Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, will introduce new charges for certain business messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026.
The development was announced in a WhatsApp Business Platform pricing update released in July 2026 and will affect companies using the official platform, formerly known as the WhatsApp Business API, to manage customer communications at scale.
The new pricing is expected to affect banks, fintech companies, e-commerce platforms, telecom operators, logistics firms and large retailers that rely heavily on WhatsApp for customer service and transactional communications.
However, ordinary WhatsApp users and most small businesses using the standard WhatsApp Business application on mobile phones will not be affected.
Under the existing pricing structure, when a customer initiates a conversation with a business, a 24-hour customer service window is opened. Businesses can currently respond with free-form service messages and certain utility messages within the window without paying Meta.
From October 1, however, Meta will begin charging businesses on a per-message basis for service messages sent during the 24-hour customer service window.
Meta said in its developer documentation: “Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge on a per-message basis for all service messages, consistent with how Meta charges for template messages.”
The company noted that service messages have been free since November 1, 2024.
Meta will also introduce charges for utility messages sent in response to users within an open 24-hour customer service window.
“Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge on a per-message basis for utility messages sent in response to users (within an open 24-hour customer service window),” the company said.
Utility messages typically include payment confirmations, order updates and delivery notifications. Meta said such messages have been free since July 1, 2025.
The company has also warned businesses and Solution Providers to ensure that a valid payment method is added to their accounts before the new pricing takes effect.
According to Meta, Solution Providers and directly integrated businesses without a payment method on file by September 30, 2026, risk having their service messages blocked from delivery once the new charges take effect on October 1.
For Nigerian businesses, chargeable utility or service messages are expected to cost about $0.0101 per message, equivalent to approximately ₦14 at an exchange rate of ₦1,340 to $1.
Marketing messages will attract a significantly higher fee of about $0.062 per message, translating to roughly ₦84 at the same exchange rate.
Meta clarified that the charges represent its platform fees and may not constitute the total cost businesses incur.
Companies that access the WhatsApp Business Platform through Business Solution Providers or other third-party platforms may also be required to pay additional provider fees.
The new pricing is expected to increase the cost of large-scale customer communication for businesses that rely on WhatsApp as a major channel for customer support, transaction updates and marketing.
