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WhatsApp Integration & Pricing FAQ

Dilyara Updated by Dilyara

Meta's Pricing Update (Service Messages & Utility Templates)

Starting October 1, 2026: Meta will begin charging per-message for two messages types:
1. Service messages (free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer service window)
2. Utility messages sent in response to users (within an open 24-hour customer service window)

You can review Meta's official pricing details about this change here: Upcoming WhatsApp Pricing Updates
What's changing:

- Service messages will incur a Meta fee. Service messages are the free-form, non-template replies your bot, agents, or human agents send inside the 24-hour window.

Since November 2024 they have carried no Meta fee. From October 1, 2026, Meta will charge each one at the same per-message rate as utility templates in the recipient's country.

Rates effective October 1, 2026 are published by Meta here.

- Utility templates inside the 24-hour window become billable. Utility templates (order updates, alerts, reminders) have been free when sent inside an open 24-hour service window since July 2025.

That free status ends on October 1, 2026 — they'll now be charged at the standard utility rate for the recipient's country, whether sent inside or outside the window.

What's not charged by Meta
  • Conversations opened from Click-to-WhatsApp ads or Facebook/Instagram call-to-action buttons keep their 72-hour Free Entry Point window — Meta applies no fee to any message type sent inside it.
  • Meta applies no fee to the first 1,000 service messages per phone number per month.
  • Landbot includes 10,000 service messages per account per month at no Landbot fee. These two allowances are separate and stack: Meta's 1,000-per-number waives the Meta fee, Landbot's 10,000-per-account waives the Landbot fee. A service message costs you nothing only when it falls within both.
Landbot's fees are unchanged. Landbot passes Meta's fees through at cost, and its existing €0.003 service-message fee is not affected by this change. What's new is the Meta fee layer, not the Landbot one.

How Per-Message Pricing Works

Meta charges for WhatsApp per message: you pay for each message your business delivers to a user. Messages that users send to you are never charged.

What determines Meta's price

Each message sent and delivered by your business is billed individually. Meta's price for each message depends on three things:

1. Message Category - Each message has exactly one category and is charged once, for that category.

Category

What it is

When you can send it

Meta fee (from Oct 1, 2026)

Volume-tier discounts

Marketing

Template: promotions, offers, announcements, cart reminders

Any time, to opted-in users

Marketing rate

No

Utility

Template: order updates, alerts, reminders

Any time, to opted-in users

Utility rate, inside or outside the 24-hour window

Yes

Authentication

Template: one-time passcodes

Any time, to opted-in users

Authentication rate

Yes

Service

Free-form reply (text, media, buttons, lists) from your bot, AI Agent or human agents

Only inside the 24-hour customer service window

Same as the utility rate for that country

No

2. Recipient's country code (who the message is sent to - the recipient's phone number determines the regional pricing).

3. Volume tier (Utility and Authentication only): The more utility or authentication messages you send to a country in a month, the lower the rate per message. Tiers are counted across all WhatsApp Business accounts in your Meta business portfolio, and they reset at the start of each month. Service and marketing messages don't get tier discounts.

You can review Meta’s official pricing details here: WhatsApp Business Pricing.
Meta's rate cards and volume tiers, also available as an interactive rate calculator 👀
You can review a detailed example of how Meta calculates per-message charges here 👀
Landbot's fee

On top of Meta's fee, Landbot charges:

- €0.05 per delivered template message (marketing, utility or authentication)

- €0.003 per service message, once you've used the service messages included in your plan each month (WhatsApp Professional plan, for example, includes 10,000 service messages)

Landbot's fee is the same for every country.

Example -> if a business sends 1 marketing message and 1 utility message, that incurs 2 charges (1 of each category):

Message Categories

WhatsApp has two kinds of business messages:

  1. Template Messages: pre-approved messages you can send at any time, including to start a conversation, to opted-in users.
  2. Service Messages: free-form replies you can only send while a user's 24-hour customer service window is open.
👔 Template Messages:

To start a conversation, or to write to a user whose 24-hour window has closed, you must use a pre-approved WhatsApp Message Template, which are specific message formats that:

✅ Follow WhatsApp policies: to prevent spam and ensure messaging quality, Meta reviews each template before you can use it.

✅ Respect customer choice: you can only send them to users who have opted in previously.

↪ See how to get opt-ins

✅ Belong to one of three categories:

1️⃣ Marketing Messages — awareness, sales and re-engagement. Examples: product or feature announcements, promotions and offers, cart abandonment reminders

2️⃣ Utility Messages — follow-ups to something the user did or asked for. Examples: opt-in confirmations, order and delivery updates, account alerts, payment or appointment reminders

3️⃣ Authentication Messages — one-time passcodes to verify a user's identity. Examples: login verification, account recovery.

