How much does it cost to send a WhatsApp campaign to my customers?

Since July 2025, WhatsApp charges per message sent, not per conversation, and the price changes with the customer's country and the type of message. Here is what we see in the market before you invest in it.

How the price is set, and what changed

This is where most of the confusion comes from, because half of what you will read online describes a system that no longer exists.

Until June 2025 you paid per conversation. You sent a template, a time window opened, and everything inside that window in the same category went on the same charge.

Since 1 July 2025 you pay per message. Meta retired the per-conversation model and every delivered template is now billed on its own. For a campaign the difference is simple: you pay for the number of messages delivered, not for the number of customers you end up talking to.

The price depends on two things. The category of the message, where marketing is the most expensive and utility and authentication are cheaper, and the country code of the person receiving it. If you have venues in Spain and in Argentina, the same send costs a different amount in each.

We deliberately do not give exact rates in this article. They change often, they change by country and Meta has moved the rules twice in eighteen months, so any figure we wrote here would be out of date within weeks. What you can do is see the cost before you send.

What you need before you can send

The audience is not a loose list. You build it with your own customer filters and the tiers of your loyalty programme. That is what lets you do the thing that really brings the bill down: send the expensive WhatsApp only to your top-tier customers, and everyone else by email. The same message to your whole base costs several times more and works less well.

And there is Mise, Waitry's AI, which lives in the same dashboard. It drafts the text and the image for each channel for you to review, and recommends which item on your menu to feature in each campaign instead of you picking one by eye. What stops most campaigns from going out is almost never the budget: it is that nobody sits down to write them.

After the send you measure engagement and the return, including what was sold after the campaign. That is the only way to know whether the expensive channel was worth it.

WhatsApp does not let you simply message a list, and that is a good thing.

A WhatsApp Business account, connected from the integrations hub.

Approved templates. Messages you start have to be approved before you can use them. They go to review and take a while to be accepted, so you cannot improvise a campaign for this afternoon.

Customer consent. The customer must have given you their number knowing what it was for. Bought lists do not count, and the problem here is not only legal: your account gets blocked.

How it compares with the other three channels

This is what really decides your spend, more than negotiating the price per message.

The practical conclusion: do not send by WhatsApp what could go by email. If you use it for everything, the cost shoots up and people get tired of it, which is worse.

Where it does pay off: tonight's booking, the table that is ready, the alert that their order is on its way, the offer that ends tomorrow.

One more detail helps you decide: utility messages, the ones that confirm something the customer was already expecting, are cheaper than marketing ones. So telling someone their order is on its way costs much less than sending an offer, even though both go by WhatsApp.

How we do it at Waitry

If the question is how much it costs, the useful answer is not a number: it is being able to see it yourself before you press send. That is what Waitry marketing does.

All four channels live in the same editor. Email, push notification, WhatsApp and SMS. That sounds like convenience, but it is really the money decision in this article: you choose the channel with the cost of each one next to it, instead of sending everything through the expensive one because it is the one you have set up.

You see the estimated reach and cost before sending, with your balance in front of you. And you can send yourself a test first, which saves you from finding a typo after it has gone to two thousand people.

Where the list comes from

A WhatsApp send is only cheap if it goes to the right people, and for that you need to know who each customer is.

Contacts come from the moments when the customer is already standing still with their phone in hand: the QR code for order and pay at the table, the kiosk screen, your own delivery channel and the POS screen they look at while paying.

All four feed the same database, which is what later lets you segment instead of sending to everyone.

How to know what you will pay, before you pay it

This is the one thing you should demand from any messaging tool: that it shows you the bill before, not after.

Two numbers are enough: how many people it will reach and how much it will cost, with your balance in front of you. If your tool does not show you that before you hit send, you are signing blind.

The legal side

The customer must have given consent when they signed up, and every message must include the opt-out method its channel requires. The underlying rule is the same in every country: informed consent, a clear purpose and an easy opt-out.

In Spain two laws spell it out. For data processing, the reference is the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), and for commercial messages, article 21 of Law 34/2002 requires prior consent and a simple, free way to unsubscribe.

WhatsApp gives you an extra reason to get it right: if people mark your messages as unwanted, your number's quality rating drops and you end up limited or blocked. The channel polices itself.

Shall we look at it with your numbers?

In a 15-minute demo we set up a test send with your customer base and show the estimated cost on screen, channel by channel. You leave knowing what a campaign would really cost you, which is exactly what this article cannot tell you.

→ Book a 15-minute demo

And if you would rather see first how others do it, here are our success stories.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a WhatsApp message to a customer cost?

It depends on the recipient's country and the message category, and rates change often. The practical thing is to see the estimated cost before sending.

Do you pay per message or per conversation?

Per message. The per-conversation model was retired on 1 July 2025: every delivered template is now billed on its own.

What categories are there and which is the most expensive?

Marketing, utility and authentication. Marketing is by far the most expensive.

How do I lower the bill without giving up WhatsApp?

By segmenting. The expensive channel for your highest-value customers and email for the rest. You decide that with the filters and tiers of your loyalty programme.

Can I send whatever I want?

No. Messages you start must use a template that has been approved in advance.

Do I need WhatsApp Business?

Yes, with the account connected. Regular WhatsApp will not work.

Who writes the messages?

You can write them yourself, and if you get stuck, Mise drafts the text and the image for each channel for you to review before sending.

Is it legal to message my customers?

Yes, if they gave you their number knowing what it was for and they can unsubscribe. Never with bought lists.

Is WhatsApp or email better?

It depends on how urgent it is. What can wait goes by email, which is much cheaper. What is for today goes by WhatsApp.

How often can I message customers?

There is no fixed rule, but WhatsApp gives you less room than email. If in doubt, send less.

Where to start

→ Create my free account

→ Book a 15-minute demo

Sources

The move from per-conversation to per-message pricing on 1 July 2025, message categories and pricing by country code: Meta's WhatsApp Business Platform pricing documentation.

Consent and opt-out: Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) and article 21 of Law 34/2002.

Reach and cost estimate, test send, tier-based audiences, Mise and return measurement: Waitry product documentation and the Waitry marketing page.