Kenyan businesses to pay to send WhatsApp messages from October 1
Kenyan businesses to pay to send WhatsApp messages from October 1
Kenyan businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform will begin paying Meta for certain business messages from October 1, 2026, in a change expected to increase the cost of using the platform for customer service, order updates, and marketing.
Under the new pricing model, businesses will pay about Ksh0.52 per delivered service message in Kenya, based on Meta’s October rate card.
Service messages will be charged after a free allowance of 1,000 delivered service messages per business phone number each month.
Marketing messages will cost significantly more, at about Ksh3.20 to KSh3.30 per delivered message, although marketing messages are already subject to per-message charges and are not part of the new October 1 change in Kenya.
The changes extend Meta’s shift towards per-message pricing, which had already introduced charges for business-initiated marketing, utility and authentication template messages.
From October, service replies sent after customers initiate conversations will also become chargeable once the monthly free allowance is exhausted.
Previously, certain utility and service messages sent within the 24-hour customer-service window could be delivered without a Meta messaging charge. From October 1, however, service messages within the window will be subject to the new pricing after the 1,000-message free allowance, while utility template messages sent within the window will also become chargeable and will not receive the 1,000-message free allowance.
For example, a retailer using WhatsApp to confirm an order, provide a delivery update or handle a return could incur a charge for each successfully delivered message under the Business Platform.
However, the treatment depends on the type of message, with free-form service replies covered by the 1,000-message monthly allowance, while utility templates sent within the 24-hour window will be charged at the applicable utility rate.
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“Businesses and organisations that use the WhatsApp Business Platform or API to communicate with customers at scale, including banks, fintech companies, insurers, airlines, logistics firms, retailers, e-commerce platforms, healthcare providers and telecommunications companies, will be affected by the changes,” Meta stated in its announcement earlier in August.
Businesses sending automated payment alerts, booking confirmations, appointment reminders, account notifications, delivery updates and other customer communications through WhatsApp could therefore see their messaging expenses rise.
For example, a company sending 10,000 chargeable service messages in Kenya would pay approximately KSh4,680 after the first 1,000 free messages, assuming the KSh0.52 rate applies.
The cost of 10,000 marketing messages would remain roughly KSh32,000 to KSh33,000, based on the applicable marketing rate, since marketing messages were already chargeable.
However, the changes do not affect ordinary WhatsApp users, who will continue using the platform for personal communication without these per-message business charges.
Small traders and businesses using only the free WhatsApp Business app on a phone, without connecting to the WhatsApp Business Platform or API, are also not directly charged by Meta under this pricing model.
Similarly, businesses using third-party software or Business Solution Providers may pay more than Meta’s listed rates because those providers can charge their own fees or mark-ups. Meta’s charges also apply only to successfully delivered messages, meaning failed or undelivered messages are not billed.
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