The WhatsApp Business Platform is not available for free due to its functionality and focus on data privacy.
There are two ways to use WhatsApp as a communication channel:
If the channel is used exclusively for support requests, the first 1,000 service messages (= non-template messages you send to your contacts inside the 24h timeframe within user-initiated conversations per business phone number/month are free. Additional messages will be charged at the applicable utility/authentication rate, with no volume discounts. See Meta price list. Make sure to add a payment method to your Meta Business Account/Whatsapp Business Accounts.
If you want to proactively message your contacts, this is where the WhatsApp Campaigns feature comes into play:
Monthly costs
Lime Connect offers a WhatsApp channel integration starting from the Pro plan.
If you want to proactively message your customers, you need our add-on for campaign messages. It costs 20€ per month (plus conversation costs), including 1000 messages.
“Unlimited” refers to the number of messages you can send out through Lime Connect’s service. However, Meta can apply certain sending limits to your account.
For example, unverified Facebook Business accounts are limited to 250 Messages per day.
More information can be found here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/messaging-limits
Conversation costs (transaction fees)
User-initiated conversations (e.g. support requests) are covered up to 1000 monthly messages/answers you send out to your customers. After the free quota is exceded, the cost per message for utility messages apply. Note that this free quota can only be used for support chats, so conversations where a customer contacts you first.
For each "business-initiated" conversation, such as newsletters or sales offers, WhatsApp charges 0.1131€ per conversation in Germany (see pricing table below). In addition, there is a processing fee of 0.01€ for each campaign message only for accounts that registered their WhatsApp-Channel through our partner company 360dialog.
What counts as a "conversation"?
A paid conversation includes a 24-hour session that begins when the company messages a customer or responds to a customer message.
How much does a conversation cost?
WhatsApp divides conversations initiated by the company into three application cases: transactions, authentications, and marketing. Each application case comes with different fees.
In Germany, the costs for a company-initiated conversation are about 5 cents, for an authentication about 6 cents, and for marketing content about 11 cents.
User-initiated conversation
(service chat, up to 1000 messages per month) | User-initiated conversation
(service chat, after free quota of 1000 messages per month) | Company-initiated conversation
(utility / authentication / marketing) | |
Germany | 0,00€ | 0,0456€ | 0,0456€ / 0,0636€ / 0,1131€ |
Austria | 0,00€ | 0,0249€ | 0,0249€ / 0,0313€ / 0,0490€ |
Switzerland | 0,00€ | 0,0249€ | 0,0249€ / 0,0313€ / 0,0490€ |
The current prices worldwide and in different currencies can be found on the meta page.
Cost summary
Lime Connect Plan: from 87€/month
Add-on for campaign messages: 20€/month (includes 1000 messages)
Transaction fees:
- Customer-initiated conversations: free for up to 1000 monthly messages/answers to your customer, utility based costs apply afterwards
- Company-initiated messages: depending on category and country - for Germany between 0.0636€ and 0.1131€ (plus 0.01€ processing fee from Lime Connect per customer reached only for accounts that registered their WhatsApp-Channel through our partner company 360dialog)
- You can find the exact transaction costs here
Example: Let's say you send 2,000 campaign messages in the Marketing category per month and you have registered your number through 360dialog. Then the costs are calculated as follows:
20€ + (0.1131€ + 0.01€) x 2,000 = 266.20€/month for pure campaign costs.
In addition, you have to factor in the costs of your Lime Connect subscription (starting from 90€/month).