Payment for official WhatsApp has two parts: a monthly subscription for the line, a fixed amount per month, and the line balance, which pays for messages at Meta's rates. This article covers the second part: how much a message costs, what changes on 1 October 2026, and why outgoing messages may stop being sent.
How much a message costs
Meta's rate depends on the type of message and the country it goes to. For Kazakhstan numbers:
| Message type | Until 1 Oct 2026 | From 1 Oct 2026 | When it is charged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | $0.086 | $0.086 | Broadcasts, promotions: always |
| Utility | $0.0286 | $0.0286 | Order status, reminder, receipt |
| Authentication code | $0.0286 | $0.0286 | One-time passwords |
| Reply inside the 24-hour window | $0.0286 | $0.0286 | Any message from an agent |
| Inbound from a customer | $0.0021 | $0.0021 | Every message a customer sends you |
The message category is assigned by Meta's moderation when a template is approved. Adding promotional wording to a utility template moves it into marketing, and the price goes up several times over.
What changes on 1 October 2026
Meta has published a new rate card that takes effect on 1 October 2026. Three things change for businesses in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is now a separate market. Previously Kazakhstan numbers were billed under the general "Other" group at one of the lowest rates. Kazakhstan now has its own rates, and for utility and authentication messages they are more than twice as high as before.
Conversations inside the 24-hour window are now charged. Until October, agent replies within the service window were not billed by Meta. From 1 October every reply counts as a separate paid message.
Utility templates inside the 24-hour window are charged too. An order confirmation sent in reply to a customer message used to be free. It is now billed like any other message.
Marketing broadcasts are unaffected: the rate stays the same. Meta does not charge for inbound messages from customers, either now or after October.
The 24-hour window: how it works
As soon as a customer messages you, a 24-hour service window opens. While it is open you can write to the customer in free text, without an approved template. Every new customer message extends the window by another 24 hours.
Once the window closes, you can only reach the customer with an approved template. Until 1 October 2026 conversations inside the window cost almost nothing; from that date every outgoing message is charged at its category rate whether the window is open or not. The window now affects only whether a template is required, not the price.
Customers from ads: 72 hours at the service fee
This applies from 1 October 2026. If a customer messaged you by tapping "Message on WhatsApp" in an ad, Meta charges nothing for delivering messages to that person for the next 72 hours: neither for the conversation nor for templates. We pass this on: while the window is open, only a $0.0286 service fee is deducted per message instead of the full category price.
The 72 hours start from your first reply, and that reply must go out within 24 hours of the customer's message, otherwise the window never opens. Meta adds one more condition: the customer must tap the button on a phone (Android or iPhone); a click from a computer or WhatsApp Web does not open the window, and those messages are billed at the normal price. Once the time is up, messages are billed at the normal rate again. Such messages are flagged separately in the billing report.
How the bill is calculated
You are charged per message, not per conversation. Five short agent replies mean five charges; one complete reply means one. After 1 October, splitting an answer into "Hello", "One moment" and "Yes, it's in stock" costs three times as much as a single coherent message.
International numbers
The rate is set by the recipient's country. Messages to Europe, Asia and other regions cost more than messages to Kazakhstan, sometimes two or three times more. Your manager can quote the exact rate for a specific destination.
Credit limit: −$0.45
The balance may go slightly negative: we allow a debt of up to −$0.45. While the balance stays above that mark, everything works as usual.
Once the balance drops below −$0.45, outgoing messages stop being sent: broadcasts halt and templates are not delivered. Inbound messages still arrive and the line itself is not disconnected. Top up the balance and sending resumes immediately.
Where to check the balance and how to top up
The line balance is shown in the Channels section, with a green top-up button next to the amount. You can pay by card or by invoice for legal entities.