WhatsApp Business Pricing: What You Need to Know

As the world’s #1 messaging app, WhatsApp has become an important part of business-to-customer (B2C) communication.

The WhatsApp Business solution enables organizations to send useful, templated notifications to customers and to respond and support those who reach out to them on the channel.

However, the world-renowned chat app recently announced that it will be making changes to its pricing model next year. Read on to learn the details of the new WhatsApp Business pricing model and how it will impact your business.

WhatsApp Business pricing changes

Until now, WhatsApp’s pricing model has been based on charging businesses for the templated notifications they send, while customer-initiated conversations are free of charge for the first 24 hours.

However, starting February 1, 2022, this will change.

WhatsApp will switch from a notification-based pricing model to a conversation-based model for organizations using its business solution.

Conversation-based pricing explained

In the current notification-based pricing model, WhatsApp only charges for business-initiated, templated messages sent to customers outside the 24-hour window.

Starting February 1, 2022, businesses will be charged per conversation rather than per message sent, regardless of who starts the conversation. However, business-initiated conversation rates will vary from customer-initiated ones.

What’s considered a conversation?

WhatsApp defines a conversation as a fixed 24-hour session that includes all messages delivered to a customer – the keyword here being delivered, not sent. If a message is not delivered, the conversation has not started and it won’t be charged.

The 24-hour conversation session begins when:

• A business sends a message and the message is delivered to the customer, regardless of if the customer replies
• A customer sends a message that is delivered and the business replies with a message that is also delivered

It’s important to highlight that within this 24-hour session, costs are incurred only once (per each 24-hour conversation). But the cost of the session varies depending on the country code of the customer’s phone number.

When one 24-hour session (in other words, one conversation) ends, any new message sent from a business will start a new session that will be charged.

Get 1,000 free conversations and free entry points

In addition to changing its per message sent model, WhatsApp’s conversation-based pricing will give businesses the opportunity to expand existing use cases and combine them with other Meta products:

– The first 1,000 conversations, per registered WhatsApp Business Account, are free of charge each month.

– If a conversation is initiated by a customer through ads that click to Facebook or Instagram and is continued on WhatsApp, that conversation is free of charge as well. The same goes for conversations started on a Facebook page.

How the new WhatsApp Business pricing benefits your business

If you’ve been using WhatsApp to send multiple notifications to your customers, you’re sure to benefit from this change. Now, you can send an unlimited number of messages within a 24-hour session, rather than being charged for every message template sent.

Combining that with free conversations on a monthly basis and free entry points means you can use WhatsApp to its full potential – as a way to stay connected across your customers’ entire journey. And, with the chance to use WhatsApp for promotional notifications, now you can drive sales, send engaging offers, and support your customers from start to finish.

Customer Spotlight

ComparTfon, a telecom company from Mexico, uses WhatsApp as a new online sales channel through Infobip’s Moments, Conversation, and Answers. Now, the company experiences higher conversion rates and lower cart abandonment rates.

Key takeaways

– Pricing based on message templates will be deprecated from February 1, 2022.

– The new pricing model is based on 24-hour sessions (conversations). The session begins with a message being delivered. The baseline for pricing is one conversation.

– Costs vary depending on if a conversation is business- or customer-initiated – and depending on the country code of the customer’s phone number.

–  The first 1,000 conversations are free for businesses per month and per WhatsApp Business Solution account.

– Conversations that are started by customers from a Facebook page or through ads that click to Facebook and Instagram are free of charge.

– The change is imposed by WhatsApp – for full details, check out Facebook’s Conversation-Based Pricing page.

Infobip as your WhatsApp Business Solution Provider

Need help building WhatsApp use cases across your customer journey? We can help.

Migrate your existing WhatsApp sender to Infobip to take advantage of our omnichannel cloud solutions – or integrate the WhatsApp Business API into your existing system.

Our professional services will help you maximize return on your CX investment and fuel your growth with consultancy, onboarding packages, and 24/7 support.