How does Meta handle billing for conversations?

Meta bills WhatsApp Business Accounts (WABA) based on conversation categories. There are four categories:

Marketing → Paid
Utility → Paid
Authentication → Paid
Service → Free (if customer-initiated)

Each conversation type runs on a 24-hour billing window per category per customer.

📊 WhatsApp Conversation Categories & Billing Rules

Category	Who Starts It	Message Type	Billed?	Description
Marketing	Business	Template (Promos, Offers)	✅ Paid	Promotions, upsells, re-engagement
Utility	Business	Template (Updates)	✅ Paid	Order status, shipping, reminders
Authentication	Business	Template (OTP, Login)	✅ Paid	Verifying identity via OTP or login links
Service	Customer	Free-form (24h)	❌ Free	Customer-initiated chats (support, queries)

🖼️ Billing Flow Diagram

✉️ Template-Driven Conversations (Paid)

Business-initiated messages must use pre-approved templates.
Each template triggers a new 24-hour billing window if no same-category window is active.
Multiple categories can overlap (e.g., 1 Marketing + 1 Utility window active simultaneously).

Tip : Example: Sending a shipping update (Utility) and a promo (Marketing) to the same customer will incur two charges if sent in different categories.

💬 Service Conversations (Free)

Triggered only when a customer sends the first message.
Business can respond using free-form messages for 24 hours.
No billing applies during this window.

Warning : If you send a template during this window, a paid window for that template category will open.

⚠️ Key Billing Notes

Charges apply per 24-hour window, per category, per customer.
Service (customer-initiated) is always free, unless a template triggers a parallel paid window.
Multiple billing windows can overlap (Service + Marketing + Utility simultaneously).
Conversation pricing varies by region — refer to Meta’s official rate card.
Templates must be correctly categorized or may be rejected by Meta.

🔌 API Example & Schema

Sample API Response

{
  "conversation": {
    "id": "conv123",
    "category": "utility",
    "origin": "business_initiated",
    "window": "24h",
    "charge": "applied"
  },
  "message": {
    "type": "template",
    "template_name": "shipping_update"
  }
}

Schema Reference

{
  "conversation_id": "string",
  "category": "marketing | utility | authentication | service",
  "origin": "business_initiated | customer_initiated",
  "window": "24h",
  "charge": "applied | free"
}

Info : Think of billing as parallel 24-hour tracks: Service is free (customer-initiated). Marketing, Utility, Authentication are paid when initiated by templates. Multiple categories can overlap — charges apply per window, per customer, per category.

Updated on: 21/09/2025