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WhatsApp’s pricing rules are set by Meta, not Ciarem, but they shape when your agent can message someone and what it costs. Here is the short version.

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The 24-hour window

When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens. Inside that window, you and your agent can reply without a template, and every new customer message resets the clock. Most of your agent’s work (answering questions, following up an active conversation) happens inside this window. Under Meta’s per-message pricing, replies sent inside this window without a template count as service messages. The templates you send outside it are marketing, utility, or authentication (below).

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Outside the window: templates

Once 24 hours pass with no customer message, reaching out requires a message template: a pre-approved message format reviewed by Meta. Templates are how re-engagement and proactive follow-up work on WhatsApp, and Meta charges for them by category (marketing, utility, authentication) at rates that vary by country. Ciarem uses approved templates when reaching someone outside the window (for example when sending a template to a contact or segment). Those Meta charges are drawn from your WhatsApp wallet at Meta’s cost, with no markup.

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What this means in practice

  • Replies inside an active conversation: free for the first 1,000 service messages each month on each WhatsApp number, then a Meta charge per message (see below)
  • A follow-up the day after a customer went quiet: template, Meta charge applies unless the customer came from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad and the free entry point window is still open (see below)
  • Instagram DMs, Messenger chats, and website chat: no Meta charges at all

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Meta’s October 2026 change

Since October 1, 2026, Meta charges for each delivered service message (each reply sent inside the 24-hour window without a template). In each country, the service rate is the same as the utility and authentication rate. Each WhatsApp number gets 1,000 free service messages per month. Meta charges from the 1,001st service message of the month, and unused free messages do not carry over. Utility templates sent inside the window are now billed too. Current rates are on Meta’s pricing page. Messages that Meta reports as free cost nothing in your WhatsApp wallet. That covers the first 1,000 service messages of the month and the messages you send in a free entry point window. That window opens when a customer writes to you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad in the WhatsApp mobile app and you reply within 24 hours. It can stay open for up to 7 days. Everything else Meta charges passes through your WhatsApp wallet at Meta’s cost, with no markup.

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Voice calls

Calls customers make to your WhatsApp line are free. Calls your team places are billed by Meta per second, in six-second steps, at a per-minute rate that depends on the customer’s country, and are drawn from the same wallet. See WhatsApp voice calls.

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Passthrough, not markup

Ciarem does not profit on WhatsApp fees. Meta’s charges pass through at cost, drawn from the prepaid WhatsApp wallet in Settings, where you can see the current cycle’s spend by category and every transaction. Your plan’s message allowance and overage are Ciarem platform fees and are independent of Meta’s rates. See Plans and billing for how the full bill is built. Because Meta’s rates change by country and category, treat the exact per-message cost as Meta’s number, not ours. The wallet shows actual consumption so you see real costs rather than estimates.