WhatsApp customer service will become a paid service for online stores

Online stores that assist customers via WhatsApp will have to pay more starting October 1. That’s because Meta will also start charging for regular replies once a business number has used up its monthly free quota.

Customer service with a price tag

Until now, businesses could send replies via the WhatsApp Business Platform/API at no cost as long as a customer had sent a message themselves within the previous 24 hours. That will change starting October 1, 2026. Each business phone number will still receive 1,000 free service messages per month. After that, Meta will charge for every reply sent. Any unused portion of that allowance will not roll over to the next month.