WhatsApp Business API pricing in the UAE 2024
WhatsApp business generated $382 million in revenue in 2023. Its popularity across the world and especially in UAE, has successfully attracted businesses to incorporate its useful features for customer engagement, marketing, and sales.
While the WhatsApp Business App is still free to download, every WhatsApp Business API account has a fee charged per conversation, and the pricing varies depending on the country.
Although WhatsApp voice calls and video calls are banned in the UAE, it is still a highly popular messaging app with over 8 million users nationwide, which stands for more than 85% of the country's total population.
Interested in using WhatsApp for your business? It’s not that complicated! We have put together a complete guide to show you how. Check out the WhatsApp Business API pricing and its billing process right below.
What is the WhatsApp Business API?
WhatsApp Business API is a messaging solution tailored for businesses to effectively improve communication, marketing, and sales.
Users are strongly encouraged to partner with global WhatsApp Business Solution Providers (BSP)s that are messaging experts in the field of enterprise businesses and customer communications, for example, SleekFlow and 360dialog, to connect with customers via WhatsApp.
Since WhatsApp has such a massive pool of users worldwide (over 2 billion users as of 2024!), businesses can utilize WhatsApp links to make it easier for customers to contact them and use a WhatsApp Manager to better manage the surge in conversations!
Introduction to the official WhatsApp Business API
WhatsApp has become an essential messaging tool in our daily lives, and if your UAE business is not taking advantage of this, you may be losing out on certain benefits that can bring your brand to the next level.
Other than the WhatsApp that we use for personal messaging, there are two types of accounts WhatsApp has introduced for businesses, which are the WhatsApp Business App and the official WhatsApp Business API, also known as the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Let's take a look at a simple comparison below.
Basically, WhatsApp Business API allows your business to explore a number of useful features and generate more sales through messaging. On the other hand, WhatsApp Business App is good for small to medium businesses for limited use.
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Example: Emirates Airlines uses WhatsApp Business API for customer service
Emirates Airlines has been utilizing its official WhatsApp Business account for customer interaction. Other than the green tick verification on its WhatsApp Business profile, automated responses are set up to reply to FAQs immediately, no matter where the customers are or when the messages are sent. This means that they can allocate more time and manpower for more complicated issues and to handle angry or impatient customers.
The benefits of using WhatsApp Business API can be summarized below:
a verified WhatsApp Business profile: green tick verification
chatbots and automated responses for FAQs
personalized broadcast messages
interactive messages with chat buttons
multiple logins
Learn how to create a WhatsApp Chatbot for your business in the UAE.
WhatsApp Business Pricing Changes: October 2024 Announcement
On 10 October, 2024, Meta announced major changes to the WhatsApp Business Platform (API)’s pricing model, designed to simplify costs and enhance flexibility for businesses.
Here’s what is changing:
Starting November 1, 2024, service conversations will be entirely free, replacing the previous limitation of 1000 free service conversations per month.
Starting February 1, 2025, the international authentication rates will cover 7 new markets, and Meta is also reducing rates in existing markets.
Starting April 1, 2025, businesses can use utility templates for free within a 24-hour window.
Starting April 1, 2025, businesses in the Phase 1 group will be charged per template message instead of the previous conversation-based pricing model.
Starting July 1, 2025, all businesses will be charged per template message in phase 2 rollout.
**Meta is rolling out per-template message pricing in two phases. It will be applied to SleekFlow users on 1 July 2025 (Phase 2).
We’ve outlined everything you need to know about the latest WhatsApp Business pricing update, along with practical strategies to help your business adapt seamlessly and efficiently.
WhatsApp's conversation-based pricing model (before April 2025)
WhatsApp has announced a new pricing model, switching from notification-based to conversation-based, effective from June 1, 2023. In other words, businesses will be charged per conversation instead of notifications sent.
To begin with, conversations are categorized into:
Business-initiated conversations:
starts when businesses reach out to customers by sending a message. Only Template Messages can be used for this type of conversation.User-initiated conversation/service conversation:
begins when messages are sent to reply to customers, which means that the customer is the one who sent your business a message first. This type of conversation is also known as service conversations where businesses can send free-form messages instead of just Template Messages.
The good news here is that the first 1000 user-initiated conversations each month are free!
Other than the type of conversations, businesses have to take note that there is a customer care window in which user-initiated conversations will end 24 hours after the last message your customers sent. After this 24-hour window, businesses will have to begin a new conversation with a Template Message.
