Effective 1 October 2026
WhatsApp will charge for customer service replies from 1 October 2026
Replies you send to customers inside the 24 hour window have been free since November 2024, and from 1 October Meta charges for them beyond a free monthly allowance of 1,000 per WhatsApp number. This page explains what Meta has actually said, what it is likely to cost in Malaysia, and the one thing you need to do before the date.
Last verified against Meta’s documentation on 5 September 2026.
This is a Meta charge, not a ForwardChat charge. It is billed by Meta directly to your own WhatsApp Business Account. Your ForwardChat subscription is not changing, we add no markup, and the change applies to every provider on the WhatsApp Business Platform. If you were with another vendor tomorrow, you would pay the same Meta fee.
What Meta actually said
Quoted rather than summarised, so you can check every word yourself.
“Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge for service messages, which have not been charged since November 2024.”
“By market, rates for service messages are the same as the rates for utility and authentication messages.”
“Meta does not offer volume tiers for service messages.”
Meta for Developers, WhatsApp pricing for non-template messages
That last line matters more than it looks, and it is narrower than it sounds. Marketing and utility rates fall as your volume rises. Service messages get no such discount, so the rate stays flat however many replies you send. It is not a statement about the free monthly allowance below, which Meta announced separately and has not yet added to this page.
If you check Meta’s general pricing page, it still says replies are free. As of today that page has not been updated for this change. The announcement is published in Meta’s developer documentation, which is where Meta publishes billing changes ahead of them taking effect. We expect the general page to catch up when the rate card is published. The 1,000 free messages a month are on neither page yet: they come from Meta’s own email to account admins, quoted in the sources at the end.
What it is expected to cost in Malaysia
Meta has confirmed the change but has not yet published the rate. Its documentation said rates would be published by 1 September 2026, and as of 5 September 2026 they have not been. Because Meta has said service rates will match utility rates, and Malaysia’s published utility rate is RM 0.0564, the expected figure is:
5.6 sen
expected, per customer reply
That rate only applies above the free tier below. For scale, a single marketing broadcast to 1,000 contacts already costs about RM 347 today at RM 0.3467 per message, and one customer reply is roughly a sixth of one of those messages. A business handling 2,000 customer replies a month, which is double the free tier, would expect about RM 56.
The first 1,000 replies each month are free, for every WhatsApp number
Meta charges only from the 1,001st service message delivered in a calendar month. The allowance resets every month and does not carry over. Across our own clients’ August 2026 traffic, ten businesses in thirteen stayed inside it and would have paid Meta nothing at all.
If your enquiries come from ads, most of this does not apply to you
When someone reaches you by clicking a Click to WhatsApp ad, every message in that conversation is free for the next 72 hours. October does not change that. Across our own clients, we measured that window covering as much as 96% of all replies for the businesses that advertise. Only the replies outside it are charged.
| Message type | Today | From 1 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| First 1,000 replies to customers each month | Free | Free, per WhatsApp number |
| Every reply after that, within 24 hours | Free | about RM 0.0564 |
| Marketing message or broadcast | RM 0.3467 | RM 0.3467, unchanged |
| Utility message, e.g. an order update | RM 0.0564 | RM 0.0564, unchanged |
| From a Click to WhatsApp ad or Facebook page button | Free for 72 hours | Free for 72 hours, unchanged |
If you are a ForwardChat customer, your own estimated figure is on your dashboard, calculated from your actual replies over the last complete calendar month, which is the month Meta’s allowance resets on. It shows you the split: what the 1,000 free messages covered, what an ad click covered, and what is left to pay. If Meta’s confirmed rate comes in lower, your figure falls with it.
What you need to do by 30 September
One thing matters, and it does not depend on the final rate.
Your WhatsApp Business Account needs working billing details. Meta has set a deadline of 30 September 2026. In its own words, an account without a payment method still gets its first 1,000 service messages each month, and Meta will “not deliver as of the 1,001st service message”. So a quiet month costs you nothing, and a busy one cuts your replies off part way through, with no warning and no way to buy your way back until the next month. The allowance does not carry over, so one good month is enough to hit it. Verification can take several days, so this is not a task for the last week.
Meta is emailing account admins about this directly, from the WhatsApp Business team. If you receive one saying your account has no payment method on file, it is genuine, and it is the same change described on this page.
In WhatsApp Manager, inside Meta Business Suite, confirm all four of these. Any one of them missing can block messages even when a card is present.
A payment method is added AND assigned to this WhatsApp Business Account
This is the one that catches people. A card on your Meta business account is not the same as a card assigned to the WhatsApp Business Account that sends your messages.
The card has not expired and allows recurring international charges
Credit cards are considerably more reliable here than debit cards. Some Malaysian debit cards decline recurring charges from Meta even when they have funds.
Your tax information is filled in
Missing tax information can block billing on its own, even with a working card in place.
The account time zone and currency are set
An unset time zone or currency stops Meta from billing the account at all.
What is not changing
- •The 24 hour rule itself. A customer message still opens a 24 hour window, and you still need an approved template to start a conversation outside it. Only the billing changes, not what you are permitted to send.
- •Ad traffic stays free. Conversations that begin from a Click to WhatsApp ad or a Facebook page button keep their 72 hour free window. If you advertise, that traffic remains free to answer.
- •ForwardChat pricing. Our plans and allowances are unchanged, and we add no markup on any Meta fee. See our pricing.
Sources
- Meta’s email to WhatsApp Business Account admins, 5 September 2026, which is where the 1,000 free messages a month come from. It is not on a Meta web page yet, so we are quoting it verbatim rather than linking one: “Meta will introduce a free monthly tier of service messages. Each month, every business phone number will receive 1,000 free service messages... For businesses that do not have a payment method in Billing Hub, Meta will deliver the 1st 1,000 service messages each month but not deliver as of the 1,001st service message.” If Meta has emailed you about this, that is the same notice.
- The page that announces the change and states the rate basis. Note that it says Meta offers no volume tiers for service messages, which is about discounts at higher volume and is a different thing from the free monthly allowance above:
Meta for Developers, WhatsApp pricing for non-template messages - The 24 hour customer service window and free entry point rules, which are not changing:
Meta for Developers, Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform - Meta’s rate card, where you can select Malaysia and Malaysian Ringgit. This is the page that still shows service messages as free:
WhatsApp Business Platform pricing
If you are a ForwardChat customer and would like help checking your WhatsApp Business Account settings, message us and we will walk through it with you. If you are comparing providers, ask each one what happens to your bill on 1 October. Any vendor still telling you replies inside the 24 hour window are free has pricing information that is out of date.
We will update this page the day Meta publishes the confirmed rate. Last checked against Meta’s documentation on 5 September 2026.