WhatsApp Business API Pricing in India (2026): What You Actually Pay
Meta's per-message rates for marketing, utility and authentication messages in India, what platforms add on top, and worked monthly costs for small and growing brands.
WALoops team
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In this guide
- Meta charges per message delivered, and the price depends on the message category. In India a marketing message costs ₹0.8631 and a utility or authentication message costs ₹0.115, before GST.
- Messages customers send you are free.
- Most platforms add a markup on top of Meta's rate, typically 10% to 26% on marketing messages, as well as a monthly plan fee.
- Your real monthly cost is plan fee + (messages × the rate you are charged). At high volume the per-message rate matters more than the plan price.
If you are comparing WhatsApp tools for an Indian brand, the pricing pages can be hard to line up against each other. Some show a low monthly fee and put the message rates in a separate rate card. Some quote prices per conversation, even though Meta moved to per-message pricing. This guide explains what Meta charges, what a platform can add, and how to work out what you will really pay.
How Meta charges for WhatsApp messages
The WhatsApp Business API (Meta calls it the WhatsApp Business Platform) is billed by Meta per delivered template message. A template is a message you write in advance and submit to Meta for approval, like an order update or an offer. Every template belongs to one of three categories, and each category has its own price:
| Category | Used for | Meta's India rate |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, new launches, cart reminders, win-back messages, anything that promotes | ₹0.8631 |
| Utility | Order confirmations, shipping and delivery updates, payment receipts, COD confirmation | ₹0.115 |
| Authentication | One-time passwords (OTP) for login, signup or checkout | ₹0.115 |
Rates are in rupees per message, before GST, as of 1 October 2026. Meta revises them from time to time and announces changes in advance, so check the current rate card before you plan a big campaign.
What is free
- Incoming messages. A customer messaging you costs nothing.
- Your first 1,000 service replies each month. When a customer writes to you, a 24-hour customer service window opens and you can reply with normal free-form messages. From 1 October 2026 the first 1,000 of these replies each month are free, and after that they are billed at ₹0.115 each. Older articles that say replies are always free are out of date.
What platforms add on top
You rarely use the API directly. You use a platform (a Business Solution Provider, or a tech provider like WALoops) that gives you the inbox, campaigns, chatbots and integrations. Platforms make money in two ways:
- A monthly plan fee for the software.
- A markup on each message. Many platforms bill your messages themselves, at a rate above Meta's. The difference is their margin.
Here is what the popular Indian platforms charge per marketing message on their public pricing pages, compared with Meta's own rate:
| Platform | Marketing message | Over Meta's rate |
|---|---|---|
| WALoops | ₹0.8631 (billed by Meta) | 0% |
| WATI | ₹0.9667 to ₹1.0357 | +12% to +20% |
| Interakt | ₹0.949 to ₹0.97 | +10% to +12% |
| AiSensy | ₹1.09 | +26% |
A markup of 10% to 26% sounds small per message. It adds up once you send at volume, and it applies to every message, including cart reminders and order updates that bring in revenue.
Some platforms with a markup also include things that are paid extras elsewhere, like unlimited team members or a free starter plan, so the markup alone doesn't decide it. You have to add up the whole bill.
How to work out your monthly cost
Use this formula for each platform you are considering:
Then run it for the volume you expect in six months, not just today. A tool that is cheapest at 5,000 messages can be the most expensive at 50,000.
Worked examples
Marketing messages only, each platform on its cheapest plan that fits the team, before GST:
| Business | WALoops | WATI | Interakt | AiSensy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A new D2C brand one person, 5,000 marketing messages a month |
₹6,815 Premium |
₹8,178 Growth |
₹4,850 Starter |
₹6,950 Basic |
| A growing store three people, 20,000 marketing messages a month |
₹22,261 Advance |
₹23,713 Growth |
₹21,959 Growth |
₹23,300 Basic |
| An established brand five people, 50,000 marketing messages a month |
₹48,154 Advance |
₹56,128 Pro |
₹50,699 Growth |
₹56,000 Basic |
Two things stand out:
- At low volume, a free or cheap plan wins. With one person and 5,000 messages, Interakt's free Starter plan costs less than any paid plan, markup included.
- At higher volume, the markup decides it. By 50,000 messages a month, paying Meta's own rate saves thousands of rupees a month, even on a more expensive plan.
You can try your own numbers with the calculator on our WATI, Interakt and AiSensy comparison pages.
Costs people forget
- Extra team members. Some plans include 3 or 5 users and charge ₹750 to ₹2,199 a month for each extra one.
- Chatbot and AI add-ons. A flow builder or AI agent is sometimes a separate monthly add-on.
- GST. Plan fees and message charges both attract 18% GST, so budget for it on top of the prices above.
- Wallet top-ups. Platforms that bill messages themselves often need prepaid credit. If the wallet runs dry, campaigns and order updates stop.
- Annual lock-in. The lowest advertised plan price is often the annual price, paid up front.
How to cut your WhatsApp bill
- Use utility templates for transactional messages. Order, shipping and payment updates written without promotional wording stay in the cheaper utility category.
- Segment campaigns. Send offers to customers who bought or clicked recently instead of your whole list. You pay per delivered message, so a smaller, better list costs less and gets fewer blocks.
- Answer inside the service window. When a customer writes first, reply there with free-form messages instead of starting a new template.
- Pick the plan for next year's volume. If you expect to grow, a zero-markup platform saves more each month you grow.
How WALoops pricing works
With WALoops you connect your own WhatsApp Business account, and Meta bills you directly at its own rate, so there is no markup on any message. You pay WALoops only for the software: Premium at ₹2,499 a month for one user, or Advance at ₹4,999 a month with unlimited team members. Both include the shared inbox, campaigns, the chatbot builder and the AI agent. See plans and pricing.
