WhatsApp1 Oct 20265 min read

WhatsApp Service Messages Pricing Update (1 October 2026): What Changes for Botify Clients

Meta's 1 October 2026 WhatsApp pricing update: 1,000 free service messages per phone number every month, then per-message billing; utility templates inside the 24-hour window are now billed. Botify's rate is ₹0.15 per service message beyond the free 1,000.

By Ramnath G

From 1 October 2026, WhatsApp is changing how service messages are billed. Until now, every reply you sent inside the 24-hour customer service window was free. Under the new pricing, each business phone number gets a free monthly allowance of service messages, and replies beyond that allowance are charged per message. Here is exactly what changes, what Botify charges, and — most importantly — why most businesses will not pay anything extra.

What changed on 1 October 2026

1,000 service messages free every month, per business phone number. The allowance counts delivered messages, resets on the 1st of every month, and unused messages do not carry over.
Beyond 1,000 in a month, service messages are charged per message. On Botify, the rate is ₹0.15 per service message.
Utility templates sent inside the 24-hour window are now billed. Order confirmations, receipts or reminders sent as templates while a customer is chatting with you were previously free; they are now charged at the utility rate.

What stays the same

Messages your customers send you are free.
The 24-hour service window works exactly as before — it opens when a customer messages you.
Conversations started from click-to-WhatsApp ads still get their free entry-point window.
Marketing, utility and authentication template pricing on your Botify plan is unchanged.

What is a service message?

A service message is any free-form reply your business sends inside the 24-hour window after a customer messages you — a reply typed by your team, a chatbot response, or an AI sales agent's message. Anything that is not a pre-approved template. One customer conversation typically involves anywhere from five to fifteen service messages.

Will this cost you anything? For most businesses — no

1,000 delivered service messages per phone number per month is a generous allowance, and most small and mid-sized businesses stay well within it. If your number sends fewer than 1,000 service messages in a month, your service messages stay free and your Botify bill does not change.

The businesses that should keep an eye on it are those running high-volume chatbots or AI agents on a single number — busy support desks, order-taking bots or appointment lines — where thousands of replies a month are normal. For them, the cost is ₹0.15 for each service message beyond the first 1,000 on that number that month. As an example, a number that sends 1,500 service messages in a month pays for 500 of them: 500 × ₹0.15 = ₹75.

Botify's rates at a glance (India)

Service messages: first 1,000 per phone number per month free, then ₹0.15 per message.
Utility templates: ₹0.20 per message (inside or outside the 24-hour window).
Authentication templates: ₹0.20 per message.
Marketing templates: ₹0.93 per message.

Message charges are deducted from your prepaid Botify wallet, on top of your plan. Rates for other countries follow the recipient's market, as listed on our pricing page.

Four simple ways to stay inside the free allowance

Check your monthly service-message count per number in the Botify dashboard's message summary.
If one number carries a busy chatbot, split support and sales across two numbers — each number gets its own free 1,000.
When a customer is already chatting with you, reply with a normal message instead of sending a utility template.
Trim chatbot flows: remove unnecessary filler messages such as 'Please wait…' or repeated 'Anything else?' prompts.

Sources

This update was announced to Meta's WhatsApp Business Solution Providers ahead of 1 October 2026. At the time of writing, Meta's public pricing pages had not yet been updated to reflect it. Official rates are set by Meta in each market's billing currency and may be revised; we will update this page if anything changes.

See Botify's full pricing