WhatsApp charges
See what Meta charges you for the WhatsApp messages you send, how it breaks down, and what this month is heading for. From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for every message, including the replies your team sends inside the 24-hour window. Lodgestory adds nothing on top: the figures on this page are Meta's own.
At a glance
| Where | Settings → Invoices → WhatsApp charges. |
| Who | The Account Owner, members with Finance access, and Admins. (The list of Lodgestory invoices on the same tab stays with the Account Owner and Finance.) |
| Channels | WhatsApp Official numbers. Numbers connected by QR code are not billed by Meta and do not appear. |
| Who bills you | Meta, directly. These are not Lodgestory charges and they are not on your Lodgestory invoice. |
| Tax | Amounts exclude GST. |
| How far back | About 12 months. |
| How current | The month in progress is read from Meta again every half hour. Meta's own figures run a few hours behind, so today and sometimes yesterday are marked as not complete yet. |
How to find it
Sidebar: Settings → Invoices, then the WhatsApp charges tab at the top. For Admins who cannot see invoices the menu item is called WhatsApp charges and opens the charges directly.
[SCREENSHOT: Settings → Invoices with the WhatsApp charges tab selected]
What changed on 1 October 2026
Until 30 September 2026 Meta charged only for template messages sent outside the 24-hour window. From 1 October 2026, at midnight in your WhatsApp account's own time zone:
| Message | Before | From 1 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Replies — anything that is not a template, sent within 24 hours of a customer's message | Free | Charged per delivered reply, after the free allowance |
| Utility templates sent inside those 24 hours | Free | Charged |
| Utility templates sent outside them | Charged | Charged |
| Marketing and authentication templates | Charged | Charged |
| Messages after a customer arrives from a click-to-WhatsApp ad | Free | Free, for a limited time set by Meta |
Three rules decide what a reply costs:
- The rate is the utility rate of the customer's country. A reply to a customer in India costs ₹0.115. A reply to a customer in the United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom costs more. There is no volume discount on replies.
- Every WhatsApp number gets 1,000 free replies a month. The allowance is per number, not per account. Unused replies do not carry over. A reply in a WhatsApp group counts once for every person it reaches.
- You are charged for messages that are delivered, not for messages that are sent and fail.
Check your payment method. Without a payment method on your WhatsApp account, Meta still delivers the 1,000 free replies per number each month and does not deliver the replies beyond them. Add one in Meta's Billing Hub.
Replies written by a bot, an AI agent or an automation are replies too. They use the same allowance and are charged the same way.
Core concepts
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Reply | A message that is not a template, sent inside the 24-hour window that opens when a customer messages you. Meta calls these service messages. |
| Free allowance | The 1,000 delivered replies per number per calendar month that Meta does not charge for. |
| Reported by Meta | The cost Meta itself reports for the messages it delivered. Meta describes these figures as approximate; Meta's invoice is final. |
| At today's rates | The same messages priced under the rules and rates in force today. For a period before 1 October 2026 this answers "what would these messages cost now?". It is an estimate and is marked as one. |
| Estimate | Any figure Lodgestory worked out from Meta's message counts and Meta's published rates. It always carries the word Estimate and a "≈". |
| Typical month | Thirty days at your current pace, with a fresh allowance for every number. |
What the page shows
This month
One card per currency. Before 1 October 2026 it leads with what a typical month will cost at the new rates, and how much of that is replies. From 1 October it leads with what this month is heading for: what Meta has reported so far, plus the days still to come at your current pace.
Beside it, from 1 October, a meter for each number shows how much of the free allowance is used and the day it is likely to run out. When your replies are likely to go beyond the free ones, the card reminds you to check the payment method on your WhatsApp account.
The forecast is a run rate: the average of your last four complete weeks, weekday by weekday, applied to the days still to come. A number needs at least one week of messages before it has a forecast. The note under the figure says how many days it is based on and whether the last week was busier or quieter than the four weeks.
[SCREENSHOT: the This month card with two allowance meters]
Charges for a period
Pick Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, This month, Last month or a custom range. The page then shows:
- The total reported by Meta, and — only when it differs — the same messages at the new rates (before 1 October) or at today's rates (from 1 October).
- By message type: replies, utility, marketing, login codes. For each: messages delivered, how many were free, how many were charged, the rate, and the cost.
- By WhatsApp number and by customer's country, when you have more than one.
- Day by day: a chart of cost or messages per day, by message type.
Download CSV offers two files: the totals by message type, and the figures day by day.
[SCREENSHOT: Charges for Last 30 days with the message-type table and the daily chart]
Accounts billed through a partner
If your WhatsApp account is billed through a partner (a Business Solution Provider), Meta shares the number of messages and not what they cost — with anyone but that partner. The page then shows estimates: Meta's message counts priced at Meta's published rates, marked as estimates, with a notice at the top. Your partner's invoice may differ from Meta's published rates. To see Meta's own figures, the account needs its own payment method with Meta.
Roles & permissions
| Role | WhatsApp charges | Lodgestory invoices |
|---|---|---|
| Account Owner | Yes | Yes |
| Finance | Yes | Yes |
| Admin | Yes | No |
| Other members | No | No |
Limits you will run into
- About twelve months. Meta keeps 365 days of figures. A number that is removed from your WhatsApp account loses its history at Meta.
- The newest days move. Meta's figures run a few hours behind. Days that are not complete are marked on the chart and left out of the forecast.
- The allowance meter counts what Meta reports for your account. If another tool also sends from the same number, more of the allowance may be used than the meter shows. Once Meta charges for a reply, the meter shows the allowance as used up.
- Two currencies are never added together. If your numbers are billed in more than one currency, each has its own figures.
Errors & FAQ
Why does the page say "Meta could not be reached"? Meta did not answer in time. The page shows the last figures it read and when it read them. Press Refresh in a few minutes.
Why does a number say its connection has expired? Lodgestory can no longer read that number at Meta. Reconnect it in Settings → Connections.
Why are some messages "not in the estimate"? They went to a country Meta's rate card has no rate for in your currency. They are counted and listed, and left out of the estimated amount rather than guessed.
Is this my bill? No. It is what Meta reports for your messages, which is what Meta's invoice is built from. Meta's invoice is final, and it adds GST.
Does Lodgestory charge for messages? No. Meta's charges go from Meta to you. Lodgestory adds no markup.
How do I spend less? Replies inside the free allowance cost nothing, so a number that sends fewer than 1,000 replies a month pays nothing for them. Beyond that, the cost follows the number of replies: shorter bot conversations and fewer automatic messages mean fewer charged replies.
Related
- Browser chat — move longer conversations to a WhatsApp-style browser chat, where each reply costs 25% of WhatsApp's rate; its usage is the Browser chat tab next to WhatsApp charges.
- Connections — connect or reconnect a WhatsApp Official number.
- WhatsApp Templates — template categories, which decide what a template costs.
- Campaigns — marketing messages are charged per delivered message.
Updated 14 minutes ago