WhatsApp platform6 min read
WhatsApp Business API pricing: UAE and Saudi rates
The short answer: Meta prices the WhatsApp Business API per delivered template, by the recipient's country code. Each business number gets 1,000 free service replies a month, and your software provider charges on top.
- UAE (+971): marketing USD 0.0576 (AED 0.2115), utility USD 0.0157 (AED 0.0576).
- Saudi Arabia (+966): marketing USD 0.0576 (SAR 0.2159), utility USD 0.0107 (SAR 0.0401).
WhatsApp Business API rates for UAE numbers
A marketing message to a UAE (+971) number costs USD 0.0576 and a utility message USD 0.0157. These are Meta's list rates per delivered message, before tax, from Meta's pricing page.
| Category | USD | AED | Charged for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | 0.0576 | 0.2115 | Every marketing template |
| Utility | 0.0157 | 0.0576 | Every utility template, even inside the 24-hour window |
| Authentication | 0.0157 | 0.0576 | Every passcode template |
| Authentication-international | 0.0510 | 0.1872 | Passcodes from an eligible business based outside the UAE |
| Service | 0.0157 | 0.0576 | Replies inside the 24-hour window, after 1,000 a month per number |
The AED figures are Meta's own AED card, not a conversion. Plan from the card in your billing currency.
WhatsApp Business API rates for Saudi Arabia numbers
A marketing message to a Saudi Arabia (+966) number costs USD 0.0576 and a utility message USD 0.0107, on the same Meta card.
| Category | USD | SAR | Charged for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | 0.0576 | 0.2159 | Every marketing template |
| Utility | 0.0107 | 0.0401 | Every utility template, even inside the 24-hour window |
| Authentication | 0.0107 | 0.0401 | Every passcode template |
| Authentication-international | 0.0598 | 0.2240 | Passcodes from an eligible business based outside Saudi Arabia |
| Service | 0.0107 | 0.0401 | Replies inside the 24-hour window, after 1,000 a month per number |
Marketing costs the same in both countries; everything else costs about a third less to a Saudi number.
Utility and authentication rates fall with volume. The list rate covers the first 100,000 utility messages and the first 300,000 authentication messages a month per market; above that, tiers run 5% to 25% below list. Marketing has no volume tiers.
Meta changes rates only on the first day of a quarter, with at least a month's notice. Recheck the card after each quarter starts.
Rates for other Gulf markets
Kuwait is the Gulf's most expensive market for marketing messages, at USD 0.0792, and Qatar and Oman the lowest, at USD 0.0341. Rates are in USD per delivered message; in each market, utility, authentication and service cost the same.
| Market | Calling code | Marketing | Utility, authentication and service |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | +971 | 0.0576 | 0.0157 |
| Saudi Arabia | +966 | 0.0576 | 0.0107 |
| Qatar | +974 | 0.0341 | 0.0120 |
| Kuwait | +965 | 0.0792 | 0.0440 |
| Oman | +968 | 0.0341 | 0.0247 |
| Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen (Meta's Rest of Middle East) | +973, +962, +961, +967 | 0.0392 | 0.0091 |
| Egypt | +20 | 0.0644 | 0.0036 |
| Iraq | +964 | 0.0341 | 0.0079 |
| Morocco | +212 | 0.0414 | 0.0230 |
Meta's rate card lists the authentication-international rate beside each market that has one.
Worked month: UAE and Saudi
A month of 9,000 WhatsApp messages to UAE customers costs AED 768.60 in Meta fees. One business number, every recipient on a +971 number:
- 2,000 marketing templates, such as a weekend offer to opted-in customers
- 3,000 utility templates for order and delivery updates
- 4,000 service replies to customers who messaged first
| Messages | Arithmetic in AED | AED | USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 marketing | 2,000 × 0.2115 | 423.00 | 115.20 |
| 3,000 utility | 3,000 × 0.0576 | 172.80 | 47.10 |
| 4,000 service replies | 3,000 × 0.0576, after 1,000 free | 172.80 | 47.10 |
| Meta total | 768.60 | 209.40 |
The same month to Saudi (+966) numbers costs SAR 672.40, or USD 179.40. These are Meta's charges only, before tax.
