WhatsApp Business pricing will change dramatically and affect businesses of all sizes. Meta plans to move WhatsApp Business from conversation-based pricing to per-message billing starting July 1, 2025. Your business will pay for each template message sent, whatever time you send it.

The old system let businesses send multiple messages in a conversation window for one fee. The new structure will charge for each message delivered. WhatsApp’s message system now includes three main categories: Marketing messages, Utility messages, and Authentication messages. On top of that, the 24-hour customer service window that set the previous pricing rules won’t work the same way anymore.

These changes might feel overwhelming right now. In this piece, we’ll explain everything about WhatsApp Business new pricing update and structure to help your messaging strategy get ready for July 2025 and beyond.

What’s new in WhatsApp Business pricing?

The new WhatsApp Business pricing structure shows a complete transformation in how businesses will pay for messaging services. The entire framework will change from July 1, 2025, moving from the current model to something more detailed that could be more economical for planned users.

Per-message pricing: The core model

WhatsApp Business new pricing update brings the most important change as it moves from conversation-based billing to a per-message approach. Companies will pay for each message sent individually instead of 24-hour conversation sessions. This new system means each template message delivered comes with its own cost, which changes how companies need to plan their messaging strategy.

Businesses must think over which messages they send and when under this new model. The price varies based on several factors:

• Message category (Marketing, Utility, or Authentication)
• Recipient location (country or region)
• Message volume (with potential discounts for higher volumes)
• Entry point (how the conversation was initiated)

Companies that use WhatsApp as their main communication channel just need a more planned approach. They’ll have to review each message’s value instead of maximizing messages within a conversation window.

The new structure also makes the difference between free and paid messaging clearer. Customer-initiated conversations stay free within a 24-hour window, while business-initiated messages and responses outside that window follow the per-message pricing model.

The pricing update introduces volume-based discounts that weren’t there before. Large businesses can save money if they optimize their messaging patterns effectively.

This change might look like a price increase at first, but it creates more ways to control costs and optimize spending. Companies that adapt their communication strategies to this new model might get better results through more focused messaging.

The 3 categories of messages: What you’re paying For?

Meta has divided WhatsApp Business new pricing update and structure into three distinct categories. Each category comes with its own pricing model. Businesses need this information to plan their messaging strategy under the new July 2025 framework.

Marketing Messages

Marketing Messages are communications we created to promote products, services, or brands. These messages showcase special offers, new product launches, or promotional campaigns. The new pricing structure charges the highest rates for marketing messages since they provide direct business value. Companies should think over how they use these messages to ensure good returns on their investment.

Utility Messages

Utility Messages help deliver key information customers need. Order confirmations, shipping updates, appointment reminders, and reservation details fall into this category. The pricing sits between marketing and authentication messages. These messages benefit both sides by helping share needed information efficiently.

Authentication Messages

Authentication Messages make up the third category that focuses on account verification and security. One-time passwords (OTPs), login verification codes, and account confirmation messages belong here. These messages cost the least among all three categories because they’re brief and handle essential security tasks.

The final cost of each message depends on several factors beyond its category. Location plays a big role – prices change quite a bit between countries and regions. These differences come from varying operating costs, market conditions, and rules in different areas.

Message volume changes the pricing too. Meta gives sliding scale discounts when businesses send more messages. Companies with bigger customer bases can get better rates as they send more messages.

How conversations start also affects the cost?

When customers start talking through Meta’s entry points (like Facebook and Instagram ads with WhatsApp buttons), businesses can reply free within 24 hours. But when businesses start the conversation, they pay based on the message type.

Meta wants to make pricing clearer by splitting messages into these three categories. This setup helps companies think carefully about their messaging strategy. The focus stays on messages that work well for everyone involved.

Free messaging inside the 24-hour customer service window

The 24-hour customer service window plays a vital role in WhatsApp’s new pricing structure. Businesses can send free messages during this time. The window starts when a customer messages your business. WhatsApp calls this a “user-initiated conversation“.

Businesses can communicate freely during these 24 hours. You can send unlimited messages without extra charges once a customer reaches out. This includes text messages and rich media content that usually needs template approval.

The system works better with each customer response. The 24-hour timer starts fresh every time. Your conversations stay free as long as customers keep responding.

The July 2025 update brings good news about utility communications. Utility template messages won’t cost anything if sent within an open customer service window. This helps businesses save money by timing their updates well.

Marketing costs depend on how customers start the chat. Customers who come through Click-to-WhatsApp ads or Facebook Page buttons give businesses 72 hours of free messaging. This is a big deal as it means that all template types are free during this extended period.

User-initiated service conversations have changed the most. Earlier, businesses got 1,000 free service conversations each month. Now, with the July 2025 update, all service conversations are free, whatever the volume.

