WhatsApp Business API pricing works per delivered message: Meta prices each message by the recipient’s country and the message category. For a UAE number billed in dirhams, a marketing message costs AED 0.2115 and a utility, authentication or service message AED 0.0576. For a Saudi number billed in riyals, marketing costs SAR 0.2159 and the other three SAR 0.0401. Since 1 October 2026, service replies beyond 1,000 a month per business number, and utility messages sent while a customer’s chat is open, are charged too.
Below are the full rates for both markets in AED, SAR and USD, what the October change means for your bill, and a calculator that estimates your month from your own volumes. We checked every rate against Meta’s published rate card on 24 October 2026.
- You pay by the customer’s country, not yours. A Dubai business messaging Saudi customers pays Saudi rates.
- Marketing is the expensive category: about 3.7 times the utility rate for UAE numbers and 5.4 times for Saudi numbers.
- Service replies are no longer unlimited. Each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month; the 1,001st is charged.
- Chats that start from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad are free for up to 7 days, in every category.
- Meta only changes rates on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, so a budget holds for a quarter at a time.
WhatsApp Business API pricing for UAE and Saudi numbers
Rates depend on two things: the country code of the person receiving the message (+971 or +966 here) and the currency your WhatsApp Business account is billed in. Since 1 April 2026 businesses can be billed in AED or SAR instead of US dollars. These are Meta’s list rates per delivered message; utility and authentication get cheaper at higher volumes (see the tiers further down).
| Recipient | Billed in | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAE (+971) | AED | 0.2115 | 0.0576 | 0.0576 | 0.0576 |
| UAE (+971) | SAR | 0.2159 | 0.0588 | 0.0588 | 0.0588 |
| UAE (+971) | USD | 0.0576 | 0.0157 | 0.0157 | 0.0157 |
| Saudi Arabia (+966) | SAR | 0.2159 | 0.0401 | 0.0401 | 0.0401 |
| Saudi Arabia (+966) | AED | 0.2115 | 0.0393 | 0.0393 | 0.0393 |
| Saudi Arabia (+966) | USD | 0.0576 | 0.0107 | 0.0107 | 0.0107 |
Source: Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform pricing and pricing documentation, checked 24 October 2026. Utility and authentication show the first volume tier. Taxes are not included.
WhatsApp API cost calculator
Enter a typical month. The calculator applies the rates above, the volume tiers, the free 1,000 service replies per number and the free ad windows, and shows how much of the bill is new since October.
What changed on 1 October 2026
Meta moved WhatsApp from conversation-based pricing to per-message pricing on 1 July 2025. For the following fifteen months, two kinds of message were free: replies to customers who wrote first, and utility messages sent while the customer’s 24-hour window was open. The October 2026 update ended both, and raised marketing rates in both markets.
Service replies: 1,000 free a month per number
Each business phone number now gets 1,000 free delivered service messages a month. From the 1,001st, every reply is charged at the service rate (AED 0.0576 to a UAE number, SAR 0.0401 to a Saudi number). Unused messages do not roll over. A team that answers a few hundred enquiries a month notices nothing; a sales team replying to thousands of portal or ad leads sees a new line on the invoice.
Utility messages inside an open chat are now charged
Order confirmations, booking reminders and delivery updates sent while the customer’s chat window was open used to cost nothing. They are now charged at the normal utility rate. Utility messages sent outside the window were already paid, so the change matters most to businesses that confirm things in the middle of a conversation.
Marketing rates went up in both markets
Meta’s changelog lists marketing rate increases for the UAE on 1 October 2025 and again on 1 October 2026, and for Saudi Arabia on 1 April 2026 and 1 October 2026. If you budgeted campaigns on last year’s rate, rebuild the budget with the current one.
How each message category is priced
Every message a business sends first has to use an approved template, and each template belongs to one category. The category sets the price, so the way a template is written decides what it costs.
| Category | What it is for | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, new listings, win-back messages | One rate per delivered message, no volume discount |
| Utility | Confirmations, reminders, delivery and payment updates about something the customer started | Per delivered message, cheaper in monthly volume tiers |
| Authentication | One-time passwords and login codes | Per delivered message, cheaper in monthly volume tiers |
| Service | Free-form replies when the customer wrote first, within 24 hours | 1,000 free a month per number, then per delivered message |
Free messages: ad windows and the service allowance
There are two ways to send WhatsApp messages without paying for them. The first is the free entry point window: when someone starts a chat from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, the window can stay open for up to 7 days, and marketing, utility, authentication and service messages inside it are all free. The second is the service allowance of 1,000 replies a month per business number.
For businesses that already run Meta ads, the first one is the bigger lever. Leads who arrive through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad can be qualified, sent brochures and reminded about viewings inside that window at no message cost, which changes the maths of a lead-generation campaign.
