WhatsApp Business API price in India (2027): INR rates, BSP fees and real monthly costs

The WhatsApp Business API in India is billed per delivered message, plus whatever your provider charges. Meta's INR rate card, in force since 1 October 2026, charges ₹0.8631 per marketing message and ₹0.115 per utility, authentication or service message, and each business number gets its first 1,000 service messages a month free^[1]. Most small businesses also pay a Business Solution Provider (BSP) such as Interakt, Wati or AiSensy. That means a monthly plan, usually a higher rate per message, and GST on top.

This guide is for owners and managers in India who have received an API proposal and want to know what the bill will be in 2027. It covers Meta's rates in rupees, what changed in 2026, BSP fees as of October 2026, three worked monthly examples and when a flat-price Chrome extension costs less.

Three layers on every WhatsApp API bill

• Meta's message fees. Meta charges for each message a business delivers. The price depends on the message category and on the recipient's country, which is the +91 code for India. Messages your customers send you are free^[1].
• The BSP's fees. This is a plan for the inbox, the agent seats and the automation tools. Many BSPs also resell Meta's message rates with a margin.
• GST. A provider guide reports 18% GST on both the message spend and the platform fees^[2] (est.). Ask your provider how it appears on your invoice.

The entry plans we checked range from a free plan (AiSensy) to ₹2,999 a month (Wati Growth on monthly billing). Message fees come on top of the plan.

Meta's per-message rates for India (INR, from 1 October 2026)

These are Meta's list rates for messages delivered to Indian numbers, before GST and before any BSP margin^[1].

Category	Typical use	Meta rate per delivered message
Marketing	Offers, broadcasts, re-engagement	₹0.8631
Utility	Order updates, payment reminders, appointment confirmations	₹0.115
Authentication	One-time passwords (OTPs)	₹0.115 (₹2.4971 where the authentication-international rate applies)
Service	Free-form replies within 24 hours of the customer's last message	First 1,000 a month per business number free, then ₹0.115

Four details change the total:

• You pay on delivery. Meta charges per delivered message, not per message sent^[1].
• Volume discounts start very high. Utility and authentication messages have volume tiers. In India the list rate covers the first 25 million utility messages and the first 750,000 authentication messages each month, so a small business pays the list rate^[1].
• Ads can open a free window. When a customer writes to you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad, Meta does not charge for messages in the free entry point window that follows^[1]. AiSensy describes this window as 72 hours^[3].
• Unused free messages expire. The 1,000 free service messages reset every month and do not roll over^[1].

What changed in 2026, and what 1 January 2027 means

1. 1 July 2025: Meta moved from per-conversation to per-message pricing^[1].
2. 1 January 2026: Meta raised the marketing rate for India. INR billing also became available to BSPs and to directly integrated businesses whose country of sale is India^[1].
3. 1 April 2026: the authentication-international rate for India went up^[1].
4. 1 October 2026: service messages became chargeable again beyond 1,000 a month per business number. Utility templates sent inside an open customer service window are now charged as well^[1][3].
5. 31 December 2026: these businesses (BSPs and direct integrators selling in India) must move all their messaging accounts to INR. From 1 January 2027, Meta stops delivering messages from their non-INR accounts^[1].

If you send through a BSP, ask whether your account is billed in INR and whether your rates change in January. Meta changes rates on a published schedule, so check the rate card again before you set a 2027 budget.

BSP fees: Interakt, Wati and AiSensy (as of October 2026)

Plan prices and per-message rates are as of October 2026. Figures marked (est.) come from third-party price checks, not from the provider's own page.

Provider	Plans (INR)	Rates for messages to India	Good to know
AiSensy	Free Forever plan; Basic ₹1,500/month (₹16,200/year); Pro ₹3,200/month[4]	Marketing ₹1.09; utility, authentication and service ₹0.145[4]	Message credits are prepaid and recharged separately; an extra agent seat costs ₹750/month[4]
Interakt	Sales CRM ₹2,499/month + taxes with 5 sales agents, ₹499 per extra agent[5]; Growth ₹2,799/month (₹2,200/month on yearly billing)[6] (est.)	Charged by template type "as applicable in your region"; rates not shown on the page we could load[5]	The Enterprise plan advertises "No Templates Markups", which suggests the lower plans add a margin[5]
Wati	Growth ₹2,999/month (₹2,199/month billed annually); Pro ₹6,499; Business ₹18,499[7] (est.)	Marketing ₹0.9926; utility ₹0.1495; service ₹0.138[6] (est.)	Wati's own page says "Additional charges apply for messages"[8]

Compare the per-message column with Meta's rates. AiSensy's published marketing rate is about 26% above Meta's ₹0.8631. In the third-party check, Wati was about 15% above Meta on marketing and about 30% above on utility. If you send a lot of marketing messages, the margin can matter more than the plan price.

Worked examples: what a month costs

Assumptions: one business number, customers in India, monthly billing on an entry plan (AiSensy Basic and Wati Growth), rates from the tables above, extra seats and add-ons not included. All totals are before GST unless stated.

