WhatsApp API pricing in Singapore: what you pay per message, and what changes on 1 October 2026

Meta's Singapore rates per WhatsApp message, what is still free, what started costing on 1 October 2026, and a worked monthly bill for a small business.

JSJun Sing Tan Updated Nov 2, 20266 readReviewed by DMA editorial team

What you’ll learn

  • What Meta charges in Singapore
  • Work out your monthly WhatsApp bill in Singapore dollars
  • What changed on 1 October 2026
  • What is still free
  • A worked monthly bill for a small business
  • What a provider adds on top
  • An AI agent’s replies

If you use the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, WhatsApp costs you nothing. This guide is for businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform, the API that chatbots, AI agents, CRMs and broadcast tools connect to. There, Meta charges per message, and since 1 October 2026 it charges for replies too.

Every rate below comes from Meta’s own rate card for Singapore, read on 1 November 2026, and the links are at the end.

What Meta charges in Singapore

Meta charges for each template message it delivers. A template is a message you get approved in advance, and it is the only kind you can send to someone who hasn’t messaged you in the last 24 hours. Each template has a category, and the category sets the price.

Message typeWhat it is forPrice per message in Singapore
MarketingPromotions, offers, newsletters, “we miss you” messagesS$0.0937 (US$0.0732)
UtilityUpdates about something the customer did: an order, a booking, a paymentS$0.0205 (US$0.016)
AuthenticationOne-time passwords and login codesS$0.0205 (US$0.016)
ServiceYour replies inside the 24 hours after a customer messages youThe first 1,000 a month per number are free, then S$0.0205 each (charged since 1 October 2026)

Singapore has had its own line on Meta’s rate card since 1 July 2026. Before that it was billed at the “Rest of Asia Pacific” rate, and several guides still quote that older, lower utility price.

Utility and authentication get cheaper at high volume, up to 25% off, but the discounts only start at 150,000 utility or 100,000 authentication messages a month. Marketing messages have no volume discount.

Work out your monthly WhatsApp bill in Singapore dollars

Type in last month’s messages to see what Meta charges, with your free replies already taken off.

Promotions, offers and “we miss you” messages.
Booking, order and payment updates. Count the ones sent during an open chat too.
One-time passwords and login codes.
Your replies within 24 hours of a customer’s message, from all your numbers.
Each number gets 1,000 free replies a month.

Leave out chats that started from a Click to WhatsApp ad. If you reply within 24 hours, those are free for up to 7 days.

What Meta charges you a month S$69.40 before tax
  • Marketing: 500 x S$0.0937 = S$46.85
  • Utility: 300 x S$0.0205 = S$6.15
  • Authentication: 0 x S$0.0205 = S$0.00
  • Service replies: 1,000 free, then 800 x S$0.0205 = S$16.40

Rates read from Meta’s rate card on 1 November 2026.
Source: Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform pricing page (developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/pricing)

On our WhatsApp AI agent, Meta’s fees are passed through at cost: this total, on top of the plan from $390 a month on an annual plan.

WhatsApp Inbox and CRM: your number connected for you, no Meta per-message fees, from $119 a month on an annual plan. Automated messages are paced within daily limits and sending hours, to keep your number in good standing.

Book a demo call and bring last month’s numbers. We’ll show you the plan and Meta’s fees in Singapore dollars before anything starts.

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What changed on 1 October 2026

Two things that used to be free started costing money.

Your replies. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens. Until 30 September every normal reply you sent inside it was free. Since 1 October, each business phone number gets 1,000 free replies a month, and each reply after that costs S$0.0205. Unused free replies don’t carry over to the next month.

Utility templates inside the window. An order or booking confirmation sent while the 24-hour window is open used to cost nothing. Since 1 October it’s charged at the utility rate.

The prices for marketing, utility and authentication templates didn’t change.

One rule comes with this. Meta’s pricing page says that if your WhatsApp Business account has no payment method, it delivers replies within the 1,000 free ones and stops delivering them after that. If a provider handles your billing, ask them whether this covers you. If you’re billed by Meta directly, add a card in Billing Hub before your 1,001st reply of the month.

Need help with AI and WhatsApp? See our AI systems and prices.

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What is still free

Messages customers send you are always free.

Chats that start from a Click to WhatsApp ad open a window of up to 7 days in which everything you send is free, templates included, as long as you reply within 24 hours. This only applies when the customer taps from the WhatsApp phone app. Chats that start from a QR code, a website chat button or an Instagram bio link are charged normally, even though some guides say otherwise.

The WhatsApp Business app on your own phone stays free. It has no per-message charges, but it also can’t connect to an AI agent or a CRM.

