Has the WhatsApp Business API pricing structure got you all confused?
We hear you. There’s a lot of information floating around the internet about conversion-based pricing, Business Service Providers (BSPs), conversation categories and whatnot.
Well, worry not! If you are planning to incorporate WhatsApp Business API into your business, you’ve come to the right place.
In this blog, we’ll tell you everything you’ve always wanted to know about WhatsApp Business API’s pricing structure but were too shy to ask.
NOTE: The article contains the latest WhatsApp Business API pricing effective October 1st, 2024.
WhatsApp Business API is a tool that helps businesses communicate with multiple customers efficiently through WhatsApp.
So if your business has a large audience base and you need to interact with them on WhatsApp, WhatsApp Business API constantly is the ideal tool for your business — you can automate your communication, confirm orders, create an e-commerce store on WhatsApp, receive payments, resolve customer inquiries, showcase your product and services, and much more — all from the most popular messaging platform in the world. 🙂
Related Read: Types of WhatsApp to learn more about which WhatsApp is the most suitable for your business.
You can configure a chatbot to automate responses. WhatsApp automation is extremely helpful for answering common, repetitive queries like pricing, features, order confirmations, etc. For example, if customers book an appointment, they instantly receive a confirmation message, without human intervention.
You can create message templates to send at different instances throughout the customer journey. For example, you can send an introductory message about the features of your product to a new lead on WhatsApp.
So whenever a prospect wants to know about the features, all you have to do is send a pre-set message template to resolve their query.
This way, you won’t have to type the same message again and again plus it will allow you to focus on doing more important tasks.
WhatsApp sorts messages based on their intent, like marketing conversations for promotional messages and utility conversations to send payment reminders, order updates, etc. Each category has its own rules and costs.
With bulk messages, you can reach multiple prospects at once. These messages can be about promotions, discounts, feature updates, and much more, depending on your use case. With bulk messages, you won’t have to waste time sending the same message to your prospects with a single click. You can even schedule messages to be sent at a specific time.
(Note: Bulk messages are subject to certain regulations like message categories, business size and API costs.)
Ever wondered how big brands like Amazon, Myntra, Zomato, etc. got a green tick next to their brand name on WhatsApp? Yes, you guessed it right, you can only get a green tick with WhatsApp Business API.
You can formulate data-driven strategies by tracking and monitoring your communication on WhatsApp. You can assess how effective your communication is, i.e., how many people read them, how many people interacted with your chatbot, etc
Pro tip: Integrate WhatsApp Business API with a WhatsApp CRM to manage and track all your WhatsApp leads from one place.
You’ll incur two types of costs when you purchase WhatsApp Business API:
WhatsApp follows a conversation-based pricing structure for WhatsApp business API- which means that WhatsApp charges businesses based on “conversations,” not individual messages. A conversation is like a chat between you and a customer. It lasts for 24 hours and includes all the messages within that time.
The pricing of the conversations depends on the conversation category. Business communication on WhatsApp is not unidimensional- you need to interact with your prospects and customers for different purposes. WhatsApp has classified these conversations into 2 broad categories:
i) Business Initiated Conversations (BIC): A conversation initiated by the business for any purpose (promotional messages, payment reminders, order updates, discounts, etc.) The moment the conversation is opened, the business is charged.
Once the conversation is opened, you can send as many messages within 24 hours and you’ll only be charged once.
ii) User Initiated Conversations (UIC): A conversation initiated by a customer or prospect, also known as service conversations.
Here’s the pricing structure for different categories of conversations offered by WhatsApp:
As the name suggests, marketing conversations enable you to promote your product or services on WhatsApp. You can send promotional messages about new features, inform your customers about discounts and offers, etc. Here’s the per conversation rate for marketing conversations in India:
Related Read: WhatsApp Marketing to learn more about how you can use WhatsApp for marketing your business.
Utility conversations are related to transactions- payment confirmations, order delivery, payment reminders, etc. The pricing varies from country to country. You can check the pricing for any country directly from the WhatsApp Business platform pricing.
The main purpose of Authentication conversations is to verify users’ identity with one-time passcodes.
So whenever you want to make sure that the right customer is receiving the order, or before sharing sensitive info about payment, you can use authentication conversations to send WhatsApp OTP to ensure you interact with the right person.
