Meta (WhatsApp's owner) bills your WhatsApp Business account directly, not through WeSpeak. The charge shows up in your own Meta billing, in your account's currency — WeSpeak doesn't add any extra cost on top of these rates.
ℹ️ WeSpeak connects numbers in pure API mode and doesn't offer coexistence (the WhatsApp Business app and the API working on the same number) as a connection mode. If your number ended up in that mode, these rates apply all the same: Meta charges the same for every message that goes out through the API, and the free allowance is the same.
🕐 From October 1, 2026 the messages your assistant (or your team) answers for free today start to have a cost. It's a Meta change, announced on July 1, 2026, with the final details published on September 1, 2026.
How it's charged today
There are two types of messages, with different rules:
- Templates (marketing, utility or authentication) — already charged today, per delivered message, based on the guest's country and the template category. The exception is utility templates you send within the 24-hour window: today they're free.
- Service messages — the free-form replies your assistant or your team send within the 24-hour window. Today they're free.
What changes on October 1, 2026
Two things change:
- Service messages stop being free: they're charged at the same rate as utility templates in the guest's country, with a free allowance of 1,000 per number per month (below, in The free allowance).
- Utility templates you send within the 24-hour window are charged too, at each country's utility rate. For example, a confirmation or a reminder that goes out while the conversation is still open. Today they're free.
Everything else stays the same: the window is still 24 hours from the guest's last message (it reopens as soon as they write again), the free 72-hour window opened by ads and by your Facebook Page's WhatsApp button doesn't change (below, in What stays free), and the messages you receive never cost anything.
The free allowance: 1,000 messages per number, per month
On September 1, 2026 Meta published a free allowance, now listed on its official pricing page: each WhatsApp Business number gets 1,000 free service messages every month, and Meta only charges from message 1,001 on. Delivered messages count (if you also send to WhatsApp groups, each recipient uses up the same allowance).
💡 The allowance doesn't roll over: whatever you don't use in the month is lost, and it goes back to 1,000 the next month. If you have several numbers connected (multichannel), each one has its own allowance of 1,000 — with two numbers you get 2,000 free messages per month in total.
⚠️ Load a payment method in Meta before September 30, 2026. Meta states on that same page that if your WhatsApp Business account has no payment method, from October it still delivers service messages while each number's free allowance of 1,000 lasts — but it stops delivering them once the allowance runs out, until you load one. So your assistant doesn't stop answering mid-month, load the card ahead of time. It's loaded in Meta's Billing Hub: you can go straight to Payment methods or follow the step by step with screenshots, screen by screen, in How to add or change the WhatsApp payment method in Meta.
What stays free
- Messages the guest sends you: always free, no exceptions.
- Conversations that start from a Meta ad (Click-to-WhatsApp): free for the first 72 hours, even if your assistant replies several times in that period. The more of your traffic comes in through ads, the smaller the impact of this change.
- Conversations that start from your Facebook Page's WhatsApp button (the Page's call-to-action button): free for the same 72 hours, under the same conditions as ads.
Meta calls those 72 hours the free entry point window (FEP) and confirms in its official documentation that it stays the same after October 1, 2026: within the window, service messages aren't charged. Those are the only two entry points Meta names: its documentation says nothing about other buttons or links (a wa.me link on your website, a QR code, the WhatsApp button on your Instagram profile).
How the free 72-hour window works
According to Meta's pricing page, the window only opens if these conditions are met:
- The guest writes to you from the WhatsApp app on their phone (Android or iOS). If they write from WhatsApp Web or the desktop app, the window doesn't open.
- You reply within 24 hours of their message, with any type of message — your assistant's automatic reply counts. That first reply is already free, and the 72 hours start from that moment.
- While the window is open, everything you send is free: service messages and also templates, whether marketing, utility or authentication.
- The 24-hour window keeps working separately: if the guest stops writing and it closes, you can only send them templates — and while the 72 hours are still open, those templates aren't charged either.
How much each message costs, by the guest's country
The rate depends on the country of the guest's number, not your hotel's country. These are Meta's official rates effective October 1, 2026 (in USD per message) for the markets with the most WeSpeak hotels. They come from the October 1, 2026 rates section of Meta's pricing page:
| Country | Utility / Service | Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | $0.0260 | $0.0618 |
| Brazil | $0.0068 | $0.0625 |
| Chile | $0.0200 | $0.0889 |
| Colombia | $0.0008 | $0.0125 |
| Mexico | $0.0085 | $0.0397 |
| Peru | $0.0300 | $0.0703 |
| Spain | $0.0200 | $0.0707 |
| Rest of Latin America | $0.0113 | $0.0740 |
ℹ️ With the October rate card, two values in this table change: service in Peru goes from $0.0200 to $0.0300 and marketing in Mexico from $0.0305 to $0.0397. The full table for all 47 markets is on Meta's pricing page, downloadable in each currency.
How much will it cost me?
It depends on how many conversations you have per month, how many messages your assistant sends per conversation, your guests' country and what share of your traffic comes in through ads or through your Facebook Page's WhatsApp button (that traffic is free for 72 h). Use our WhatsApp cost calculator to estimate it with your own numbers — it already deducts the free allowance of 1,000 messages.
