Pricing guide · October 2026
WhatsApp Business API pricing in India
Meta charges about ₹0.8631 per marketing and ₹0.115 per utility message in India; Fliok adds ₹0, ₹1,999 or ₹4,499 a month, no markup.
Meta’s rules checked against Meta’s documentation on 5 October 2026.
Meta’s side
What Meta charges
Per delivered message, by category. India base rates (Meta’s India per-message rates, effective 1 October 2026), before volume discounts.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Category | What it is for | Per message to an Indian number | Free when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, announcements, re-engagement | ₹0.8631 | Inside the free entry-point window |
| Utility | Order, booking and account updates | ₹0.115 | Inside the free entry-point window |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes | ₹0.115 | Inside the free entry-point window |
| Service | Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window | ₹0.115 (the utility rate) | The first 1,000 each month on each number, and inside the free entry-point window |
These are India’s rates. Meta prices each message by the country of the number it goes to, so a message to another country costs what Meta’s card says for that country: rates for every country.
Prices exclude 18% GST. Meta’s pricing page and rate card site are the only authority on what a message costs.
What changed on 1 October 2026
From Meta’s pricing for non-template messages, read on 5 October 2026.
- Service replies are chargedFree-form API replies, by your team or an AI, after the number’s first 1,000 a month.
- In-window utility templates are chargedA utility template inside an open 24-hour window now costs the utility rate.
Unchanged
- The free window for ad leadsReply to an ad lead within 24 hours and Meta opens a free window, for up to 7 days (how).
- Incoming messagesMessages customers send you cost nothing.
- Billed on deliveryA message that is never delivered is not billed.
What stays free
The calculator takes the free tier off for you.
- The first 1,000 service messages a month, per numberMeta: “Meta provides every business phone number with a free tier of 1,000 service messages per month.” Resets monthly, no roll-over, service messages only (Meta’s pricing page, updated 30 September 2026).
- Replies typed in the WhatsApp Business appOn a coexistence number Meta says “messages sent by the business via the WhatsApp Business app will continue to be free, but messages sent via Cloud API will be subject to Cloud API pricing” (Meta’s coexistence page).
- One conditionWithout a payment method, service messages stop once the free tier is used, until one is added in Meta’s Billing Hub (how to add it).
Calculator
Estimate your monthly cost
Pick a plan, the country your customers are in and your monthly volumes.
Offers, announcements, re-engagement.
Order, booking and account updates. Charged inside the 24-hour window too.
One-time passcodes.
Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window (service messages). Leave out replies typed in the WhatsApp Business app: those stay free.
₹0.10 each from the AI wallet. Meta counts them as service messages.
Meta gives each number 1,000 free service messages a month.
Leave out messages that are free: anything sent inside the free entry-point window that follows a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, replies typed in the WhatsApp Business app, and messages customers send you. The calculator takes Meta’s 1,000 free service messages a month per number off for you.
Estimated monthly cost
₹3,192.10
Prices exclude 18% GST. An estimate for planning, not a bill.
How it is worked out
- Plan = ₹1,999.00
- Meta (India) = (1,000 × ₹0.8631) + (500 × ₹0.115) + (0 × ₹0.115) + (1,500 + 1,000 − 1,000 free) × ₹0.115
- AI wallet = 1,000 × ₹0.10
Fliok’s side
What Fliok charges
A flat monthly fee. No markup: Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business account directly.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Outgoing messages a month | AI agent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | ₹0 | ₹0 | 100 | Not included |
| Basic | ₹1,999 | ₹1,799 a month (₹21,588 a year) | 10,000 | ₹0.10 per AI reply |
| Pro | ₹4,499 | ₹4,049 a month (₹48,588 a year) | 100,000 | ₹0.10 per AI reply |
Prices exclude 18% GST.
- Annual billingAbout 10% cheaper per month.
- ₹100 of AI repliesAdded once, with your first paid plan (about 200 replies). Paid plans are charged when you subscribe; Free has no time limit.
- AI replies: ₹0.10 eachOn Basic (₹1,999 a month) and above, from a prepaid wallet (how it is billed).
- The message allowanceCaps what Fliok sends for you; it is not a bundle of Meta messages.
Enterprise has no limits and is priced by contract.
Save
How to keep the bill down
- Reply to ad leads within 24 hoursIt opens the free window, in which Meta charges nothing for what you send.
- Use the honest categoryUpdates are utility, far cheaper than marketing. Meta can reclassify a disguised offer.
- Send fewer, better marketing messagesMeta caps marketing per person (error 131049); Fliok holds that person back a day and keeps 48 hours between marketing templates.
- Know which replies Meta countsAPI replies cost the same at Meta whether your team or the AI wrote them, after 1,000 free a month; app replies are free.
- Watch the failure breakdownA failed template costs nothing but reaches nobody; Fliok groups failures by reason.
Two charges. Meta bills per delivered message to an Indian number: about ₹0.8631 for marketing and ₹0.115 for utility, authentication or a service reply. Fliok’s fee is ₹0 on Free, ₹1,999 a month on Basic or ₹4,499 on Pro. Prices exclude 18% GST.
Not all, since 1 October 2026. Each number gets 1,000 free service messages a month, then Meta charges each API reply at the utility rate (₹0.115 to an Indian number); in-window utility templates are charged from the first. Replies typed in the Business app, and everything in the free window after an ad lead, stay free.
No. Meta bills your own WhatsApp Business account directly. Fliok charges only its plan fee and, on Basic and above, the AI replies you use from the wallet.
Meta counts it as a service message, like a typed reply: free within the first 1,000 a month, ₹0.115 to an Indian number after. Fliok charges ₹0.10 per AI reply from the prepaid wallet.
Meta’s charges go on the payment method on your WhatsApp Business account. Fliok’s plan fee and wallet top-ups go through Razorpay (card, UPI or net banking), with an invoice each time.
How to add a payment method on MetaIt uses Meta’s base rates for the country you pick, the 1,000 free service messages and your counts. Volume discounts and the free window for ad leads can lower the real bill, and customers in several countries each cost their own country’s rate. Meta’s invoice is the authority.
Keep reading
Related guides
- Marketing message pricing and error 131049Why some marketing messages never arrive.Read more
- The free window for ad leadsWhat Meta does not charge after an ad lead writes in.Read more
- How AI replies are billedThe prepaid wallet, reply by reply.Read more
- The free WhatsApp Business API planWhat Free includes, and its limits.Read more
- How Fliok comparesNext to other WhatsApp platforms.Read more
- Fliok pricingEvery plan and limit in one table.Read more
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