Key facts
- Marketing:
- ₹0.88 per conversation
- Utility:
- ₹0.13 per conversation
- Authentication:
- ₹0.15 per conversation
- Service:
- Free until 30 September 2026
- Boldally markup:
- 0%. You pay Meta's rate.
- Set by:
- Meta, not by Boldally
What Meta charges in India
Meta prices WhatsApp Business conversations by category. A conversation is a 24-hour window, not a single message: once it opens, further messages of the same category inside that window cost nothing extra.
| Category | Rate per conversation | What opens it |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹0.88 | Promotions, offers, product news, re-engagement |
| Utility | ₹0.13 | Order updates, shipping, payment and booking notices |
| Authentication | ₹0.15 | One-time passcodes and verification codes |
| Service | Free until 30 September 2026 | Your reply within 24 hours of a customer message |
Which category applies to your message
You do not choose the category freely. It is set when a message template is approved, and Meta reviews the content against the category you asked for. Writing a promotion and submitting it as a utility template gets the template rejected, not a cheaper rate.
The practical rule: if the message exists because the customer did something, it is usually utility. If it exists because you want to sell something, it is marketing. Codes are authentication.
What that costs at real volumes
Cost per month if every conversation is a new one in that category. Real campaigns land lower, because replies inside an open window are free.
| Conversations a month | Marketing | Utility | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | ₹880 | ₹130 | ₹145 |
| 10,000 | ₹8,800 | ₹1,300 | ₹1,450 |
| 1,00,000 | ₹88,000 | ₹13,000 | ₹14,500 |
For your own numbers, the cost calculator takes a volume and a category mix and gives you the monthly total.
What changes on 1 October 2026
Service conversations, meaning your replies within 24 hours of a customer messaging you, are free until 30 September 2026. From 1 October 2026 Meta bills them at its utility rate.
If most of your WhatsApp volume is customer support rather than outbound campaigns, that is a real change to your bill: conversations that cost nothing today move to ₹0.13 each. We pass that through at cost, the same as every other category.
Why your bill may not match this table
Many providers add their own margin on top of Meta’s rate, commonly 10 to 20 percent, and it is not always stated on the pricing page. The software fee is what you compare when choosing a platform; the message markup is what you actually pay month after month, and it grows with your volume.
Boldally adds nothing. You pay Meta’s rate, and we charge for the software separately. That is the entire pricing model.
Common questions
Does Boldally add a markup to WhatsApp message rates?
No. You pay Meta's published rate for every conversation, with nothing added. Boldally charges a separate monthly software fee, starting at ₹999.
Is WhatsApp charged per message or per conversation?
Per conversation. A conversation is a 24-hour window opened by a template message in a given category. Further messages of that category inside the window cost nothing extra.
What is the cheapest WhatsApp message category in India?
Utility, at ₹0.13 per conversation, followed by authentication at ₹0.145. Marketing is the most expensive at ₹0.88. You cannot pick the category freely, though: it is set when Meta approves the template, based on what the message actually says.
Are service messages really free?
Until 30 September 2026, yes. Replying within 24 hours of a customer's message costs nothing. From 1 October 2026 Meta charges its utility rate for these conversations.
Who sets these prices?
Meta does. They vary by country and change periodically. The rates on this page are for India and were checked in September 2026.