industry · product
Meta Now Charges for WhatsApp Replies. Entagl Gives It Back.
Since October 1, 2026, replies on WhatsApp Business API numbers cost money after the first 1,000 a month. Here is what Meta charges, how it takes the payment, and how Entagl returns it to you as credits.
Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges businesses for WhatsApp replies. If your number runs on the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API, which is how every number connected to Entagl works), the first 1,000 replies each month are free and every reply after that has a small price. Meta bills you for it directly. Entagl then gives the same amount back: each month we add credits worth what Meta charged you for replies, on top of your plan.
There is one thing to do on your side: make sure your WhatsApp account in Meta has a payment method. It takes a few minutes, and there is a step-by-step guide further down. The rest of this post explains the details, in case you want them.
What changed on October 1?
For almost two years, answering a customer on WhatsApp was free. From November 1, 2024, any reply sent within 24 hours of the customer's last message cost nothing, whether a person typed it or an AI did.
That ended this month. Meta's pricing documentation now says:
- Replies are paid. Meta calls them "service messages". It makes no difference who wrote the reply, your team or Receptionist, Entagl's AI receptionist for WhatsApp, Instagram and your other chat channels. Meta's pricing page lists a reply from a person and a reply from a third-party AI agent as the same service message, charged per message.
- The first 1,000 each month are free, counted per business phone number. Unused ones do not roll over.
- Chats that start from an ad stay free. When someone taps your click-to-WhatsApp ad and you answer within 24 hours, Meta opens a window of up to 7 days in which your messages to that person cost nothing.
- Reactions stay free. Meta does not charge for a reaction, and reactions do not use up your 1,000 free replies.
- Utility templates in an open chat are paid again. Order updates and similar utility templates sent inside the 24-hour window were free from July 1, 2025. Meta started charging for them again on October 1. They are templates, not replies.
A small shop that sends 600 replies a month will not see a charge at all. A busy clinic sending 5,000 will pay for 4,000 of them.
How much does one WhatsApp reply cost?
It depends on where your customer's phone number is from, not where your business is. Meta publishes a rate card and can change it four times a year. These are the rates effective October 1, 2026, in US dollars:
| Your customer's country | One reply | 1,000 replies |
|---|---|---|
| Türkiye | $0.0009 | $0.90 |
| Egypt | $0.0036 | $3.60 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0107 | $10.70 |
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0157 | $15.70 |
| Spain | $0.0200 | $20.00 |
| Greece | $0.0212 | $21.20 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0220 | $22.00 |
| Italy, France | $0.0300 | $30.00 |
| Germany | $0.0550 | $55.00 |
Look at the spread. A reply to a German number costs about 61 times what a reply to a Turkish one does. If most of your customers are in Türkiye, this change costs you a few dollars a month. If they are in Germany, it adds up faster.
How does Meta take the money?
The charge never appears on your Entagl invoice. Meta bills the business that owns the WhatsApp number, through the payment method saved in your own Meta Business account. Meta's pricing page puts it in one line: it charges per message your business delivers.
Meta does not send one bill at the end of the month either. Its help center describes two moments when your card is charged: automatically when your running total reaches your payment threshold, and again on your monthly bill date for whatever is left, with an email receipt each time. So you may see two or three small charges in a month instead of one.
(You may wonder why Entagl does not simply pay Meta for you. Meta's billing help describes two ways to pay: a business adds its own card, or, if it works with a WhatsApp Solution Partner, it arranges payment with that partner, which can apply for a credit line. Entagl is not a Solution Partner, so Meta bills your business directly, and we do the next best thing.)
How do I check that my WhatsApp number has a payment method?
If you do one thing after reading this, make it this. Meta's pricing page is specific: if your WhatsApp account has no payment method, Meta still delivers your replies within the 1,000 free ones each month but stops delivering them once those are used up. When a payment problem blocks a message, Meta returns error 131042, "There was an error related to your payment method", and your customer hears nothing back.
Here is how to check, following Meta's own steps:
- Open Settings in Meta Business Suite and log in with the Facebook account that manages your business. If you see more than one business portfolio, pick the one that owns your WhatsApp number.
- Click Billing & payments.
- Click Messaging accounts. Your WhatsApp accounts are listed here.
- Find the account that holds the number you connected to Entagl and look at the button next to it:
- View details means a payment method is already set up. Click it and check that the card is the one you expect and has not expired. If it is, you are done.
- Add payment method means there is none yet. Carry on with step 5.
- Click Add payment method, follow the prompts and click Next.
- Enter your card details and click Save.
- Add your business information when Meta asks for it (it may want your tax details) and click Save.
The card now shows in the Settings tab of that messaging account.
Already have a card saved in your business portfolio? Meta has a shorter path: open WhatsApp accounts in your business portfolio, click your account, open the Settings tab and click Payment settings, then Add payment method, pick the card and click Make primary. Meta walks through it in its help article.