What is free and what is billable
Messages customers send you are always free; Meta bills per delivered message you send, not per conversation.
| Message | Meta charge |
|---|---|
| Messages customers send you | Free |
| Your reply inside the 24-hour window | Free for 1,000 a month per number, then the service rate |
| Utility template, inside or outside the window | Utility rate |
| Marketing or authentication template | Category rate |
| Any message in a free entry point window | Free |
A chat from a click-to-WhatsApp ad opens a free entry point window when you reply within 24 hours: every message is free for up to 7 days. The service allowance counts messages, resets monthly and does not roll over.
A number with no payment method cannot send service replies once the free 1,000 are used. Check this with whoever owns the Meta account.
Categories set the price
The template's category decides its rate: marketing, utility or authentication. Meta can reclassify a utility template that contains an offer as marketing, and the first sign is usually the bill. Our template categories guide covers what belongs where.
What the delivery receipt tells you
Each delivered-message status carries Meta's billing classification. A service reply inside the free allowance reads:
"pricing": {
"billable": false,
"pricing_model": "PMP",
"type": "free_customer_service",
"category": "service"
}
Once the allowance is used, the same reply shows "billable": true and "type": "regular". The receipt names the category, not the amount: apply the rate card to price it.
Two bills: Meta and your software
Meta charges for messages. Your software provider charges for the platform that sends and answers them.
Keep the WhatsApp Business Account in your own Meta business, so the number and templates stay yours. Then ask whether Meta bills you directly or the provider passes the charge on.
Software is priced in different units:
- Per seat. Check whether a read-only seat costs the same as one that answers.
- Per monthly active contact. Ask whether inbound-only contacts count, and what happens when you go over.
- Per message, on top of Meta. Find Meta's rate for your markets first, then compare the markup.
- Flat plan with limits. Ask what happens the day you hit the limit.
Also ask whether AI replies cost extra. Then price one month of your own volume, by category and country, through each model. Our comparisons set Otobiz beside other Gulf providers, with every price cited and dated.
What moves your bill
- The mix. Utility templates and service replies past 1,000 are billable, so count each type.
- Marketing that should be utility. An order update with an offer added is billed as marketing.
- Who you send to. Unengaged lists cost the same per message and hurt your quality rating.
- Retries. Never resend to someone who opted out.
Questions to ask a provider
- Who owns the WhatsApp Business Account, and what happens to the number if we leave?
- Do we pay Meta directly, or do you resell messages? At what markup?
- Does your reporting show the billed category per message?
- What counts as a billable contact, and does an inbound-only contact count?
- What happens the day we exceed the plan?
How Otobiz charges for WhatsApp
WhatsApp starts on the Pro plan at US$39 a month billed yearly (US$49 paid monthly). Every paid plan includes unlimited messages for your whole team, and AI is paid per action.
| What | You pay Otobiz |
|---|---|
| A plan with WhatsApp | From US$39 a month billed yearly, after a 7-day free trial with no card |
| Messages you send and receive | Unlimited on every paid plan |
| Each AI message | AI actions included in every paid plan, then US$0.02 each if you choose; on Free, US$1 of AI a month included |
| Prepaid AI balance | Top-ups from US$10, and it never expires |
Meta bills its fees to your own WhatsApp Business Account, and Otobiz adds no markup. The worked month above sends 9,000 messages, and Otobiz adds nothing for them: you pay your plan, from US$39 a month, plus Meta's USD 209.40; see Otobiz pricing.
Estimate your own costs
Write down four numbers for a typical month, per recipient country:
- Service replies per business number, beyond the free 1,000.
- Utility templates, including those sent inside the window.
- Marketing templates, and to how many people.
- Authentication templates, if you send passcodes.
Multiply each by its rate, add your software cost, and keep the working with any quote so you can check it against the first invoice.
The WhatsApp API cost calculator prices a month of Meta fees to UAE, Saudi and other Gulf numbers in AED, SAR or USD. For other markets, use Meta's calculator.
