WhatsApp Business app or Platform: what changed on 1 October 2026, and what it costs.
The free WhatsApp Business app isn’t charged. The Platform (the API) now charges for replies after the first 1,000 a month. What changed, what it costs, and which one to use.
The short answer
If you use the free WhatsApp Business app on your phone, nothing changed on 1 October 2026. The app costs nothing, and the messages you send from it are free.
The change is for the WhatsApp Business Platform, often called the WhatsApp API: the version businesses connect to software, such as a shared inbox, automatic follow-ups or an assistant. On the Platform, replies to customers used to be free. Now each number gets 1,000 free replies a month, then pays ₹0.115 for each one.
App or Platform: which one are you on?
| WhatsApp Business app | WhatsApp Business Platform (API) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A free app on your phone, with a business profile, catalogue, quick replies and an away message | A connection between your WhatsApp number and software |
| Who sends the messages | You or your staff, by hand | Software: an inbox, automatic follow-ups, an assistant |
| What Meta charges | Nothing | Per message, by type (below) |
| How you get it | From your phone’s app store | From Meta directly (the Cloud API), or through a provider |
If you’ve never signed up with a WhatsApp provider or connected your number to any software, you’re on the app, and this change doesn’t touch you.
What changed, and when
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1 July 2025: Meta started charging the Platform per message, instead of per conversation.
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15 January 2026: general-purpose AI chatbots were banned from the Platform. An assistant that answers your own customers about your own business (hours, fees, bookings) is still allowed.
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1 July 2026: Meta added its own AI agent for businesses, charged by use: about 4–5 US cents a reply, with no free allowance.
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1 October 2026: replies stopped being free. Each number gets 1,000 free replies a month, then pays for each one. Booking confirmations and reminders sent inside an open chat, free since July 2025, are charged again.
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31 December 2026: the last day to move accounts that Meta bills in India to rupee (INR) billing. From 1 January 2027, Meta stops delivering messages from those accounts if they’re still in another currency.
Meta changes its prices only four times a year: on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October.
What the Platform costs now
Meta’s India rates from 1 October 2026:
| Message | What it’s for | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Your replies within 24 hours of the customer’s last message | First 1,000 a month per number free, then ₹0.115 each |
| Utility | Confirmations, reminders, updates on an order or booking | ₹0.115 each, even inside an open chat |
| Authentication | One-time passwords | ₹0.115 each |
| Marketing | Offers, announcements, anything promotional. The customer must have agreed to receive them | ₹0.8631 each |
Four things to know:
- The 1,000 free replies don’t roll over to the next month.
- Without a payment method on the account, replies stop after the free 1,000.
- A chat that starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad stays free for a set window.
- Providers state that Meta’s rates are before GST at 18%. Check your first invoice.
A worked example: a clinic with 20 enquiries a day
Say a clinic gets about 20 WhatsApp enquiries a day. That’s roughly 600 chats a month, with three replies each, plus 300 booking confirmations.
| How the messages go out | Meta’s charges for the month |
|---|---|
| From the WhatsApp Business app, by the receptionist | ₹0 |
| From the Platform, through the clinic’s own inbox or assistant | Replies: 1,800, of which 1,000 are free, then 800 × ₹0.115 = ₹92. Confirmations: 300 × ₹0.115 = ₹34.50. About ₹127 before GST, plus whatever the software costs |
| From Meta’s own AI agent | 1,800 replies × 4–5 US cents: about US$72–90, plus the confirmations |
So for most small businesses, Meta’s own charges stay small. The bigger costs are elsewhere: some providers add a markup to every message and charge a monthly plan on top. One provider’s published rates in October 2026 were about 26% above Meta’s, plus ₹1,500 a month; with its AI add-on, the same clinic would pay about ₹3,000 a month.
Which should you use?
Stay on the app if most enquiries come in during working hours, one or two people reply from a phone, and quick replies and an away message are enough.
Consider the Platform if enquiries arrive after hours and wait until morning, several people need to share one inbox, or you want confirmations, reminders and review requests to go out on their own.
You can have both on one number. Meta’s coexistence, set up through a provider or a Meta Tech Provider, lets a number on the Business app connect to the Platform without changing number:
- You keep replying from your phone, and those messages stay free. Only what software sends through the Platform is charged.
- Up to six months of chats can be copied across.
- Some things change: group chats aren’t synced, broadcast lists become read-only, and disappearing messages, view-once and live location are turned off in one-to-one chats.
- You need version 2.24.17 of the Business app, or later.
Mistakes to avoid
- Thinking the app now costs money. It doesn’t. The October change is for the Platform.
- Paying a markup without knowing it. Ask any provider for its per-message rates in writing, and compare them with Meta’s rate card. On the first invoice, look for Meta’s charge, GST, and nothing added.
- A chatbot that talks about anything. General-purpose AI chatbots are banned on the Platform. An assistant should answer only about your business, and hand everything else to a person.
- Sending offers to people who didn’t agree to them. Marketing messages need the customer’s opt-in, and each one costs ₹0.8631, more than seven times a reply.
- Bulk-sender apps. Unofficial apps that send messages in bulk from an ordinary number risk getting the number banned.
- Medical advice from a bot. For clinics: automatic replies can give timings and book visits, but must never diagnose or advise. Doctors have their own rules on advertising, too.
- An account in someone else’s name. Your WhatsApp account and number should belong to you. Where you can, have Meta bill your own card, so you see exactly what you pay.
- Missing the rupee deadline. If Meta bills your Platform account, check it’s in INR before 31 December 2026. If a provider handles it, ask them in writing whether your account has moved.
Last checked
5 October 2026, against Meta’s pricing documentation (updated 30 September 2026) and reports of the 1 October change. Meta’s prices change only on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, and we re-check this guide each time.
Sources
- Meta: WhatsApp Business Platform pricing (opens in a new tab), and the India rate card linked from it
- Meta: Onboarding WhatsApp Business app users (opens in a new tab) (coexistence)
- Meta: Partners and who pays for messages (opens in a new tab)
- Convergence, 30 September 2026: WhatsApp Business pricing in India: what changes from October 1 (opens in a new tab)
- TechCrunch, 18 October 2025: WhatsApp changes its terms to bar general-purpose chatbots (opens in a new tab)
- Providers’ own pricing pages, for the markup example
Not sure what happens to your enquiries?
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How we make these guides: we draft them with AI from the sources listed, check every fact against those sources, and a person approves each one before it goes live.