Monthly cost	A. Solo seller	B. Three-person shop	C. Campaign-led brand
Service replies	600 (all free)	2,500 (1,500 charged)	5,000 (4,000 charged)
Utility messages	200 reminders	800 order updates	3,000 order updates
Marketing messages	0	1,000 (one broadcast)	20,000 (four broadcasts)
Meta message fees only	₹23.00	₹1,127.60	₹18,067.00
AiSensy Basic + its message rates	₹1,529.00	₹2,923.50	₹24,315.00
Same, with 18% GST (est.)	₹1,804.22	₹3,449.73	₹28,691.70
Wati Growth + its message rates (est.)	₹3,028.90	₹4,318.20	₹23,851.50

A. Solo seller. A tutor or property agent whose customers write first and who sends a few reminders. The plan is about 98% of the AiSensy bill, and the messages cost ₹29. AiSensy's Free Forever plan could bring the bill close to the message fees alone. One review says that plan does not include broadcasts^[6] (est.), so check what you would give up.

B. Three-person shop. On AiSensy, plan and messages are now about half each; on Wati the plan is still about two-thirds of the bill. Seats start to matter: Interakt's Sales CRM includes 5 agents, while AiSensy charges ₹750 for each extra seat.

C. Campaign-led brand. Message fees make up about 87% to 94% of the bill, and the margin on marketing messages decides who is cheaper. At this volume the API is the right tool. Spend the effort on negotiating rates, not on choosing a plan.

When a Chrome extension costs less than the API

A Chrome extension works on a different model. Zapext adds a CRM inside WhatsApp Web: a Kanban pipeline, labels, quick replies, reminders, scheduled messages, keyword auto-reply and voice message transcription. It does not use the WhatsApp Business API. It works with the account you already have, regular or Business, on the same number, so Zapext adds no per-message fee. You pay a flat price in rupees: Starter is ₹699 a month or ₹6,990 a year (about ₹582.50 a month), and Plus is ₹1,799 a month for up to 4 users on one number, with chat transfer and round-robin distribution^[9].

Against the examples above, before GST on any side, Starter at ₹699 costs less than the paid entry plans in example A (₹1,529 to ₹3,028.90). On AiSensy's Free Forever plan the API would cost less, if that plan covers what you need. Plus at ₹1,799 costs less in example B (₹2,923.50 to ₹4,318.20), as long as an extension can do the job. That is the real question, because the two tools do different jobs.

An extension is usually enough if you

• mostly answer people who write to you first: enquiries, bookings, follow-ups;
• have 1 to 4 people replying from one number on a laptop during working hours;
• need to organise leads and remember follow-ups more than you need to broadcast;
• send lists only to customers who agreed to hear from you, at reasonable volumes.

The API is the better tool if you

• send approved marketing or utility templates to thousands of opted-in customers;
• send OTPs or order updates from your own systems;
• need a bot that answers around the clock with no computer switched on;
• have more than 4 agents on one number.

The extension has limits too. Zapext works only on a desktop or laptop, in Chrome or another Chromium browser. Scheduled messages, the auto-reply and list sending run only while the computer is on and WhatsApp Web is open. List sending goes out gradually, from your own number, under WhatsApp's normal rules. No tool can stop WhatsApp from restricting a number that breaks those rules, so read our rules for bulk messaging before you send to a list.

Zapext is listed on the Chrome Web Store, where it had 552 users and a 5.0 rating on 45 reviews when we checked on 24 Oct 2026^[10]. Paid plans include a 7-day money-back guarantee^[11]. To set it up: add it from the Chrome Web Store, open web.whatsapp.com, click the Zapext tab on the left, then the avatar icon to log in or create your account.

Install on Chrome

Estimate your own bill in five steps

1. Count last month's messages by type: replies to customers (service), reminders and updates (utility), offers and broadcasts (marketing).
2. Take off 1,000 service messages for each business number.
3. Use your BSP's rates, not Meta's. Ask for the INR rate card in writing, including any margin.
4. Add the plan and the extras: agent seats, chatbot or AI add-ons. AiSensy's chatbot builder, for example, costs ₹2,500 a month^[4].
5. Add GST, then compare the yearly total with a flat-price tool that covers the same work.

To compare against Zapext's flat INR prices: See India pricing.

If most of your WhatsApp work is replying, organising and following up, start with the Zapext India page, the guide to multiple users on one WhatsApp number or WhatsApp CRM for real estate in India. If you are still choosing between apps, read WhatsApp Business vs normal WhatsApp.

Sources

1. [1] Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform — Meta for Developers (2026). accessed 2026-10-24.
2. [2] AiSensy — WhatsApp Business API pricing in India — AiSensy (2026). accessed 2026-10-24.
3. [3] WhatsApp service message pricing update, effective October 1, 2026 — AiSensy Help Center (2026-10-01). accessed 2026-10-25.
4. [4] Interakt — Pricing (INR prices shown to visitors in India) — Interakt (Jio Haptik) (2026). accessed 2026-10-24.
5. [5] Wati — Pricing (Growth, Pro and Business plans) — Wati (2026). accessed 2026-10-24.
6. [6] Wati pricing explained — Macha (2026-10-13). accessed 2026-10-25.
7. [7] Wati vs AiSensy: WhatsApp costs compared — SetSmart (2026-10-19). accessed 2026-10-25.
8. [8] WhatsApp Business API pricing in India: the 2026 breakdown — Robylon (2026-07-30). accessed 2026-10-25.
9. [9] Zapext — Plans for India (prices in Indian rupees, INR) — Zapext (2026). accessed 2026-10-25.
10. [10] Zapext — Terms of use (plans, payments and refunds) — Zapext (2026). accessed 2026-10-24.
11. [11] Zapext — Chrome Web Store listing (users, ratings and current version) — Chrome Web Store (Google) (2026). accessed 2026-10-24.