Here’s how to make the most of free messaging:

• Reply quickly to keep the service window active
• Time utility updates within open service windows
• Use Click-to-WhatsApp ads to get the 72-hour free window
• Remember to use paid templates after the window closes

The 24-hour window runs non-stop. Customers can message at any time, day or night. The countdown starts right away, so businesses need the right team setup to use free messaging effectively.

Business-initiated messages now cost per message. However, this customer service window is a great way to cut costs if you use it well.

New volume-based discounts: Save more as you scale

The July 2025 pricing update brings an attractive feature for businesses sending large volumes of messages – volume-based discounts. This tiered pricing system creates substantial cost-saving opportunities as your messaging scale grows.

Businesses will get automatic rate reductions as their monthly message volume increases, starting July 1, 2025. The new structure targets utility and authentication messages, and rates decrease progressively across defined volume tiers. Your per-message cost becomes lower as you send more messages within these categories.

The volume discount system has these key features:

• Monthly tier reset – Each month starts with a fresh message count
• Market-specific tiers – Each country and message type has different discount thresholds
• Automatic tier progression – Rates adjust automatically when you reach new volume levels
• Business-wide aggregation – Your company’s total tier qualification counts all WhatsApp Business accounts

Meta’s strategy clearly aims to make WhatsApp more competitive against traditional SMS for high-volume transactional messaging. Authentication messages like one-time passwords and utility messages such as shipping notifications become more affordable at scale.

Here’s an example: A business sending 3.2 million authentication messages to Indian users in a month would see tiered pricing. The standard rate applies to the first 250,000 messages. The next tiers get 5%, 10%, and finally 15% discounts on the final 1.2 million messages. This creates a much lower blended cost than flat-rate pricing.

Tools like those offered by CampaignHQ are a great way to get live analytics and help manage messaging volumes quickly. These tools help businesses make the most of these new volume-based discounts while optimizing their WhatsApp messaging strategy.

Free entry points: Maximize value from Ads and page buttons

WhatsApp Business new pricing update and structure offers valuable cost-saving opportunities through free entry points. These special conversation starters let businesses chat with customers without charges for an extended time.

Businesses can trigger free entry point conversations under two conditions. A customer must message your business through a Click to WhatsApp Ad or Facebook Page Call-to-Action button using their mobile device (Android or iOS). Your business should respond within 24 hours after receiving this message. The free messaging window activates right after you respond.

The real value of these entry points lies in their duration. Standard customer service windows last 24 hours, but free entry point conversations stay open for 72 hours. Businesses can send any type of message during this time – even marketing templates that usually cost money – at no charge.

Businesses can employ these free entry points in several ways:

• Click-to-message ads: Turkish fashion brands using this approach saw 55% of chatbot users place their first order directly through the messaging app
• Website widgets and contact pages: An Indonesian online grocery retailer reduced their average response time to just 1 minute, with 99.95% of support messages answered within 5 minutes
• Exit intent pop-ups: A German clothing retailer grew their messaging audience to over 100,000 people and increased revenue by 5%
• QR codes on desktop sites: These help bridge the gap for users browsing on computers

What’s free vs what’s charged: Example scenarios

Let’s get into several ground scenarios that businesses face to show how WhatsApp’s new pricing model works. These examples will help you plan your costs and find ways to send free messages.

Example 1: E-commerce Order Updates A customer places an order on your website and wants updates through WhatsApp:

• The customer’s original question about order status starts a 24-hour service window
• You can respond with order confirmation without any charge
• Shipping updates within this window stay free
• A delivery update sent 30 hours later costs you a utility message fee

Example 2: Appointment Reminders A healthcare clinic sends appointment reminders:

• The clinic pays a utility message fee to remind patients 3 days before appointments
• The patient’s questions open a new 24-hour window
• Every message in this window stays free, including booking changes

Example 3: Marketing Campaigns A retail business runs a seasonal promotion:

• Marketing message fees apply to sales updates sent to existing customers
• Messages stay free if customers clicked a WhatsApp ad in the last 72 hours
• Marketing rates apply to follow-up promotional messages after the free window ends

Example 4: Customer Support Technical support works like this:

• Customer questions trigger free 24-hour windows
• Support teams can respond freely whatever the volume
• Automated check-ins about resolved issues cost utility fees outside the window

The difference between free and paid messaging comes down to three things: conversation starters, timing, and message type. Smart businesses focus on customer-started conversations and quick responses to maximize free messages. Companies that depend on outbound campaigns will see higher costs with the new pricing.

Who benefits most from these changes?

The July 2025 pricing changes will bring major benefits to several business types. We found that high-volume message senders will enjoy the new volume-based discount structure, especially those who send utility and authentication messages regularly. Lower rates become available automatically as businesses scale their messaging across defined volume tiers.