How to send fewer messages without selling less
Of the four variables above, the only one you control from WeSpeak is how many messages your assistant sends per conversation — and it's the one with the most room. A quote for three rooms with photos could go out as sixteen messages: the text with the prices, a "Deluxe Suite 👇" before each gallery and the photos one by one.
Reduced response mode bundles them: the quote goes out as a carousel of cards with the photos inside (two messages instead of sixteen: the cards and a final message with the booking link), galleries go out as a single collage with the name written inside the image, and the assistant gets to the price and the booking link sooner. It's turned on with a switch in Knowledge → Assistant configuration, only affects WhatsApp API and doesn't change any of the information the guest receives.
The other way to lower the cost is to keep part of your inquiries off WhatsApp. With Chat Web, people who visit your website chat with the same assistant right there, in a chat bubble, and those conversations don't generate Meta charges (they do count toward your plan's conversation allowance, like any channel). It's available in Channels for every account.
Where to check your usage and your invoice in Meta, step by step
Meta shows you two things in different places: how much you've spent so far (in WhatsApp Manager) and the charges, payments and invoices (in your business settings). In both cases you need to log in with the business portfolio admin user — the same one you connected WhatsApp API with — or with a finance role (Finance editor or Finance analyst).
1. See how much you've spent: WhatsApp Manager
- Go to business.facebook.com (Meta Business Suite) and log in. If you manage more than one business, pick the right business portfolio in the selector at the top left.
- Open WhatsApp Manager from the left menu (shortcut: business.facebook.com/wa/manage/home).
- On WhatsApp Manager's Overview tab, find this month's figures: the free messages, the paid messages and the approximate charges for the current month.
- For the detail, open Insights in the left menu: you can filter by date, category (marketing, utility, authentication, service), phone number and recipient country, and export the report.
ℹ️ The amounts on this screen are approximate and may differ slightly from the invoice. It's the best way to track the impact of the October change: filter by service and compare month by month how many messages go over the free allowance of 1,000.
2. See charges, pay and download invoices: Business settings → Billing & payments
- Go to business.facebook.com/settings (Business settings).
- In the left menu, click Billing & payments — in its emails, Meta calls it the Billing Hub.
- The screen opens on ad accounts: switch to the WhatsApp Business accounts tab. Your WhatsApp accounts are listed with their payment method and current balance.
- Click View details — or Pay now, if you have an outstanding balance — to see the payment activity: each charge with its date and amount, and the invoices or receipts to download. If you see Add payment method instead, the account doesn't have a card yet.
- From the same section, under Payment methods, you can add or change the card (direct shortcut) — the step by step with screenshots, from the portfolio to the card details, is in How to add or change the WhatsApp payment method in Meta.
⚠️ WhatsApp billing is separate from ads billing: the payment method has to be loaded on the WhatsApp Business account, not on the ad account. If you need the breakdown of an invoice (messages by category and country), Meta lets you generate an account statement report from that same section.
Frequently asked questions
Does WeSpeak charge this cost?
No. Meta charges it directly on your WhatsApp Business account's invoice. WeSpeak doesn't add any extra charge on top of this rate.
I have several WhatsApp numbers connected (multichannel) — do I get a free allowance for each one?
Yes. The allowance of 1,000 free messages is per number, not per account. With two numbers connected you have 2,000 free messages per month, split between both.
Does the allowance roll over if I don't use it?
No. It resets to 1,000 every calendar month, however much you used the month before.
What happens if I don't have a payment method loaded in Meta on October 1?
Meta still delivers your assistant's service messages while each number's free allowance of 1,000 lasts — but once the allowance runs out, it stops delivering them until you load a card. Load it before September 30, 2026 so you don't cut off service mid-month: you can go straight to Meta's Billing Hub or follow the step by step with screenshots in How to add or change the WhatsApp payment method in Meta.
Does my next invoice already include this charge?
No. The change takes effect on October 1, 2026. Until that date, service messages are still free.
Do templates change price with this too?
Partly. Templates you send outside the 24-hour window are still charged as before, at each country's October rate (in Mexico, for example, marketing goes to $0.0397). What's new is that utility templates you send within the 24-hour window, free today, start being charged at the utility rate. And service messages (your assistant's free-form conversation) start being charged too, at that same rate and with the free allowance of 1,000 per number.
Does my Facebook Page's WhatsApp button still open the free 72 hours after October 1?
Yes. Meta confirms it in its official documentation: the free 72-hour window doesn't change and opens both from Click-to-WhatsApp ads and from your Facebook Page's WhatsApp call-to-action button. Under the usual conditions, though: the guest has to write to you from the WhatsApp app on their phone, and you (or your assistant) have to reply within 24 hours. The full conditions are above, in How the free 72-hour window works.
My number ended up in coexistence mode (the WhatsApp Business app and the API at the same time) — am I charged differently?
No: the cost is exactly the same. Meta charges every message that goes out through the API — your assistant's replies and what your team sends from WeSpeak — at the same rates per country and with the same free allowance of 1,000 service messages per number. What you send from the phone app doesn't go through the API and doesn't generate a charge. Keep in mind that coexistence isn't WeSpeak's standard connection: the WhatsApp API connection is pure API (see WhatsApp).
Where do I check my actual usage and my Meta invoice?
In your own Meta Business, not in WeSpeak: the step by step is above, in Where to check your usage and your invoice in Meta.