaging at Meta.
She added that the new tiered model, based on volume, offers attractive rates for high-usage businesses, especially those sending millions of messages monthly.
Tiered Pricing Structure Unveiled
For the first time, WhatsApp has introduced volume-based pricing, which will take effect on July 1. Businesses sending:
- Up to 25 million messages monthly will be charged Rs 0.115 per message
- Beyond 300 million messages, the rate drops to Rs 0.080 per message
Multiple tiers exist between these two extremes, allowing reduced rates with higher volumes.
Concerns and Adjustments in the Industry
Despite the potential long-term benefits, several industry aggregators and communications firms predict businesses may initially cut back on WhatsApp usage or reallocate budgets to cheaper platforms. With India and Brazil being WhatsApp’s largest business messaging markets, these changes are particularly relevant for Indian companies that have benefited from historically low prices.
“Enterprises will take some time to adjust to the change because communication budgets do not change monthly,” said the founder of a communications firm. “Hence, we expect some reallocation towards other channels or simple cut-down on marketing campaigns. But WhatsApp is emerging as a sticky channel and enterprises will need to address their needs where the customers are.”
From Discounts to Restructuring
This major shift follows a year of aggressive global price cuts from WhatsApp in 2024, where the platform slashed messaging rates by 16–97% in multiple markets, including a 63% reduction in India. The upcoming pricing strategy appears to be a course correction aimed at long-term monetisation.
Focus on Engagement Over Volume
According to Beerud Sheth, co-founder and CEO of communication platform Gupshup, the key for businesses now is to prioritise engaging content over mass communication.
“Interactive messages that generate user responses will prove to be cost-effective, as compared to one-way business messages. Therefore, businesses have to adapt. They have to focus on engaging the customer, rather than bombarding them with marketing messages,” he noted.
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