Companies that focus on transactional messaging will benefit the most. WhatsApp’s pricing update makes it more competitive against traditional SMS channels for sending:

• Order confirmations and shipping updates
• One-time passwords and verification codes
• Appointment reminders and booking confirmations

Businesses using WhatsApp Business API can maintain a 90% message delivery rate and benefit from the platform’s impressive 98% open rate. This makes transactional communications both reliable and visible.

Customer service-oriented businesses will see huge benefits from unlimited free service conversations. The previous cap of 1,000 free monthly conversations no longer exists. Support teams can now talk to unlimited customers at no extra cost.

Small businesses will also see great advantages. They can now enter the market easily since service conversation limits no longer exist. On top of that, the new pricing model rewards precision over volume-based engagement. This helps smaller operations compete better.

Marketing-focused organizations get more value through the free entry point system in Meta’s ecosystem. When customers engage through Facebook and Instagram advertising, businesses get extended 72-hour free messaging windows by connecting WhatsApp to these channels.

Tools like CampaignHQ’s WhatsApp marketing features can help businesses optimize their WhatsApp strategy under these new pricing terms. These tools help maximize benefits while keeping costs under control.

The July 2025 changes reward businesses that communicate strategically. Companies that adopt “intent-based messaging and cost-aware planning” will improve their response rates and “reduce unnecessary spend” in their customer communication efforts.

How CampaignHQ helps you maximize value with WhatsApp’s new pricing?

With WhatsApp’s new pricing structure rewarding strategic messaging—like free-form replies, utility templates within 24 hours, and free entry points—CampaignHQ becomes a powerful ally for businesses looking to reduce costs and boost engagement.

Automated smart messaging within free windows

CampaignHQ’s automation workflows ensure that:

• Responses are triggered within the 24-hour customer service window using free-form or utility messages → No charge
• You stay compliant while minimizing unnecessary costs for late or template-based replies

📉 Result: Reduced WhatsApp spend by keeping interactions inside the free-response window.

Maximizing the 72-Hour free entry point from Ads

If users message you via:

• Click-to-WhatsApp ads
• Facebook Page action buttons

CampaignHQ helps you:

• Automatically identify and track these sessions
• Launch follow-up messages and flows within the 72-hour no-charge window for both templates and free-form messages

📉 Result: Zero-cost messaging for up to 3 days if done right—with CampaignHQ’s automation handling the timing.

Volume-aware sending to unlock tiered discounts

WhatsApp now offers tiered pricing—the more you send (per country-category), the cheaper the rates:

• Tier 2 → –5%
• Tier 3 → –10%
• Tier 4 → –15%
• Tier 5 → –20%

CampaignHQ’s analytics and reporting help you:

• Track usage by message type (utility/authentication/marketing)
• Plan campaigns to scale volume intelligently
• Unlock lower per-message costs through strategic volume growth

📉 Result: Predictable costs and better ROI from WhatsApp as you scale.

Combine WhatsApp with low-cost email via AWS SES

With its built-in SES integration, CampaignHQ lets you:

• Offload long-form or low-priority messages to cost-effective email
• Use WhatsApp only when it’s high-value or inside a free window

📉 Result: You avoid paying for unnecessary WhatsApp templates and balance your outreach cost-effectively.

AI-driven automation for smarter timing and personalization

You can use CampaignHQ to:

• Personalize replies and nudges within the free window
• Automate conversation flows based on message type and timing
• Integrate with CRMs or lead sources to send the right message via the cheapest channel

📉 Result: Strategic automation that keeps messaging high-quality and low-cost.

Final thoughts: Smarter messaging, better ROI

WhatsApp’s July 2025 pricing update clearly shows a major change for businesses that use this popular messaging platform. Companies must now evaluate each message’s value instead of maximizing communication within conversation windows. The switch from conversation-based to per-message pricing changes the way businesses handle their messaging strategy.

This new model comes with both pros and cons. The three-tiered message system creates clearer cost structures based on message purpose. Messages remain free during the 24-hour customer service window. Click-to-WhatsApp ads extend this free period to 72 hours and provide ways to save costs.

Businesses that scale their messaging get volume-based discounts. This makes WhatsApp more competitive against traditional SMS for high-volume senders. The combination of discounts and free service conversations creates flexibility that helps companies of all sizes.

Companies need to adapt their communication strategies. Success depends on being more strategic about messaging. Quality matters more than quantity now. Messages need better timing. Customer-initiated conversations should be the priority whenever possible.

A well-planned approach helps businesses adapt to these changes. We suggest learning about CampaignHQ’s WhatsApp marketing features to optimize your messaging strategy under the new pricing terms.

Businesses that thrive after July 2025 will see these changes as a chance to improve their customer communication. The adjustment needs effort at first, but targeted and affordable messaging ends up benefiting both businesses and their customers.

FAQs