WhatsApp API pricing · Qatar
WhatsApp API pricing in Qatar: Meta's rates for +974 numbers, riyal equivalents and a sample month
Meta's per-message rates for Qatari numbers, why there is no riyal rate card, QAR at the 3.64 peg, rates for Gulf and expat numbers, a worked Doha month and where the platform fee sits.
By Broadchat teamPublished 8 min read
In short
To Qatari (+974) numbers Meta charges US$0.0341 per delivered marketing message and US$0.012 per delivered utility, authentication or paid service message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026). At the fixed rate of QAR 3.64 to the dollar that is about QAR 0.124 and QAR 0.044. Meta has no riyal rate card, so those riyal figures are conversions. Qatar's rates did not change in October 2026, and its marketing rate is among the lowest in the Gulf. Each number keeps 1,000 free service messages a month; your provider's fee comes on top.
Key takeaways
- Marketing to Qatari numbers costs US$0.0341 and utility US$0.012 per delivered message (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026), so one marketing message costs about the same as 2.8 utility messages.
- Meta's 16 billing currencies exclude the riyal; because the riyal is pegged at 3.64 to the dollar, a USD-billed account's cost in QAR does not drift with exchange rates.
- Qatar's rates were the same on the 1 Jul and 1 Oct 2026 cards, while UAE and Saudi marketing rose to US$0.0576.
- Messages go by the recipient's number: the same reminder costs more to a Kuwaiti or Omani number than to a Qatari one, and less to a Nepali or Sri Lankan one.
- Since 1 Oct 2026 service replies beyond 1,000 per number a month, and utility templates inside an open window, are charged.
Meta's rates for Qatari numbers
Meta charges per delivered template. Two things set the price: the category Meta assigns to the template, and the country code of the number it is delivered to. These are the rows for +974 on Meta's rate card effective 1 Oct 2026:
| Category | What a Qatari business sends | Meta rate (USD) | Illustrative QAR (at 3.64 per US$1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | National Day sales, Ramadan menus, new-unit launches, win-back offers | US$0.0341 | QAR 0.1241 |
| Utility | Booking and viewing confirmations, delivery updates, fee and rent reminders | US$0.0120 | QAR 0.0437 |
| Authentication | One-time passwords for logins and payments | US$0.0120 | QAR 0.0437 |
| Service | Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window, after the free 1,000 per number per month | US$0.0120 | QAR 0.0437 |
Meta's card has no authentication-international rate for Qatar, so OTPs to +974 numbers are charged at the authentication rate whichever country the business is registered in. Meta changes prices only on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, with at least a month's notice; re-check its pricing page each quarter.
Why there is no riyal card
Meta publishes the same prices in 16 currencies: the US dollar, the UAE dirham, the Saudi riyal, the euro, the pound and others, but not the Qatari riyal. The currency is fixed when a Messaging account is created and Meta says it cannot be changed later. A USD card applies to accounts Meta bills in dollars, an AED card (QAR rows: AED 0.1252 marketing and AED 0.0440 utility, Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026) to accounts billed in dirhams.
The riyal's peg makes conversion simple. The Qatar Central Bank holds the riyal at QAR 3.64 to the US dollar, so the QAR column above will not drift the way a floating currency would. Your real riyal cost still depends on how your provider bills: on Broadchat, businesses prepay a messaging wallet at the rates their provider sets over Meta's base rate, in the provider's currency, so the figure on your screen is your provider's, not a Meta invoice.
Unchanged in October 2026
On 1 Oct 2026 Meta raised marketing rates in several Gulf markets: UAE and Saudi numbers went to US$0.0576, and the Rest of Middle East group to US$0.0392 (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026). Qatar's row stayed exactly where it was on the 1 Jul 2026 card. A Qatari marketing message now costs about 59% of a UAE one, which is worth knowing if your business sends campaigns to both countries.
Free messages and the October rule changes
- 1,000 service messages per business number per month are free for replies inside the 24-hour customer service window. From the 1,001st, each is charged at the service rate. The allowance does not roll over.
- Utility templates inside an open window are charged since 1 Oct 2026. Before that date they were free when the customer had written in the last 24 hours.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads: if a customer starts the chat from your Facebook or Instagram ad and you answer within 24 hours, everything you send them is free for up to 7 days, the free entry point window.
- Reactions are free and do not count toward the 1,000.
Who feels the service change? A Doha delivery business answering 5,000 'where is my order?' chats a month now pays for 4,000 of them: 4,000 × US$0.012 = US$48.00 (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026), about QAR 174.72 at the peg. A boutique answering 300 chats a month pays nothing extra.