If a user sends your business a WhatsApp message but you do not reply to it, you will not be charged.
WhatsApp Business - cost per conversation in AED
Effective August 1, 2024, Meta is reducing rates for utility conversations to remain competitive with alternative channels and to encourage businesses to facilitate more end-to-end post-purchase customer journeys on WhatsApp
Marketing conversation rates will be adjusted starting October 1, 2024, in select markets as part of more frequent updates to better reflect demand and the value delivered by marketing messages. For the latest rate card, please refer to Meta’s website.
New WhatsApp Business API pricing for the UAE (2024)
WhatsApp Pricing Calculator
Now you can calculate your messaging cost using SleekFlow's WhatsApp pricing calculator!
Calculate your WhatsApp Business messaging costs
WhatsApp Business API charges businesses per 24-hour conversation. Estimate your monthly charges now
Factors that affect the WhatsApp Business API pricing
If you are using WhatsApp Business API already, you should understand how everything works. However, with the new pricing model in place, there are a few factors that may affect your monthly spending on WhatsApp Business API.
1. Country/region
The fee for each type of business-initiated conversation, including utility, authentication, and marketing conversation, and user-initiated/service conversation depends on the country your business is located. You may refer to the table above to check the pricing for your country in the UAE.
2. Customer care window
As mentioned earlier, there is a customer care window in the conversation-based structure created by WhatsApp. If a customer sends a message to you, the 24 hours following the last message received from the customer is known as the Customer Care Window.
Beyond this Customer Care Window, businesses will then have to start the business-initiated conversation again with a Template Message.
So, what are template messages? Read on to find out.
Starting from June 2023, if you send 2 or more different types of business-initiated conversations within the same 24 window, you will be charged twice for each type of conversation.
Official WhatsApp Business API's message type
According to Facebook, businesses need to follow specific formats when drafting a notification send-out. More importantly, the content has to be consistent with its terms and policies. To understand that, we must first know the two basic types of messages, Template Messages and Session Messages.
Template Messages
Template Messages are pre-approved message templates for marketing messages or outbound notifications like delivery alerts and appointment reminders.
You must use a WhatsApp Template Message if more than 24 hours have elapsed since the user’s last response to you. Any other types of messages sent outside the 24-hour window will fail to reach the user.
For example, if you want your customer to receive this message:
Hi, Harry! Your Order Number: 20200120 has been dispatched. Thank you!
You will need to submit the following template:
Hi, {{1}}! Your Order Number: {{2}} has been dispatched. Thank you!
Hence, the first variable will be the customer name labeled as {{1}}, and the second variable will be the order number labeled as {{2}}.
Session Messages
Session Messages are any messages sent and received in response to a user-initiated message and do not require pre-approval.
A messaging session starts when a user sends you a message and lasts for 24 hours from the most recently received message.
You can wait for users to message you, and it would be a user-initiated conversation, or you can send a Template Message to invite the user to respond, which generates a business-initiated conversation.
WhatsApp Business API provider pricing
SleekFlow, as the official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP), is one of the best options for businesses looking for WhatsApp solutions. Users in UAE will only need to pay a monthly fee of US $15 (~AE $55.09) for each hosted number to enjoy the latest benefits available on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
As SleekFlow uses the WhatsApp Cloud API hosted by Meta, it guarantees a much stabler connection and offers from 80 up to 500 MPS (messaging per second) for WhatsApp Broadcast. Also, the easy yet powerful onboarding process only requires 3 minutes before you start experiencing the advantages of having an official WhatsApp Business account.
Find out how to get started with WhatsApp Business API through SleekFlow.
Understanding the billing process for WhatsApp Business API
Once your business starts implementing the WhatsApp Business API, it is of utmost importance for you to learn how to view payments and understand the invoice.
When creating a WhatsApp Business account, the system requires you to apply for a line of credit. After the application has been approved, a monthly invoice will be shown in the 'Payment Settings' section within your WhatsApp Business Manager.
As mentioned above, the invoice that includes all spending associated with the same WhatsApp Business Manager will be emailed to users during the first week of each month. The payments can then be settled by bank transfer to the Facebook bank account listed on each invoice. To avoid late payment charges, fees should be paid within 30 days following the invoice date.
The billing process is even simpler for SleekFlow customers! All you need to do is top up your WhatsApp credits through the SleekFlow platform, and the WhatsApp fees will be automatically deducted depending on your usage.
Want to outcompete your peers with SleekFlow's help?
Book your personalized demo with SleekFlow today and unlock the potential of seamless communication
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