WhatsApp Conversation Pricing, Explained Simply
Marketing, utility, authentication, service — what each conversation category costs, when the 24-hour window applies, and how to keep spend efficient.
Team Wanity
Support · Wanity.ai
WhatsApp pricing confuses everyone at first because it's neither per-message nor per-user — it's per conversation, where a conversation is a 24-hour window opened by a template message or a customer reply.
The four categories
Marketing conversations (promotions, offers) cost the most. Utility conversations (order updates, reminders tied to a transaction) cost less. Authentication (OTPs) has its own low rate. Service conversations — when the customer messages you first and you reply within 24 hours — are the cheapest, and in many markets free up to generous limits.
Where teams overspend
The classic waste: opening a fresh marketing conversation to say something that belonged in an existing window, or sending utility content in marketing templates. Batching related updates into open windows and categorizing templates correctly routinely cuts conversation spend 20–40%.
No-markup pass-through
Wanity passes Meta's conversation charges through at cost and shows per-campaign spend live, so you always know what a segment actually cost to reach — and what it returned.