A worked monthly bill for a small business

Take a renovation company with one WhatsApp number. In a typical month it has these costs:

  • 300 new enquiries, with about six replies each: 1,800 replies
  • 200 appointment reminders sent the day before a site visit, outside the 24-hour window: utility templates
  • 100 booking confirmations sent while the customer is still chatting: utility templates inside the window
  • One promotion sent to 500 past customers: marketing templates
Until 30 SeptemberSince 1 October
1,800 repliesFree800 charged after the free 1,000: S$16.40
200 remindersS$4.10S$4.10
100 confirmations inside the windowFreeS$2.05
Promotion to 500 peopleS$46.85S$46.85
Meta’s bill for the monthS$50.95S$69.40

For most small businesses, the change adds a few dollars to tens of dollars a month. The promotion is still the biggest line. The same promotion sent to 2,000 people would cost S$187.40 on its own.

This assumes none of the enquiries came from a Click to WhatsApp ad. Replies inside a free ad window cost nothing, and Meta’s documents don’t say whether those replies also use up the 1,000 free ones, so we left them out of the example.

What a provider adds on top

Meta’s rates are only part of the bill. Most businesses reach the API through a provider, and Meta leaves the pricing between you and that provider entirely to the two of you. In Meta’s words: “Pricing between an end-customer (”business“) and a Solution Partner is determined solely between such business and the Solution Partner.”

That means three things to ask any provider before you sign:

  • Do you pass Meta’s message fees through at cost, or add a margin per message?
  • Is your platform fee per phone number, per user seat or per contact?
  • Who holds the billing relationship with Meta if I leave?

An AI agent’s replies

An AI agent that answers WhatsApp for your business sends ordinary replies, and Meta charges them like any other reply: free inside the first 1,000 a month per number, then S$0.0205 each. Meta has a separate pricing policy for “AI Providers”, but it covers companies offering general AI assistants on WhatsApp. It doesn’t apply to a business using an agent to answer its own customers.

The other cost is the AI model that writes each reply. That depends on the model and the length of the conversation. Ask for it itemised, separately from Meta’s fees.

The costs that aren’t on the rate card

Send limits. A new business account can send templates to 250 different people a day. It moves to 2,000 once the business is verified, then 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited as it sends more with good quality. A 2,000-person promotion from a new account has to wait.

Caps on marketing. Meta limits how many marketing messages each person receives from all businesses, and it doesn’t publish the number. Some of a promotion may not be delivered, and undelivered messages aren’t charged.

Quality. If people block or report your messages, Meta lowers your quality rating and can pause a template or hold your send limit back. A cheap broadcast to people who didn’t ask for it can cost you the ability to message the ones who did.

Frequently asked questions

Is WhatsApp Business free in Singapore?

The WhatsApp Business app is free. The WhatsApp Business Platform, the API, charges per template message, and since 1 October 2026 it charges for replies after the first 1,000 a month per number.

How much does a WhatsApp marketing message cost in Singapore?

S$0.0937 per delivered message (US$0.0732), on Meta’s rate card in force since 1 July 2026.

Are replies to customers still free?

Only the first 1,000 a month on each business number. Since 1 October 2026, each reply after that costs S$0.0205.

Does Meta still charge per conversation?

No. Meta moved from charging per 24-hour conversation to charging per message on 1 July 2025. Guides that still quote conversation prices are out of date.

Do I need a payment method on file?

If Meta bills you directly, yes. Without one, Meta stops delivering replies once the free 1,000 for the month are used.

Want WhatsApp to answer for you?

Our WhatsApp AI agent replies to new enquiries, asks your questions and books the call, then hands the chat to your team. We pass Meta’s message fees through at cost. See how it works and what it costs on our WhatsApp AI agent page.

PlanWhat you getAnnual plan, per monthMonthly plan
StarterReplies and asks your qualifying questions on 1 number, up to 300 new conversations a monthS$390S$490
GrowthAlso books into your calendar and follows up once when a lead goes quiet, up to 1,000 new conversations a monthS$590S$740
ScaleAlso sends each chat to the right person, on up to 3 numbers and 3,000 new conversations a monthS$990S$1,240

Meta’s fees come on top of the plan, and the calculator above works them out. Prices are from our pricing page on 2 November 2026. Annual plans are paid up front.

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Sources, read on 1 November 2026

JS

Jun Sing Tan

Jun Sing Tan is part of the content team at D’Marketing Agency, a Singapore digital marketing agency specialising in SEO, SEM, social media & lead generation. About DMA ›

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