WhatsApp template categories and pricing
Meta divides templates into Marketing, Utility, and Authentication, each with its own India rate per message. A utility or authentication message costs about 87% less than a marketing one.
Since 1 July 2025 Meta bills every delivered message by its category, so the category matters for your margin, not just your compliance. In India a marketing message costs ₹0.8631, while a utility or authentication message costs ₹0.115, about 87% less.
India rates (per delivered message, INR, effective 1 October 2026)
- Authentication — ₹0.115 per message for OTPs and login codes, with volume tiers.
- Utility — ₹0.115 per message for order and status updates, with volume tiers.
- Marketing — ₹0.8631 per message for promotions and broadcasts.
- Service (replies inside the 24-hour customer service window) — ₹0.115 per message after the first 1,000 free service messages each month for each business number.
- Messages sent inside a free entry-point window, which opens when someone starts a chat from a Click to WhatsApp ad, are not charged for up to 7 days.
Meta can change rates on the first day of any quarter. These are the rates effective 1 October 2026, so check Meta's pricing page for updates. SMSLocal shows the category and price per template right in the composer, so there are no billing surprises at month end.
Browse other help categories
Getting started
Create your account, add INR credits, complete DLT registration and send your first compliant SMS, WhatsApp message or OTP — all in under fifteen minutes.
SMS campaigns
SMS content templates, DLT routing, sender ID setup, delivery report statuses, bulk campaign scheduling, throttle controls, and automatic retry logic for India.
AI WhatsApp Agents
Train your AI WhatsApp agent on your own knowledge, sync your product catalogue, configure handoff triggers, and serve customers across twelve Indian languages.
OTP & Transactional
Priority routing to the fastest carrier, automatic retry and failover, idempotency keys that stop double-sends, and WhatsApp fallback when SMS is slow.
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