The conversations initiated by the user (customer or prospect) are service conversations. They could be about pricing, features, queries, etc.
Free tier conversations: WhatsApp provides 1000 free service conversations every month for a WhatsApp Business account across all of its business phone numbers.
Note 1: If you chat with your customer under different categories within the same day, you’ll be charged separately. For example, if you send a marketing message to your prospect, and thereafter the prospect decides to purchase the product or service, so you send them a utility message to confirm their payment.
So now you have 2 open conversations: marketing and utility, and hence you’ll have to pay separately.
Note 2: These prices are specifically mentioned in the context of India. The pricing structure is different for different countries. You can check the pricing from here: WhatsApp platform pricing.
Whenever a prospect or customer sends a message through ‘Click to WhatsApp ads’ or ‘Facebook page CTA button’, that conversation is free for 72 hours. In this window, you can send as many messages as you want to.
Here’s an example of click-to WhatsApp Ads:
Unlike WhatsApp Business, WhatsApp Business API is not an app you can find on playstore. It can only be accessed through a Business Service Provider or WhatsApp partner.
A Business Service Provider (BSP) is a bridge between a business and WhatsApp Business API. It helps in the initial setup, provides technical expertise and customer support, and charges a corresponding fee for the service.
Here’s what BSPs typically offer:
Different BSPs follow different pricing models. They may follow conversation-based pricing, or message-based pricing (user is charged per message), some even offer category-based pricing models (the more you pay, the better the features and services provided). You need to choose a service provider that caters to your specific requirements.
Understand what’s important for you- integrations with your existing software, customer support, analytics, etc and then decide on a service provider.
While most BSPs are simply platforms to connect you with WhatsApp Business API, Telecrm is a complete WhatsApp CRM that combines the features of Business API with a CRM.
So you’ll get all the WhatsApp Business API features plus, the following:
1. Lead management: You can capture, organise, and distribute all your WhatsApp leads to your team members automatically, and much more from one central hub.
2. Follow-up reminders: Schedule follow-up call reminders for hot leads and get notified on WhatsApp to never miss important follow-ups.
3. WhatsApp CRM: Capture your entire team’s WhatsApp chats in one dashboard so you don’t have to manually track each member- you can do it from one place.
4. Click to call from WhatsApp: You can directly call all your leads from WhatsApp with a single click (you’ll be automatically redirected to your phone’s dialer once you click on call.)
5. Performance reports: Generate a comprehensive report number of chats, deals won and lost, calls made by team members, follow-ups missed and taken etc. to assess how your team and strategies are performing and make changes where needed.
The best part: You get WhatsApp API, and WhatsApp CRM WITHOUT paying a dime as platform charges. You only have to pay a one-time setup fee for WhatsApp API and a recurring quarterly or annual licence for WhatsApp CRM.
So now that you know all about WhatsApp Business API pricing, it’s your chance to make the move!
Scout the market for a BSP that aligns with your specific requirements and incorporate WhatsApp Business API in your business now!
Or you could save yourself the trouble and go for Telecrm- a BSP with zero platform charges and a comprehensive WhatsApp CRM.
Connect with our sales team to know more!
No, WhatsApp Business API is not free. It operates on a conversation-based pricing model, where businesses are charged per conversation instead of individual messages. A conversation here means the number of messages that you send to a prospect or customer within 24 hours. Any message sent after the 24-hour timeframe will be considered a new conversation and charged separately.
There are 4 types of conversations: marketing, utility, service and authentication. All of these conversations are priced differently.
The price of WhatsApp Business API in India for different conversation types is as follows:
Marketing conversation: ₹ 0.7846/conversation
Utility conversation: ₹ 0.115/conversation
Service conversation: ₹ 0.2906/conversation
The WhatsApp Business app is free to download and use for small businesses. However, for businesses using WhatsApp Business API, you’ll incur costs based on the conversation-based pricing model, i.e., you’ll be charged per conversation you have with your prospect or customer.
A conversation here means the exchange of messages within a 24-hour timeframe. If you send a message after 24 hours, you’ll be charged for a new conversation.
To use WhatsApp Business API, you need to apply through a Business Solution Provider (BSP) who will assist with the setup and integration. Once approved, you can use it for bulk messaging, automating responses, categorising messages, and more, depending on your business needs.
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© Copyright 2025 Telecrm.in - All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy • T&C