October 1, 2026
How much will Meta charge you to answer your customers?
Until September 30, everything you sent in the 24 hours after a customer messaged you was free. Since October 1, Meta charges for those messages, and the change applies in every country: only the rate varies. Pick your country and run the numbers with your own figures.
Your numbers
Run the numbers for your business
Message us at +57 310 465 4664 and we'll look at how many messages you send today.
In your favor
If the customer comes from an ad, up to 7 days free
When the chat starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad, or from the WhatsApp button on your Facebook Page, and the customer comes in on their phone, Meta opens a free window: neither your replies nor the templates you send count toward the bill. It used to be 72 hours. Meta is extending it to up to 7 days and rolling it out gradually, so some conversations still get 72 hours.
The 24-hour window stays the same: if the customer goes a day without writing to you, you can only send templates. Inside the ad window, those templates are free too. A wa.me link, a QR code or the WhatsApp button on your website don't open this window.
The calculator already takes it off: move the ads slider. At TBit, with the 72-hour window, 86% of the messages in conversations that started from an ad went out free. We use that figure, so with up to 7 days what Meta charges you may come out even lower.
Keep your line up
Keep your card linked to your line
Meta charges this, not TBit, and bills it to your business's WhatsApp Business account. If there's no valid payment method on that account, Meta stops delivering your messages: the customer writes and your business can't answer.
Check it in Meta Business Manager, under the payment settings of your WhatsApp account. If you don't know where that is or aren't sure which line is yours, message us and we'll look at it with you.
1:44Questions
What people are asking us
What is a service message?
Any message your business sends within the 24 hours a customer opens when they message you: the answer to a question, the price you quote, the product photo. Until September 30, 2026 they were free. Since October 1, Meta charges for them.
How many free service messages does Meta give me?
A thousand a month for each of your business's phone numbers. Meta charges from the 1,001st delivered message. The allowance resets every month and doesn't roll over: what you don't use in one month doesn't carry into the next.
Am I charged for the messages customers send me?
No. Incoming messages are free. What gets charged is what your business sends, and every bubble you send counts as one message.
What if the conversation starts from an ad?
If the chat starts from a click-to-WhatsApp ad and the customer comes in on their phone, Meta opens a free window: everything you send there, templates included, is free. It used to be 72 hours. Meta is extending it to up to 7 days and rolling it out gradually, so some conversations still get 72 hours. A wa.me link, a QR code or the button on your website don't open that window.
Is this a TBit charge?
No. Meta charges it directly on your business's WhatsApp line, separate from your TBit plan. That's why your card has to be linked to the line: if Meta can't charge it, the line stops sending messages.
How is what I'll pay calculated?
Count the messages your business sends in the month, subtract the 1,000 free ones and multiply what's left by your country's rate. Example in Colombia: 4,000 outgoing messages minus 1,000 is 3,000, times 0.0008 USD is 2.40 USD a month. In your country the math is the same, with your rate. If you send fewer than 1,000, you pay nothing. If you run ads, the messages that fall inside the free ad window come off first and don't use up your allowance. The calculator assumes that's 86% of the messages in those conversations, which is what we measured at TBit with the 72-hour window.
How much do ads save me on messages?
It depends on how many of your conversations come from ads. At TBit, with the old 72-hour window, 86% of the messages in conversations that started from an ad went out free (38,939 conversations measured). With the window of up to 7 days, that figure can only go up. Move the ads slider in the calculator and enter your ad spend to see the full month.
Does this apply in my country?
Yes. Charging for service messages is a Meta change in every country: what changes from one to the next is the rate. Meta names 39 markets with their own rate and groups the rest into regions (for example, the rest of Latin America pays 0.0113 USD per message). If your country isn't on Meta's rate card, it's charged the rate for other markets: 0.0077 USD. Find your country in the calculator and it tells you which rate applies.
Did the rate go up in any country?
Yes. On that same October 1, Meta changed the service rate in 12 markets. It goes up in Peru (from 0.02 to 0.03 USD), South Africa, Pakistan, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman and Ukraine; it goes down in Bangladesh, Iraq, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Everywhere else it stays equal to the utility rate that was already being charged.
Rates taken from Meta's official rate card in effect since October 1, 2026, with all its markets. Last checked: October 6, 2026. The table is also available as JSON for agents and programs.