> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.digifist.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How Meta bills WhatsApp messages
> Meta charges your WhatsApp Business account for the messages you send; this page explains what Meta charges for, what is not charged and where you see the charges.
Meta's rates effective **1 October 2026**, checked on 17 October 2026. Source: Meta, [Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing).
Meta bills your WhatsApp Business account directly for the messages you send, at Meta's current rates; Galantis adds no markup and no usage fees of its own.
Your Galantis plan is a flat monthly price. Galantis adds no price of its own to the messages you send, and your Galantis invoice never includes WhatsApp message charges. For what a message costs in each country, see [WhatsApp prices by country](/galantis/marketing/whatsapp/pricing/prices-by-country).
## How Meta charges
These are Meta's rules, from Meta's [pricing page](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing):
* Meta charges per delivered message. A message that is not delivered is not charged.
* The price depends on two things: the message's category, and the country calling code of the recipient's WhatsApp number. Meta calls the country or region a market.
* Each message has one category, so it is charged at most once.
* Meta does not charge for messages your customers send to you.
A test send from Galantis is a real WhatsApp message, so Meta may charge for it too.
## The five categories
Meta decides a template's category when it reviews the template. **Templates** shows the category of each of your message templates.
| Meta category | Charged? | In Galantis |
| - | - | - |
| Marketing | Yes | Campaigns, and any Marketing template you send from an automation step or the **Inbox**. |
| Utility | Yes, also inside the customer service window since 1 October 2026 | **Built-in automations** (order and shipping updates), back-in-stock alerts and Judge.me review invites are sent as Utility templates, and so is any Utility template you send from an automation step or the **Inbox**. If Meta finds a promotional message in a Utility template, it may change it to Marketing. |
| Authentication | Yes | Templates Meta files as Authentication, for identity checks. None of the messages Galantis prepares for you are in this category. |
| Service | Yes, from the 1,001st per business phone number each month | Every message that is not a template, sent while the customer service window is open: what you type in the **Inbox**; the automation steps **Send a message**, **Ask with buttons** and **Send a Flow**; the question the built-in **Out-of-hours reply** asks; the Judge.me step **Ask for a review in WhatsApp**; and the automatic replies Galantis sends when a customer texts STOP, START or HELP. |
| Meta Business Agent | Yes, priced per token | Galantis sends none. |
The customer service window, per Meta: when a customer messages or calls you, a 24-hour window opens, and each new message or call from them restarts it. Inside the window you can send any message, such as text, media or buttons, as well as a template. Outside it, WhatsApp lets you send only message templates.
## What Meta does not charge for
Per Meta:
* The first 1,000 service messages each month, for each business phone number. Unused ones do not roll over; the count starts again every month.
* Messages in a free entry point window. When a customer messages you from an ad that clicks to WhatsApp, on WhatsApp's Android or iOS app, and you reply within the customer service window, your reply opens a free entry point window. While it is open, Meta does not charge for marketing, utility, authentication or service messages. Meta says it can stay open for up to 7 days.
* Messages from your customers to you.
## What changed on 1 October 2026
Since 1 October 2026, Meta charges for two kinds of messages it did not charge before:
* service messages, from the 1,001st per business phone number each month;
* utility templates sent inside the customer service window, which Meta did not charge from 1 July 2025 until 30 September 2026.
## Volume tiers
Per Meta, volume tiers lower the utility and authentication rates when you send more of them in a month. They are set per market and category, and they do not apply to marketing or service messages. Meta counts the charged messages of your whole business portfolio and starts again each month.
In some markets, Meta charges a higher authentication-international rate for authentication messages. Meta's [pricing page](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing) says when it applies.
## Add a payment method in Meta
Meta bills your WhatsApp Business account, so the account needs a payment method in Meta. Per Meta, without one Meta delivers service messages only within the free 1,000 a month, and stops delivering them after that.
When Meta blocks your account over a payment method, Galantis shows it on the connection: "Meta is blocking this business account over a payment method. Add a payment method to the account in Meta Business Manager."
## Currency
Meta bills in your account's billing currency and publishes its rate cards in 16 currencies. [WhatsApp prices by country](/galantis/marketing/whatsapp/pricing/prices-by-country) shows USD and EUR; Meta's pricing page has the others.
## Where you see your charges
Your WhatsApp message charges are in Meta's billing for the WhatsApp Business account you connected. Meta says billing is handled in Meta Business Suite. Your Galantis invoice covers your plan only.
## When Meta changes prices
Per Meta, prices change only on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October, with at least one month's notice for a change to the rates. The date at the top of this page shows which of Meta's rates these pages use.
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