Tools
WhatsApp Business pricing calculator for hotels
From 1 October 2026, replying to a guest on WhatsApp is no longer free: Meta charges each delivered reply at the utility rate for the guest's country, after 1,000 free messages a month per business number. Enter your volumes and where your guests are from to see what that means for your hotel.
Your messaging, per month
The starting values are illustrative inputs, not statements about any hotel. Change them to match yours.
Only prefills conversations at 7 per room per month. Edit the number below directly.
Threads a guest starts. Messages from guests to you are never charged.
1 if a reply is one message. 3 if it arrives as three short bubbles — each one is billed.
Most replies inside the 24-hour window are free-form. Templates sent inside it count here.
Pre-arrival, reminders, offers — sent when no window is open. Charged before and after 1 October.
Free for 72 hours after the guest taps the ad, templates included. Unchanged by 1 October.
The free tier of 1,000 service messages a month is per number.
Where your guests' phone numbers are from
Total 100%
The rate follows the guest's country calling code, not where your hotel is.
| Country | Share | Service rate from 1 Oct | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | % | $0.0550 | |
| Austriabilled as “Rest of Western Europe” | % | $0.0171 | |
| Switzerlandbilled as “Rest of Western Europe” | % | $0.0171 | |
| United Kingdom | % | $0.0220 | |
| Israel | % | $0.0053 | |
| United Statesbilled as “North America” | % | $0.0034 |
Meta's charges only — vGuest's fee is separate
Until 30 September 2026
$0.00
per month
From 1 October 2026
$40.63
per month
Change
+$40.63
$0.10 per conversation · $0.02 per reply
1,000 of your 2,400 free-form replies are covered by the free tier (1,000 delivered service messages per business number per month); 1,400 are charged. The free tier is applied pro rata across countries — Meta has not published the allocation rule.
| Country | Messages | Service rate | Before | From 1 Oct | Share of bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 960 | $0.0550 | $0.00 | $30.80 | 76% |
| Austria | 240 | $0.0171 | $0.00 | $2.39 | 6% |
| Switzerland | 240 | $0.0171 | $0.00 | $2.39 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 240 | $0.0220 | $0.00 | $3.08 | 8% |
| Israel | 480 | $0.0053 | $0.00 | $1.48 | 4% |
| United States | 240 | $0.0034 | $0.00 | $0.48 | 1% |
One message per reply, or three
Meta bills each delivered message. A reply that arrives as three short bubbles costs three times the messages, and the fixed free tier covers a smaller share of the larger volume.
1 message per reply
$40.63
3 messages per reply
$179.92
Extra cost of splitting
+$139.30 (4.4×)
How the numbers are computed
The rules are Meta's, as published on its pricing pages (read 18 September 2026). The rates are Meta's list rates in US dollars from the rate card effective 1 October 2026.
- Until 30 September 2026: free-form replies inside the 24-hour window are free, and so are utility templates sent inside it. Marketing templates, and any template sent when no window is open, are charged at their category rate.
- From 1 October 2026: free-form replies are charged per delivered message at the market's utility rate, after the free tier of 1,000 delivered service messages per business number per month. Utility templates inside the window are charged at the utility rate. Marketing rates rise in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the Rest of Asia Pacific region.
- Both periods: messages from guests are never charged; a conversation that starts from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button is free for 72 hours, templates included; the rate follows the guest's country calling code.
- One assumption: Meta has not said how the free tier is allocated across markets, so the calculator spreads it pro rata over every country's free-form replies.
Sources: Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing and Meta, pricing for non-template messages, both read 18 September 2026. The rate-card files are linked from those pages; their download links expire, so we link the page, not the file.
