What changed on 1 October 2026?
Until recently, free-form replies sent within the 24-hour customer service window (the window that opens when a customer messages you) were free on the WhatsApp Business Platform. From 1 October 2026 that changed for India. As summarised on AiSensy's pricing page:
- Every WhatsApp Business number gets 1,000 free service messages per month.
- After that, service messages are charged (AiSensy lists ₹0.145 per message for Indian users).
- Utility messages sent within the 24-hour window are also chargeable.
- Messages within the 72-hour free entry window from Click-to-WhatsApp ads, and all incoming customer messages, remain free.
Always check Meta's official rate card and your provider's pricing page; providers present these charges differently and some add a margin.
Which WhatsApp message types are there?
- Marketing: promotions, offers, re-engagement. These are the most expensive (AiSensy lists ₹1.09 per message in India).
- Utility: order confirmations, delivery updates, payment reminders tied to a transaction.
- Authentication: one-time passwords.
- Service: free-form replies inside the 24-hour window after a customer messages you.
Templates for marketing, utility and authentication messages need Meta's approval before you can send them.
Who does this change affect most?
Mostly businesses that run high-volume support on WhatsApp: D2C brands handling order questions, clinics confirming appointments, coaching centres answering parents. A bot that sends four or five short messages to answer one question now costs more than one that answers in a single well-written message. Teams that stay well under 1,000 service messages a month per number may notice little difference.
How can you design a bot that stays affordable?
- Answer in one message, not five. Combine greeting, answer and next step. Chatty bots now cost money.
- Use buttons and lists so customers reach the answer in fewer turns.
- Don't send "Are you still there?" nudges inside the window unless they clearly help.
- Send transactional updates as approved utility templates, and avoid duplicating the same update as a service message.
- Route complex cases to a person early. A long back-and-forth with a bot that can't resolve the issue is both bad service and expensive. This is another reason we design every agent with a stop rule.
- Monitor per-category usage monthly and review which flows generate the most messages.
Should you move back to the free WhatsApp Business app?
Only if your volume is genuinely low and you don't need automation, multiple agents or integrations. The free app has no per-message charges, but it can't run AI agents, connect to a CRM or be shared well across a team. Our API vs app comparison walks through the decision.
What should you do this month?
- Check your provider's current pricing page and the latest invoice for new line items.
- List your top five automated flows and count the messages each sends per conversation.
- Rewrite the chattiest flows first.
- Download our one-page pricing cheat sheet.
- Talk to us if you want a review of an existing WhatsApp setup; we can audit flows as a small WhatsApp automation pilot.
How do we apply this in client work?
Everything on this page feeds into how we run pilots. We start with a consultation to understand the process and the people involved, then write a one-page scope: the trigger, inputs, steps, outputs, a success measure and a stop rule that says what the agent may do alone, what needs approval and when it must hand over. We build inside the tools you already use, test on real or realistic cases including awkward ones, and review the results with your team before anyone talks about expanding.
We keep a few habits on every project: we never publish invented results, we label examples as illustrations, we list third-party costs separately, and we say so plainly when something isn't worth automating yet. If that sounds like the kind of partner you want, read the pilot process or message us on WhatsApp.
What should you prepare before talking to us?
You don't need a technical brief. A useful first conversation needs only a few things, and gathering them is valuable even if you never work with us:
- The process in plain words: what triggers it, who does what, and where it usually goes wrong.
- Rough volumes: how many messages, orders, tickets or invoices per week. A one-week tally is enough.
- Your tools: WhatsApp app or API, CRM, sheets, accounting or helpdesk software, including versions or plans where you know them.
- Three real examples: typical messages or cases, plus one awkward one, with personal details removed.
- What must never happen: the mistakes that would hurt most. These become the first lines of your stop rule.
- An owner: the person who will review the workflow once it runs.
Send these on WhatsApp or by email, or run the pilot scorecard first.
How does a pilot with us work?
Every engagement follows the same four steps. Consult: you walk us through the process, the tools and where it breaks. Pick the pilot: we choose one workflow and write down its inputs, outputs, tools, stop rule and success measure. Ship: we build it into the tools you already use and test it on real cases. Review: your team checks what the agent did and what it escalated, then decides whether to tune it, expand it or stop. Read the full pilot process.