There’s a rumor going around the internet about WhatsApp that it will now cost 14 paise to send a message. It’s worth noting that this information is not false. This news emerged from new pricing documents released by Meta. Consequently, people are now questioning whether they’ll have to pay for sending messages on WhatsApp.
This information isn’t false, but it relates to the billing rules of the commercial platform WhatsApp Business API. New rules regarding service and utility messaging are coming into effect on October 1st, 2026.
If you’re thinking you’ll have to pay to send messages on WhatsApp, that’s not true. WhatsApp will remain free for the general public as always. Furthermore, if you’re chatting with a business account, you won’t be charged anything. This new billing system is only applicable to large corporate and enterprise-level Business API accounts.
WhatsApp will charge companies, banks, online shopping apps, and large startups that send automated messages to customers on a large scale for each message.
You can understand this by thinking that when you receive a balance alert from your bank, a delivery information from an e-commerce platform, or an OTP from a company, those businesses pay for it. All this money goes directly to Meta.
Meta had abolished the 24-hour conversation-based model from July 1, 2025, and started charging for each message. A major change is going to be implemented from October 1, under which companies will be charged for utility messages sent to the customer support window and service messages beyond the set free limit.
This means that every business phone number will receive 1,000 free messages per month for service messages sent for customer care and support. After this quota is reached, each business will be charged per message.
Additionally, utility messages, which were previously free within a 24-hour window upon receiving a customer message, will also be charged starting October 1st.
Under Meta’s rules, the most expensive messages will be marketing messages, with companies paying approximately 0.86 per message for offers, sales, and promotional broadcasts.
In addition, a charge of approximately 11.5 paise per message will be levied for sending order status, delivery updates, and login passwords (OTPs). The total cost, including GST, will be 14 paise.