The rates the calculator uses
US dollars per delivered message, Meta list rates, rate card effective 1 October 2026, read 18 September 2026. Service equals utility in every market.
| Guest country | Billed as | Service / utility | Marketing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany (+49) | Germany | $0.0550 | $0.1365 |
| Austria (+43) | Rest of Western Europe | $0.0171 | $0.0592 |
| Switzerland (+41) | Rest of Western Europe | $0.0171 | $0.0592 |
| United Kingdom (+44) | United Kingdom | $0.0220 | $0.0635 |
| Israel (+972) | Israel | $0.0053 | $0.0353 |
| United States (+1) | North America | $0.0034 | $0.0250Whether marketing templates can be delivered to US numbers is not stated on Meta's pricing page; the list rate is shown as published. |
| Canada (+1) | North America | $0.0034 | $0.0250 |
| France (+33) | France | $0.0300 | $0.0859 |
| Italy (+39) | Italy | $0.0300 | $0.0795 |
| Spain (+34) | Spain | $0.0200 | $0.0707 |
| Netherlands (+31) | Netherlands | $0.0500 | $0.1597 |
| Brazil (+55) | Brazil | $0.0068 | $0.0625 |
| Russia (+7) | Russia | $0.0400 | $0.0802 |
| United Arab Emirates (+971) | United Arab Emirates | $0.0157 | $0.0576 (was $0.0499) |
| Saudi Arabia (+966) | Saudi Arabia | $0.0107 | $0.0576 (was $0.0501) |
| India (+91) | India | $0.0014 | $0.0118 |
| Australia (+61) | Rest of Asia Pacific | $0.0113 | $0.0842 (was $0.0732) |
Two worked examples
Guests 50% German, 10% Austrian, 10% Swiss, 30% Israeli; every conversation guest-initiated inside the window; no proactive templates; one business number. Before 1 October both cost nothing, because every reply was free.
| Scenario | Messages | From 1 Oct, 1 message per reply | 3 messages per reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 rooms, 400 conversations, 6 replies each | 2,400 | $45.51 | $201.56 (+$156.05) |
| 200 rooms, 2,000 conversations, 6 replies each | 12,000 | $357.61 | $1,137.85 (+$780.24) |
The split costs more than three times as much because the fixed free tier covers a smaller share of the larger volume. Sending one complete reply instead of three fragments is the single cheapest change a hotel can make.
What this estimate does not cover
- Rates can change every quarter (1 January, 1 April, 1 July, 1 October) with a month's notice. This page uses the card read on 18 September 2026.
- Countries billed under a regional row (Austria, Switzerland, Australia, the United States and Canada here) can move to their own rate when Meta changes the card.
- Your WhatsApp provider's markup and platform fees, and VAT or other taxes, are not included.
- Utility volume tiers start above 100,000 messages a month and are ignored; service messages have no tiers.
- vGuest's subscription is separate from and additional to Meta's charges — see pricing.
Estimate only, based on Meta's published list rates (rate card effective 1 October 2026, read 18 September 2026); excludes provider markups and taxes; your actual bill is set by Meta and your provider.
Questions hotels ask
What changes for hotels on 1 October 2026?
Replies you send inside the 24-hour customer service window stop being free. Meta charges each delivered service message at the utility rate for the guest's market, and utility templates sent inside the window are charged too. Marketing rates rise in three markets. Messages from guests to you stay free.
Is there a free allowance?
Yes. Each business phone number gets 1,000 delivered service messages a month free. Unused messages do not roll over, and the pool is shared between one-to-one and group chats. It applies to free-form replies only, not to templates.
Which country's rate applies to a message?
The rate follows the country calling code of the guest's phone number, not the hotel's location. A German guest at an Israeli hotel is billed at Germany's rate; an Israeli guest at a German hotel at Israel's. Some countries are billed under a regional row on Meta's card, such as Rest of Western Europe.
Does this include vGuest's fee?
No. The calculator estimates Meta's charges only. vGuest's subscription is separate and listed on the pricing page. It also excludes any markup your WhatsApp provider adds, and taxes.
Read next
- WhatsApp replies to hotel guests stop being free in October — what changes, what stays free, and how to prepare.
- Guest communication via WhatsApp: what works, what breaks, and how to measure it
- The guide to hotel guest messaging
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