WhatsApp Business Platform pricing model in Singapore and Malaysia
Managing customer communication costs isn’t easy. With over 3 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp dominates Southeast Asia as the go-to channel for both personal and business messaging. But without a clear grasp of how Meta charges, one surprise bill can derail your marketing budget and stall campaigns.
The good news: once you understand Meta’s pricing model for the WhatsApp Business Platform, you can turn this challenge into an advantage. Instead of scrambling to control costs, you’ll be able to design a smarter, more cost-effective messaging strategy.
This guide breaks down everything you need to know about the WhatsApp Business API pricing model.
How WhatsApp charges: Per-template message pricing
Businesses are charged for each template message sent via the WhatsApp Business Platform, with rates determined by the message category—such as marketing, utility, or authentication.
For example, if you send one marketing message and one utility message to the same customer, you’ll be billed separately for each, as they belong to different categories.
What is a Template Message?
Template Messages are pre-approved message formats that businesses use to initiate conversations or send broadcast messages outside the 24-hour customer service window. WhatsApp reviews and approves these templates before they can be sent, ensuring a high-quality, spam-free environment for users.
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!
What is the 24-hour customer service window?
The 24-hour customer service window starts when a customer sends you a message. During this time, you can send free-form messages through the Official WhatsApp Business API at no cost. Each new customer message resets the window.
After 24 hours of inactivity, the window closes. To re-initiate contact, you must use a pre-approved Template Message.
Definition of different message templates:
What messages are free on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp allows businesses to engage customers in several cost-free ways:
1. Free-form messages (a.k.a service conversations)
When a customer gets in touch, a 24-hour service window opens up, letting you send unlimited free messages, including texts, images, videos, and files.
Businesses should strategically utilize this 24-hour window for continuous customer engagement and follow-ups. AI agents can be incorporated into your strategic to maintain conversation flow, continuously answering potential customer questions, assisting with support issues, and a bunch of other tasks, without costing you more on WhatsApp messaging cost.
2. Utility templates within the Service Window
Within the 24-hour service window, you can send utility templates (e.g., order updates, appointment confirmations, or account-related messages) free of charge. This provides greater flexibility and choice in how you respond to users.
For example, instead of manually typing order statuses, you can use pre-approved templates for automated updates. This ensures consistent communication and frees up your team's valuable time, allowing you to manage customer inquiries efficiently without extra effort or cost.
3. Messages in free entry point window
Another way to engage customers for free is that when a user messages your business via a Click-to-WhatsApp ads or a Facebook Page Call-to-Action button. This triggers two distinct windows:
Customer service window:
The standard 24-hour window opens, allowing businesses to send message without charge.
Free entry point (FEP) window:
The 72-hour FEP window is triggered from the time of your reply within the first 24 hours.
During this period, you can send free-form messages at no charge, as long as the 24-hour customer service window remains open.
If the customer doesn’t message you again after 24 hours, you can only send any template messages for free within the 72-hour FEP window unless the customer messages you again, which will reset the 24-hour window.
Businesses should aim to maximize the 72-hour free messaging window to nurture potential leads without incurring additional messaging fees. For example, if a customer initiates contact via a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, businesses should respond promptly. If the customer's replies cease, leverage WhatsApp broadcasts or automated follow-ups with template messages—such as personalized offers, reminders, or surveys—to keep conversations alive and increase conversions..
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Factors that affect the WhatsApp Business API pricing
Now that you understand how WhatsApp charged per-message template, here's the other factors that affect your bill:
1. Recipient's country/region
Meta’s charges vary depending on both the message category and also recipient’s country code. This is especially important for businesses that often serve cross-border customers.
Some countries, like Indonesia and Malaysia, also have a special authentication-international rate. For instance, if you send an authentication template to a customer in Malaysia, it will be billed under this specific rate instead of the standard one.
Here’s the pricing of WhatsApp per-template messages in different regions for your reference:
WhatsApp Business API pricing is determined by Meta and is subject to change. For the latest rate card, please refer to Meta’s website.
Calculate your WhatsApp Business messaging costs
WhatsApp Business API charges vary depending on the category. Estimate your monthly charges now!
2. Volume of Template Messages
If your business sends a large number of utility or authentication messages, WhatsApp offers volume-based discounts. The more you send, the cheaper each message becomes.
This per-message price automatically decreases as you move into higher tiers within a calendar month, specifically for chargeable templates sent to a particular country. Upon reaching the next tier for a given market-category pair, your business unlocks the corresponding lower rate for messages sent within that new tier.
It's important to note that the lower rate only applies to messages sent within that specific tier. For example:
If Tier 1 (0-1,000 messages) costs $0.05 per message and Tier 2 (1,001-10,000) costs $0.03, you will pay $0.05 for each of your first 1,000 messages.
Beginning with your 1,001st message, the rate drops to $0.03 for all subsequent messages up to 10,000.
These tiers are calculated independently for each country and message category, and the count resets at the beginning of each calendar month.
For more details, check out the official volume tiers pricing here.
Make your WhatsApp budget work smarter with SleekFlow
WhatsApp is one of the most powerful ways to engage customers across Southeast Asia. By understanding how pricing works, you can plan your campaigns with confidence and avoid unexpected costs.
As an official Meta Business Partner, SleekFlow helps businesses across the region create seamless, personalized customer journeys on WhatsApp and beyond—while keeping messaging spend under control.
Ready to optimize your WhatsApp strategy with AI-powered solutions? Book a demo with SleekFlow today and learn how to scale your business, improve conversions, and save on costs.
Want to outcompete your peers with SleekFlow's help?
Book your personalised demo with SleekFlow today and unlock the potential of seamless communication
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