WhatsApp Business API pricing: UAE, Saudi and Gulf rates

The short answer: Meta charges per delivered template message, priced by the recipient's country calling code. To a UAE (+971) number, a marketing message costs USD 0.0576 (AED 0.2115), and utility and authentication messages cost USD 0.0157 (AED 0.0576). To a Saudi Arabia (+966) number, marketing costs USD 0.0576 (SAR 0.2159), and utility and authentication cost USD 0.0107 (SAR 0.0401). Each business phone number gets 1,000 free service replies a month inside the 24-hour customer service window; after that, each reply costs the recipient market's service rate, the same as its utility rate.

A WhatsApp messaging budget has two main components: Meta’s usage charges and the software provider’s charges. Some providers combine them on one invoice. Separate the components when comparing quotes so that the same audience, workload, and billing period are included.

This is what each side is charging for, and which parts of your own behavior move the total.

WhatsApp Business API rates for UAE numbers

These are Meta's list rates per delivered message to a UAE (+971) number, from Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform pricing. They are Meta's charges before any tax, and they exclude your software provider's fees.

Messages sent inside a free entry point window carry no charge in any category.

The AED figures are Meta's own AED rate card, which applies when your account is billed in dirhams. Converting the USD rates at the dirham's fixed peg of 3.6725 per US dollar gives figures that differ slightly in the fourth decimal place, so budget from the card in your billing currency.

WhatsApp Business API rates for Saudi Arabia numbers

These are Meta's list rates per delivered message to a Saudi Arabia (+966) number, from the same Meta pricing page. The SAR figures are Meta's own SAR rate card, which applies when your account is billed in riyals.

Marketing costs the same in both countries. Utility, authentication and service messages cost about a third less to a Saudi number than to a UAE number.

Utility and authentication rates fall with volume. For UAE and Saudi numbers alike, the list rate covers the first 100,000 utility messages and the first 300,000 authentication messages in a month. Beyond those, tier rates run from 5% to 25% below list. Meta counts volume across your whole business portfolio, per market and category, and resets the count each month. Marketing has no volume tiers.

Meta may change rates only on the first day of a quarter (1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October) and gives at least a month's notice for a rate change. Recheck the card before relying on a figure after the next quarter starts.

Rates for the rest of the Gulf and nearby markets

Meta lists some Middle East and North Africa markets separately and groups the rest. These are its list rates in USD per delivered message, from the same Meta pricing page. In each of these markets, Meta charges the same rate for utility, authentication and service messages.

Several of these markets also have an authentication-international rate; Meta's rate card lists it beside each market.

A worked month in the UAE and Saudi Arabia

Take one business phone number and every recipient on a +971 number:

• 2,000 marketing templates, such as a weekend offer to customers who opted in
• 3,000 utility templates for order confirmations and delivery updates
• 4,000 service replies to customers who messaged first

In USD the same month is 2,000 × 0.0576 + 3,000 × 0.0157 + 3,000 × 0.0157 = 209.40. Converting USD 209.40 at 3.6725 gives AED 769.02; the 42 fils gap is the rounding in Meta's AED card.

The same month with every recipient on a Saudi (+966) number costs SAR 672.40 on Meta's SAR card: 2,000 × 0.2159 + 3,000 × 0.0401 + 3,000 × 0.0401. In USD that is 2,000 × 0.0576 + 3,000 × 0.0107 + 3,000 × 0.0107 = 179.40.

These are Meta's charges only, before tax. The software that sends the messages is billed separately; see how Otobiz charges below.

The two bills

The first bill is Meta's WhatsApp usage charge. Your WhatsApp Business Account holds the phone numbers and approved templates, but ownership does not by itself tell you who settles that bill. Meta's Embedded Signup documentation distinguishes businesses that add their own payment method from Solution Partner arrangements that use a shared credit line. Keep the account in your own Meta business for asset control, then ask separately whether Meta bills you directly or the provider passes the charge through.

The second bill comes from the platform you use to write, send, route, and answer those messages. That one is priced however the vendor decided: per seat, per contact, per message on top of Meta's rate, or as a monthly credit pool.

Ask for a written breakdown of usage, subscription, markup, overage, setup, and applicable taxes before comparing the total.

What is free and what is billable

Meta charges for billable delivered messages by category, recipient market, and applicable volume tier, using the WhatsApp Business Account’s time zone. Meta bills per delivered message, not per conversation: one customer conversation can contain several billable deliveries.

The free service tier counts messages, not conversations, resets monthly, and does not roll over. Meta says a number without a payment method cannot deliver service messages after the free tier is used. Review payment readiness with the account owner. A software subscription does not establish that Meta billing is configured.

A separate exception: qualifying click-to-WhatsApp ad or Facebook Page entry points can open a 72-hour free entry point window when the business replies within the required time. Free pricing does not extend free-form permission: after the separate customer service window closes, an approved template is still required. Check eligibility in Meta’s pricing reference rather than treating every ad visit as qualifying.

The customer’s own inbound messages are not charged by Meta. Software, AI usage, and staffing charges remain separate.

Categories are the price

There are three template categories. You propose one when creating the template, and WhatsApp validates it against the content.

You submit a template with a category. Meta reviews it and may reclassify it. A promotional line inside an order update is the standard way a utility template becomes a marketing template, and the first sign is usually the bill rather than an email.