Volume tiers for utility and authentication
Utility and authentication messages get cheaper as monthly volume grows. The tiers count charged messages across your whole business portfolio and reset every month; each message is charged at the rate of the tier it falls in. Messages sent free inside an ad window don’t count towards a tier.
| Utility messages charged this month | UAE recipients (AED) | Saudi recipients (SAR) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 100,000 | 0.0576 | 0.0401 |
| 100,001 – 1,000,000 | 0.0547 | 0.0381 |
| 1,000,001 – 4,500,000 | 0.0518 | 0.0361 |
| 4,500,001 – 40,000,000 | 0.0490 | 0.0341 |
| 40,000,001 – 80,000,000 | 0.0461 | 0.0321 |
| Over 80,000,000 | 0.0432 | 0.0301 |
Authentication uses the same rates with wider bands: the first tier runs to 300,000 messages, then 2 million, 10 million, 20 million and 40 million.
Worked example: a hypothetical Dubai brokerage
Take a brokerage with two WhatsApp numbers, one for sales and one for leasing, messaging UAE numbers and billed in AED. In a month it sends 6,000 marketing messages about new launches, 4,000 utility messages for viewing confirmations (60% of them while the chat is open) and 9,000 service replies to portal and ad leads. About 15% of its messages happen inside Click-to-WhatsApp ad windows.
- Marketing: 5,100 charged messages × AED 0.2115 = AED 1,078.65
- Utility: 3,400 charged messages × AED 0.0576 = AED 195.84
- Service: 7,650 charged replies, minus 2,000 free (1,000 per number) = 5,650 × AED 0.0576 = AED 325.44
- Total to Meta: about AED 1,600 a month, of which about AED 443 did not exist before October (the service replies and the in-window utility messages)
Marketing is two-thirds of that bill. Cutting marketing sends to people who never engage would save more than any change to the service replies.
Seven ways to keep the bill down
- Template by category. Keep utility templates strictly about the customer’s order or booking; put promotions in marketing templates sent only to people who opted in.
- Use the ad window. Run Click-to-WhatsApp ads for lead generation and handle qualification inside the free 7-day window.
- Answer completely. Every delivered message counts once the free 1,000 are used. One complete reply with the brochure, price and next step costs less than four short ones.
- Give each team its own number. Separate sales and support numbers each get 1,000 free service replies, and customers get a clearer line to call.
- Segment marketing sends. Send fewer, better-targeted marketing messages; at 3.7 to 5.4 times the utility rate, every unread broadcast is expensive.
- Check your billing currency. AED, SAR and USD rates are set separately. The currency is chosen when the account is created and can only be moved with Meta’s currency migration.
- Budget by quarter. Meta changes rates only at the start of a quarter, with at least a month’s notice for rate card updates. Put the next review in the calendar now.
Meta’s rates vs. what your provider charges
Everything above is what Meta charges. Most businesses reach the API through a solution provider or a CRM, and many add a monthly platform fee or a markup per message. When you compare quotes, ask for Meta’s rates to be passed through at cost and for the provider’s fee to be shown separately. The calculator has a field for that fee so the comparison stays honest.
The bigger cost is usually not the messages but the leads that get no reply. If your team answers Property Finder, Bayut or Meta leads on WhatsApp, we connect WhatsApp to the CRM so every chat is logged, routed to the right person and followed up. See CRM & Automation, or tell us about your setup.
Questions and answers
How much does the WhatsApp Business API cost per message in the UAE?
For UAE numbers billed in AED, Meta charges AED 0.2115 per marketing message and AED 0.0576 per utility, authentication or service message, as of 24 October 2026. Utility and authentication get cheaper above 100,000 and 300,000 messages a month.
How much does the WhatsApp API cost in Saudi Arabia?
For Saudi numbers billed in SAR, Meta charges SAR 0.2159 per marketing message and SAR 0.0401 per utility, authentication or service message, as of 24 October 2026.
Are WhatsApp service messages still free?
Partly. Since 1 October 2026 each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month. From the 1,001st, replies are charged at the service rate, and unused messages do not roll over.
Is pricing based on my country or my customer’s?
Your customer’s. Meta prices each message by the recipient’s country code, so a UAE business messaging Saudi customers pays Saudi rates, in its own billing currency.
Are messages from Click-to-WhatsApp ads free?
Yes, inside the free entry point window. When a customer starts a chat from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, the window can stay open for up to 7 days, and marketing, utility, authentication and service messages in it are free.
When does Meta change WhatsApp prices?
Only on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October. Meta gives at least one month’s notice for rate card updates and longer notice for changes to the pricing model.
Sources
- WhatsApp Business Platform pricing, Meta: rates by market and currency (checked 24 October 2026)
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta for Developers: per-message pricing, the 1 October 2026 changes, free entry points, volume tiers and rate change dates
Rates checked on 24 October 2026. Meta’s next possible rate change is 1 January 2027; we will update this page when it happens.