How Meta assigns the category

  • Meta assigns a category when it reviews your template, and it can change that category later.
  • If a template mixes content, for example an order update that also includes a discount, Meta classifies it as marketing.
  • You're charged for the category the template has at the moment you send it, so check your templates' categories regularly.
If a message does not clearly fit into Utility, or Authentication, Meta classifies it as Marketing.
Meta's template categorization guidelines explain how each category is decided
🙋 Service Messages (Free-form Replies):

→ Service Messages (free-form) — Whenever a user writes to you, you have 24 hours to reply freely, with no template or Meta approval needed. Every reply in that time is a service message, whoever sends it: your bot flow, your AI Agent, or a human agent in Inbox.

↪ You can only send service messages inside the customer service window. This 24-hour timer starts when a user messages you and restarts with each new user message. Once it closes, you can only reach the user with a template until they write to you again.

📌 Good to know:

  • From October 1, 2026, Meta charges each service message at the same rate as a utility template for that country.
  • A service message is always charged as service, even if it contains promotional content. Meta doesn't add a marketing charge.
  • Each account with the WhatsApp Professional plan includes 10,000 Service messages per month at no Landbot fee. After the free quota is used, Landbot apply a €0.003 fee per Service message.

❓FAQs - WhatsApp Pricing

How will Landbot charge for messages?

Template messages (Marketing, Utility, Authentication) - Meta’s per-message fee + €0.05 Landbot fee per delivered message.

For Service messages, Landbot includes 10,000 free Service messages per account per month, then applies €0.003 per message beyond that.

For complete details on Landbot pricing, please check our Pricing page 👈

Do message rates vary by country?

Yes. Meta’s base per-message fee depends on the recipient’s phone number country code. Landbot’s fee (€0.05 for templates, €0.003 for extra Service messages) is fixed and applies globally, regardless of recipient country.

About the 10,000 free messages

Each account with the WhatsApp Professional plan includes a monthly quota of 10,000 free Service messages (user-initiated category).

Free messages reset every month and are not cumulative. This free tier applies only to Service messages (user-initiated), and Marketing, Utility and Authentication message templates are not part of it.

Do the free messages from Ads that Click to WhatsApp count toward a business 10.000 free messages each month?

No, the 10.000 free messages is in addition to any free conversations from Ads that Click to WhatsApp. Learn more about Click to WhatsApp ads here.

What about Free Entry Point windows?

If a WhatsApp user messages you via a Click to WhatsApp Ad or Facebook Page Call-to-Action button:

- A 24-hour customer service window is opened (as usual).

- If your business responds within that window, a 72-hour Free Entry Point (FEP) window also opens.

- During the FEP window, you can send any type of message at no Meta charge.

The customer service window (24h) and the FEP window (72h) are independent. If the 24h service window closes, you can only send template messages unless the user sends a new message.

Learn more about Free Entry Point here.

If the business doesn’t respond to a user message, will it be charged?

No. The user-initiated conversation only starts when the business responds to the user message.

How does billing work if I have a yearly plan?

- Yearly plan customers enjoy a 20% annual discount.

- Extra message volume (beyond what’s included in your plan) is billed on a monthly basis.

❓ FAQs – Integration with WhatsApp Cloud API via Landbot

Can I still use the WhatsApp app once my number is integrated?

No. Once your number is connected to the WhatsApp Business Platform (Cloud API), it cannot be used in the regular WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business mobile apps.

👉 You’ll manage all conversations directly in the Landbot interface, where you can build flows, reply to messages, send campaigns, and track analytics.

Does Landbot sell WhatsApp numbers?

No. Landbot does not provide or sell WhatsApp numbers. You’ll need to use an existing phone number that must be able to receive either an SMS or voice call during the registration process.

Can I switch my WhatsApp number from another provider to Landbot?

Yes. If your number is already registered on the WhatsApp Business Platform with another provider (BSP), you can migrate it to Landbot. Learn more about the number migration process here.

Can I connect multiple WhatsApp numbers to Landbot?

Yes. You can register and manage multiple numbers within Landbot.

What happens to my existing WhatsApp groups or chat history?

When you integrate a number with the Cloud API:

Existing chat history from the WhatsApp app does not transfer to Landbot.

Groups are also not supported. The API is designed for business-to-customer interactions, not peer-to-peer or group chats.

Do I need technical skills to set up the integration?

No. Landbot provides a guided setup process for registering your number with the Cloud API, so no coding knowledge is required.

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