Meta is introducing an important pricing change to the WhatsApp Business Platform starting October 1, 2026.
From this date, Meta will begin charging businesses for service messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Until September 30, 2026, these messages remain free.
At Bahasha, we remain committed to providing reliable WhatsApp communication and AI automation at affordable rates. We are making the necessary changes to help businesses understand and adapt to Meta's updated pricing.
When a customer sends a message to your business, WhatsApp opens a 24-hour customer service window.
During this window, your business can reply normally without using an approved WhatsApp template. These normal replies are known as service messages.
For example:
A customer sends: "Hello, what time do you close?"
The 24-hour customer service window opens.
Your team or AI Assistant replies normally.
Until September 30, 2026, these normal replies within the 24-hour window are free from Meta.
Starting October 1, 2026, Meta will begin charging for these outbound service messages.
Incoming messages from customers will continue to be free.
Messages used to initiate conversations outside the 24-hour customer service window already require approved WhatsApp templates and incur Meta charges.
This includes categories such as:
Marketing templates
Utility templates
Authentication templates
The October 1 change means that normal business replies inside the 24-hour customer service window, which were previously free, will also become chargeable.
Utility templates sent within an open customer service window will also become chargeable.
Meta will provide 1,000 free service messages per business phone number each month.
After this allowance is used, additional service messages will be charged according to Meta's applicable rate for the destination receiving the message.
You can refer to the Bahasha Pricing Page for Meta's current messaging charges across different destinations.
Messages sent by Bahasha AI Assistants during the 24-hour customer service window will also fall under Meta's new service-message pricing.
Bahasha AI itself will continue to be available at its existing AI usage pricing of approximately:
$0.10 per 1 million tokens
Meta also offers Meta Business Agent, currently priced at approximately:
$2.00 per 1 million tokens
We are incorporating Meta Business Agent into Bahasha as an additional AI option. Because Meta provides both the AI and WhatsApp infrastructure for its Business Agent, this can help avoid separate AI and service-message charges for the same response.
Bahasha AI will remain available as well. Its significantly lower AI processing cost means that, after considering Meta's service-message rate, it can still be the more economical option for many types of conversations.
Businesses will therefore be able to use the AI option that best fits their messaging volume, destination rates and operational requirements.
There is no need to change how you currently use Bahasha before the new pricing takes effect.
We recommend that businesses:
Review their expected customer support and AI messaging volume.
Ensure their WhatsApp Business Account has a valid Meta payment method.
Review Meta's messaging rates for the destinations they communicate with.
Avoid unnecessarily splitting one response into several separate WhatsApp messages.
You can always check the latest Meta messaging costs on our Pricing Page.
Bahasha remains committed to making the official WhatsApp Business Platform accessible and affordable while providing businesses with flexibility in how they communicate with their customers.
We will continue adapting the platform to Meta's changes and providing tools that help businesses manage their messaging and costs effectively.
The new Meta service-message pricing takes effect on October 1, 2026.
