WhatsApp Business API pricing has two parts: what Meta charges for messages, and what your platform charges on top. Most businesses focus on the plan fee and miss the second part, which is often the bigger cost. Here is how it breaks down for India.
Meta charges per conversation, by category
Meta bills per 24-hour conversation, and the price depends on the category:
- Marketing for promotions and offers. The most expensive and the most closely reviewed.
- Utility for order updates, reminders, and alerts tied to a transaction. Cheaper.
- Authentication for one-time passcodes and verification.
- Service replies within 24 hours of a customer message. Free.
The exact India rates are set by Meta and change from time to time. You can see the current figures on our pricing page, and estimate a monthly bill with the cost calculator.
The cost most people miss: platform markup
Every provider pays Meta the same per-message rate. The difference is what they add on top. Many platforms mark up message costs by 10 to 20 percent. On 10,000 marketing messages, a 20 percent markup is a real, recurring line on your bill, every month, for messages you were going to send anyway.
Boldally adds zero markup. You pay Meta’s exact rates, passed through at cost. That is our single biggest pricing difference, and it compounds as your volume grows.
The plan fee
On top of messages, platforms charge a monthly subscription for the software: the shared inbox, campaigns, automation, and analytics. Boldally Chat plans start at ₹999 a month with no setup fee and no sales call. Every plan includes unlimited broadcasts and unlimited contact storage.
How to compare providers fairly
When you compare platforms, line up three numbers: the plan fee, the message markup, and any per-agent or add-on charges. The markup is the one that is easy to overlook and hardest to escape later. See how Boldally stacks up on our comparison pages.