Country is the other half. Meta publishes rates per market, and the spread between markets is wide enough that one blended average is not a useful planning number. Price each market separately. Meta can revise rates on quarter starts and publishes advance notice, so calculate from the current rate card rather than copying a number into a long-lived spreadsheet.

What the delivery receipt can tell you

A delivered-message status can include Meta’s billing classification. For example, a service reply delivered while the number is still inside its monthly free tier includes:

"pricing": {
  "billable": false,
  "pricing_model": "PMP",
  "type": "free_customer_service",
  "category": "service"
}

Once the free tier is used, the same reply arrives with "billable": true and "type": "regular". Use the actual pricing object, including billable, type, and category, rather than assigning cost from the template name or an open-window flag. Meta documents the payload in its messages webhook reference.

The receipt helps distinguish billing categories and billable events. It is not a currency amount or a final invoice. To estimate cost, apply the effective rate card and any volume tiers to the relevant delivered messages, then reconcile the result with the provider invoice, credits, markups, and taxes.

The vendor's side, and how to compare it

Software pricing uses different units. Compare how each unit applies to your workload:

• Per seat. Simple to reason about, and it stops mattering once your team stops growing. Check whether a seat that only reads conversations is billed like one that answers them.
• Per monthly active contact. You pay for unique contacts you exchanged messages with in the period. The details vary enough to change the answer entirely: whether an inbound-only contact counts, whether the count resets, and what happens when you go over. Ask all three.
• Per message, on top of Meta. Sometimes described as a markup, sometimes as credits. The only way to read this is to establish Meta's own rate for your markets first, then subtract.
• Flat plan with limits. Fine until you hit the limit. Ask what happens on the day you do: a hard stop, an overage rate, or an upgrade conversation.

There is no single right model. There is a wrong way to compare them, which is to put the headline monthly figures side by side. Build one estimate of your own sending volume, by category and by country, and price it through each vendor's model. Include the billing term, branch and seat limits, integration charges, onboarding costs, and what happens when usage exceeds the estimate.

What actually moves your bill

After the model is settled, the total is driven by things you control.

The mix of service and template messages. Service replies beyond the monthly free tier and every utility template are billable. Estimate the actual mix of requests, appointment updates, authentication, and promotions instead of treating every conversation as the same billing unit.

How many of your templates are marketing. Some messages genuinely are marketing and should be sent as marketing. But teams routinely send as marketing what is really a utility message about an order the customer already placed, because the copy drifted into an offer. A genuinely transactional message can be submitted for utility classification. A separate promotion needs its own permission and classification. Sending two messages is not automatically cheaper than sending one; calculate the total delivered volume.

Whether you are sending to people who want to hear from you. This looks like a compliance question and is also a cost question. Messages to an unengaged list are billed exactly the same as messages to an engaged one, and they damage the quality rating that decides how many conversations you can start at all.

Failed and re-sent messages. A template rejected at send time costs nothing, but the work around it does, and some failure classes are worth retrying while others are not. A per-user limit may allow reconsideration later, but waiting does not guarantee delivery. Recheck eligibility and relevance before retrying. A recipient who opted out is terminal, and re-sending is both a waste and a complaint waiting to happen.

A short way to estimate your own cost

Before you talk to any vendor, write down four numbers.

1. How many service messages do you expect to deliver per business phone number each month? Budget for deliveries above the 1,000 free each month.
2. How many utility templates will be delivered, and in which markets? Count those sent inside the window too; they are billable.
3. How many marketing templates will you send, to how many people, in which countries? Price these separately rather than assuming they dominate every business’s bill.
4. How many people and branches need access, and what software usage will the workflow consume? Apply the provider’s actual plan units.

Also count authentication templates if you send passcodes. For each recipient market and category, estimate billable delivered messages after applicable free cases, multiply by the current rate or tier, and add the software charges. Keep the assumptions visible so a quote can be recalculated when volume changes.

What to ask before you commit

• Who owns the WhatsApp Business Account, and what happens to the number and the approved templates if we leave?
• Do we pay Meta directly, or do you resell messages to us? If you resell, what is the markup?
• Does your reporting show the billed category per message, taken from Meta's delivery receipt?
• What exactly counts as a billable contact under your plan, and does an inbound-only contact count?
• What happens on the day we exceed the plan?

Ask the provider to price a representative month and an unusually busy month using the same assumptions. Keep the calculation with the quote so you can compare it with the first invoice.

How Otobiz charges for WhatsApp

Otobiz does not resell Meta's messages or add a margin to them. Meta bills its charges separately, through the payment method on your own WhatsApp Business Account, and the account, number and approved templates stay in your Meta business.

Otobiz charges for the software: one price per branch, which includes a monthly grant of credits. Each message you send through Otobiz, on any channel, uses one credit. Reading a customer's message uses none. In the worked month above, the 9,000 messages you send would use 9,000 credits, and Meta's AED 768.60 would be billed by Meta. Plan prices and credit grants are on the pricing page.

Estimate your own costs

Use the Otobiz pricing calculator to compare the plan amount, upfront billing term and message-credit budget for your branches. Add your own monthly Meta estimate, in the calculator's currency, to see a combined budget. An empty Meta field means those charges are excluded, not free.

For the provider portion, use Meta’s current calculator with your recipients’ markets and message categories. Use the recipient’s market when estimating a message charge, rather than your office’s location.