WhatsApp New Pricing 2023: Conversation Based Pricing

WhatsApp will officially release the new pricing in 2023 on June 1, 2023. Businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform will be charged per 24-hour conversation, with different rates by conversation category.

Business-initiated conversations will be split into three new categories: utility, authentication, and marketing. Meanwhile, user-initiated conversations will be called service conversations.

Before these new prices went into effect on June 1, 2023, there were several updates for the previous months.

April 1, 2023: New Template Categories

There is template migration by WhatsApp from the existing category to new one because starting June 1, the rates charged will be based on the conversation category. Therefore we advise you to check out the template categories starting from April 1, 2023. You can refer to the template category guidelines to understand the differences between each template category.

There are three new categories for business-initiated conversations:

• Utility conversations - Facilitate a specific, agreed-upon request or transaction or update to a customer about an ongoing transaction, including post-purchase notifications and recurring billing statements
• Authentication conversations - Enable businesses to authenticate users with one-time passcodes, potentially at multiple steps in the login process (e.g., account verification, account recovery, integrity challenges)
• Marketing conversations - Include promotions or offers, informational updates, or invitations for customers to respond/take action. Any conversation that does not qualify as utility or authentication is a marketing conversation.

If you disagree with the category that WhatsApp assigned a given template, you can appeal the categorization to WhatsApp through our support team. The template categorization appeal process closed on May 15, 2023.

Please note that categorization appeals submitted will not affect a template's status. If your template was already approved when you submitted an appeal, it will remain approved even if WhatsApp rejects your appeal (and it retains the category WhatsApp assigned it).

May 15, 2023: Template Categorization Appeal Process Closed

WhatsApp closes the template categorization appeal, what does it mean for you? it means the template category that has been migrated by WhatsApp cannot be changed anymore.

June 1, 2023: New Conversation Rates

The conversation rates are now based on the conversation category. Businesses can initiate a conversation using a template message. The category of the template message used will define the conversation category.

At the same time, starting June 1, user-initiated conversations which help customers resolve inquiries will be categorized as service conversations. This doesn't affect conversations that occurred before June 1. Additionally, Free session is used for user-initiated conversations only.

Under the new rates, Marketing conversation rates will be more expensive than Utility conversations. Meanwhile, the rates for Authentication conversations are still coming soon. You can download rate cards here for more details about the changes to the new WhatsApp pricing. 

The difference between current pricing and new Conversation Based Pricing Model 2023

WhatsApp introduces multiple conversation windows, here are some examples of use cases that will occur:

Use case 1: Opening a marketing conversation inside a service conversation

A service conversation is opened at 9:31 a.m. when a business response to a customer message is delivered.   A marketing template is delivered while this service conversation is still open at 4:30 p.m.   This opens a separate marketing conversation.   The result is one charge for a service conversation and one charge for a marketing conversation.   Free entry point conversations are an exception. A template delivered during the three day free window will not open a new conversation.   In the above example, if the business replied to the first user message delivered at 9:30 a.m. with a template, a conversation of the same category as the template will be opened, not a service conversation.

Use case 2: Opening a utility conversation inside a marketing conversation

A marketing conversation is opened at 3:40 p.m. when a marketing template message is delivered. Later, with the marketing conversation still open, a utility template is delivered at 6:00 p.m. This opens a separate utility conversation. The result is one charge for a marketing conversation and one charge for a utility conversation. Service message (CI) will be free up 24hrs from the latest BI sent.

Use case 3: Two templates of the same category result in only one conversation charge

A utility conversation is opened at 9:00 a.m. when a utility template message is delivered. Later, with the utility conversation still open, another utility template message is delivered at 11:00 a.m. There is no new conversation charge because the template category used within the open conversation window did not change. The result is one utility conversation charge. A utility conversation will ends at April 12, 9:00 a.m. (first template is delivered)

Use case 4: One template with both utility and marketing content

A template that includes content that is both utility and marketing based on our template guidelines is delivered at 11:59 a.m. Whenever marketing content is identified in a template, the template will be categorized as marketing. The result is one marketing conversation charge.

Use case 5: Example 5: Free form from business is to open service conversations

(Customer care or general support inquiries that require multiple 24-hour conversation)

For further information, feedback, or questions regarding the New WhatsApp pricing above, feel free to contact us at https://support.qiscus.com/