How much does a WhatsApp message cost?

Meta charges per message by category: Marketing (promotions) is priciest, Utility and Authentication are cheaper. Replies to customers within the 24-hour window (service messages) are free for the first 1,000 per number each month — from 1 October 2026 Meta charges the utility rate on service replies beyond that. Exact rates are set by Meta and change over time, so check Meta's official WhatsApp pricing page.

Are replies to customers free on WhatsApp?

The first 1,000 replies you send to customers within the 24-hour window each month are free per WhatsApp number. From 1 October 2026, Meta charges the utility rate for service replies beyond 1,000 in a month. The allowance resets monthly and does not roll over. Yapp shows your running total on the dashboard.

Do I need to add a card to send marketing?

Yes. To send templates (marketing or utility) you must add a payment method in your Meta/WhatsApp account. Without billing set up, Meta rejects the sends. You add it once in WhatsApp Manager under Payment settings.

Is it free to store my contacts?

Yes. Keeping a contact list and recording marketing consent is free. You only pay Meta when you actually send messages — so a list of 10,000 contacts costs nothing until you message them.

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WhatsApp costs & adding billing

Q: Does Yapp charge me per WhatsApp message?

No. Yapp is a monthly subscription for the inbox and tools. The messages themselves are billed by Meta directly to your own WhatsApp Business account — Yapp never adds a per-message fee or marks it up.

Guide · 5 min

Yapp is a monthly subscription — the WhatsApp messages themselves are billed by Meta, directly to your own account. Yapp never charges per message or marks it up. Here's how Meta's pricing works, how to add a payment method, and how to keep your costs low.

1.Who pays for what

There are two separate things:

Yapp subscription — your monthly plan for the shared inbox, menu, QR codes, reports, templates and campaigns. This is what you pay Yapp.
WhatsApp messages — billed by Meta straight to the card on your own WhatsApp Business account. Yapp doesn't touch this and adds nothing to it.

This is the honest, cheapest setup: you pay Meta's real rate with no middle-man markup. It does mean you add a card on Meta once (step 3 below).

2.How Meta prices messages

Meta charges per message, by category. We don't quote rand figures here because Meta sets them and changes them — always check Meta's official pricing page for the current rate in South Africa. The relative cost, cheapest to priciest:

Service — first 1,000 free each month. Replies you send within 24 hours of the customer's last message. From 1 October 2026, Meta includes the first 1,000 of these per number each month free; after that each reply is charged at the utility rate. (Before this date they were unlimited free.) "Free" means not charged — your account still needs a valid payment method on file to stay active (see step 3).
Utility — cheaper. A template tied to a transaction: order updates, appointment reminders, "your order is ready". Charged per message.
Authentication — cheaper. One-time passwords / login codes.
Marketing — priciest. Promotions, specials and broadcasts you start — the business-initiated stuff.

So the big lever is simple: answering customers stays free up to 1,000 a month, then low-cost; it's business-initiated messages (especially marketing) that cost the most. Yapp shows your running monthly total on the dashboard so there are no surprises.

3.Add billing on your Meta account (do this when you connect)

Important — add a card even if you'll stay in the free tier. Meta needs a valid payment method on your WhatsApp Business account for it to be fully active, not just to send templates. Without one — or if a card later fails — Meta can block your sending, including your everyday free service replies. Being inside the first 1,000 free replies means you won't be charged; it does not remove Meta's requirement to have a payment method on file. Add one when you connect so your team is never cut off.

You do this once:

Go to business.facebook.com and open WhatsApp Manager (or Meta Business Suite → Settings).
Open Billing & payments / Payment settings for your WhatsApp Business account.
Tap Add payment method and enter your card details.
Save. You can set a display name and see your usage and invoices here anytime.

Need to connect your number to Yapp first? See Connecting WhatsApp to Yapp.

4.Keep your costs down

Reply inside 24 hours — your first 1,000 replies a month are free, and staying on top of chats keeps you under that. Fast service is still cheap service.
Segment your audience — don't blast everyone. In Yapp you can target a tag/segment of opted-in contacts, so you only pay for the people a message actually suits.
Use Utility over Marketing where it fits — an order update is cheaper than a promo.
Keep a clean list — people who opted out (replied STOP) are excluded automatically, so you never pay to message someone who'll just be annoyed.

5.Consent & the law (POPIA)

Storing contacts and recording consent in Yapp is free — you only pay Meta when you send. Before you send marketing, the person must have opted in (via your menu, a keyword like "JOIN", or a supervisor toggle), and every opt-in is stored with a date and source so your consent is demonstrable.

Anyone can reply STOP to unsubscribe — Yapp honours it instantly and permanently, and excludes them from every future campaign.
Staff can't re-subscribe someone who opted out — only the customer can opt back in.

This kills the common worry that "a list of 10,000 must cost R10,000" — it's a channel cost (Meta's per-message rate), not a Yapp fee, and only when you actually send.

Ready to set up? Start free, connect your WhatsApp number, add billing on Meta, then create a template and your first campaign in Yapp.