Three things trip people up:
- The card type. Meta takes Visa and Mastercard credit cards for WhatsApp messaging. It does not accept American Express or PayPal here, and cards only work if your business is in one of the supported countries.
- A card saved for your ads or your business portfolio is not automatically used for WhatsApp. Meta's help center explains how to add a portfolio card to the WhatsApp account and make it the primary payment method, and its error guide lists "payment account is not attached to a WhatsApp Business account" as the first common cause of error 131042. Check the Messaging accounts list itself, not just your ad account.
- Permissions. You need permission to manage payment settings for that messaging account. Whoever owns the account has it automatically. If you cannot see the options above, ask the person who set up your Meta business account to add the card, or to give you access.
What does Entagl do about it?
We give the charge back as credits.
In the first days of each month, Entagl asks Meta for its own cost figures for your number's replies in the month before. If Meta's figures for your account can't be read, we use our own estimate from delivery receipts, and a person checks it before any credits are added. We turn that dollar amount into credits at your plan's monthly price per credit, round up to a whole credit, and add them to your account at the start of your next billing cycle. They sit on top of your plan's credits. You do nothing.
Two examples.
A dental clinic in Istanbul sends 3,000 replies in October, all to Turkish numbers. 1,000 are free. Meta charges 2,000 × $0.0009 = $1.80. Entagl adds at least $1.80 worth of credits.
A furniture shop in Manchester sends 2,300 replies to UK numbers. Meta charges 1,300 × $0.022 = $28.60. Entagl adds at least $28.60 worth of credits (we round up to a whole credit, so it can come out a few cents higher).
You can follow all of this inside the app. Settings → Billing & Usage → Usage History has a card called WhatsApp charges from Meta with this month's running estimate, how many replies were charged and how many were free. When credits arrive, they show as their own line, WhatsApp cost coverage, with the month they belong to.
What is not covered?
Better to say it now than have you find out later.
- Templates. Campaign messages, appointment reminders and other template messages are your outreach, so they stay yours. That includes the utility templates Meta now charges for again inside the 24-hour window. Only replies are covered.
- Meta Business Agent. If you let Meta's own AI answer on a number, Meta charges by the token for it. That is a different bill.
- Free and cancelled plans. The credits go to workspaces on an active paid plan with WhatsApp connected at the time they are added.
- Rollover. Coverage credits last for the billing cycle they land in, like the rest of your monthly credits.
And the timing: credits follow the charge by a few weeks. October's charges are usually confirmed with Meta in early November, then arrive with your next billing cycle after that.
Should you change how you use WhatsApp?
No. Please do not start answering customers more slowly or more briefly to save a fraction of a cent. A booking is worth far more than a reply costs, and the reply cost is coming back to you anyway. If anything, the case for answering every DM quickly is the same as it was in September.
If you run click-to-WhatsApp ads, there is one habit worth keeping: answer those chats fast. A reply within 24 hours is what opens Meta's free window, and Receptionist answers in seconds, so this mostly takes care of itself.
FAQ
Do I have to pay Meta myself?
Yes. Meta bills the business that owns the number. Entagl returns the cost of replies as credits afterwards.
How do I add a payment method to my WhatsApp account?
In Meta Business Suite, go to Settings, then Billing & payments, then Messaging accounts, and click Add payment method next to your WhatsApp account. If it says View details, a card is already there. The full steps, with the things that trip people up, are in the section on checking your payment method above.
Does it matter if the AI or my staff sent the reply?
Not when the reply goes out through Entagl: Meta charges both the same, and Entagl covers both. If your number also runs the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, the replies you type in the app stay free.
Where do I check what Meta charged me?
Meta emails you a receipt each time it charges your card. In Entagl, open Settings → Billing & Usage → Usage History.
I use the regular WhatsApp Business app, not the API. Am I affected?
No. These charges apply only to messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API). Every number connected to Entagl is on it, so replies sent through Entagl are charged. If you still use the WhatsApp Business app on the same number, Meta says the messages you send from the app stay free.
Will the rates change?
They can. Meta can change its rates only on the first day of a quarter: January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1. Whatever Meta charges for replies, the credits follow.
Not on Entagl yet and wondering what your WhatsApp bill will look like? Book a 30-minute demo and we will walk through your numbers with you.
Already a customer with a question about your own account? Write to support@entagl.com.
Sources: Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform pricing documentation and USD rate card effective October 1, 2026, Meta's pricing update page for non-template messages, its guide for WhatsApp Business app users connected to the API, Meta Business Help Center billing pages (including "Add a credit card to your WhatsApp Business Platform account" and "About the payment threshold"), and Meta's WhatsApp error codes reference, all read on October 1, 2026. Meta's menus can change; if a step looks different, its help article has the current wording. Rates can change each quarter. The two examples are illustrative and use Meta's list rates.