Expat and Gulf numbers
Qatar's customer base is unusually international. A Lusail property manager may write to a tenant's Filipino number; a Doha school may send fee reminders to a Nepali or Egyptian parent's home SIM; a hotel may confirm bookings for Saudi and Kuwaiti families. Meta charges the recipient's country rate, so these rows of the USD card matter (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026):
| Recipient | Marketing | Utility and authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Qatar (+974) | US$0.0341 | US$0.0120 |
| Saudi Arabia (+966) | US$0.0576 | US$0.0107 |
| United Arab Emirates (+971) | US$0.0576 | US$0.0157 |
| Kuwait (+965) | US$0.0792 | US$0.0440 |
| Oman (+968) | US$0.0341 | US$0.0247 |
| Bahrain (+973), in Meta's Rest of Middle East group | US$0.0392 | US$0.0091 |
| Egypt (+20) | US$0.0644 | US$0.0036 |
| Pakistan (+92) | US$0.0473 | US$0.0150 |
| Nepal (+977) | US$0.0732 | US$0.0034 |
| Sri Lanka (+94) | US$0.0732 | US$0.0020 |
| Bangladesh (+880) | US$0.0732 | US$0.0037 |
| Philippines (+63), in Meta's Rest of Asia Pacific group | US$0.0842 | US$0.0113 |
| United Kingdom (+44) | US$0.0635 | US$0.0220 |
The pattern is clear. Utility messages to Nepali, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Egyptian numbers cost less than to Qatari numbers, but marketing to them costs roughly twice as much or more (Pakistan is the exception, dearer for utility too). Kuwaiti numbers are the costliest in the region for both. If a customer has both a Qatari number and a home number, ask which one they want messages on and store it as the main number; for marketing, the Qatari one is usually cheaper.
A sample month in Doha
An illustrative case. Noor runs Bayt Majlis, an online home-décor and majlis-furniture store in Doha that delivers across Qatar, from Al Khor to Al Wakrah. One WhatsApp number, one ordinary month:
| Messages | Count | Meta rate (rate card effective 1 Oct 2026) | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order confirmed and driver on the way, Qatari numbers (utility) | 4,000 | US$0.0120 | US$48.00 |
| Delivery updates to customers who gave a Philippine number (utility) | 300 | US$0.0113 | US$3.39 |
| National Day sale to opted-in customers (marketing) | 3,000 | US$0.0341 | US$102.30 |
| Account login codes (authentication) | 500 | US$0.0120 | US$6.00 |
| Customer-service replies: 2,800, of which 1,000 free | 1,800 | US$0.0120 | US$21.60 |
| Meta total | US$181.29 |
At QAR 3.64 to the dollar, the Meta part of Noor's month is about QAR 659.90. More than half of it is the single National Day campaign. She can trim it by sending the sale only to customers who ordered in the past year, and by running a Click-to-WhatsApp ad for new buyers, whose chats are free for 7 days. Labelling the sale as 'utility' does not help: Meta checks template categories and moves promotional wording to marketing.
Tax, volume tiers and the platform fee
Tax. Meta's pricing page does not say whether its rates include any tax. What appears on your invoice depends on who bills you and from which country, so ask your provider to show any tax as a separate line and confirm the treatment with your accountant.
Volume tiers. Utility and authentication get cheaper once a business portfolio sends a large volume to one market in a calendar month. Tiers are counted per market and category across all numbers in the portfolio and reset each month; marketing has none. Few Qatari SMEs reach the first step, so budget at the standard rate.
Platform fee. Meta's charge is only one part of the bill. Providers price their software in three common ways:
| Model | What you pay | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Annual or monthly plan, Meta billed separately | A QAR or USD subscription; Meta's charges passed through at cost or paid to Meta | Users, numbers and contacts included in each plan |
| Bundled per-message price | Little or no subscription; each message priced above Meta's rate | The markup per category against Meta's card |
| Plan plus prepaid wallet | A plan, plus a messaging wallet charged at the provider's rates | Wallet currency, rate per category and per country |
Broadchat is sold through partners, who set both the plan price and the messaging rates; partner prices are quoted on request. Qatari providers' published QAR and USD plans are side by side in WhatsApp API providers in Qatar compared, and agencies thinking of reselling can read how partner margins work in Qatar.
Keeping the bill low
- Keep reminders, confirmations and rent or fee notices in utility templates with no promotional wording.
- Plan marketing around a few dates that matter in Qatar: Ramadan, the two Eids, National Day on 18 December and the back-to-school season.
- Answer quickly while the window is open; the first 1,000 replies a month are free.
- Use Click-to-WhatsApp ads to bring in new customers; their first week of messages costs nothing.
- Prefer the customer's Qatari number for marketing when they have given you two.
- Use button menus and WhatsApp Flows to shorten long back-and-forth chats once you pass the free 1,000.
An overview of what the API does is on WhatsApp Business API in Qatar. For every market's rates, see the global WhatsApp API pricing page.
Other editions of this page
Sources
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (rate cards effective 1 Oct 2026, USD and AED; market groups; billing currencies) — Meta for Developers, checked 2 November 2026
- WhatsApp Business Platform changelog (service message charges, free entry point window) — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
- Template categorization — Meta for Developers, checked 12 October 2026
- Monetary policy tools (riyal peg at QAR 3.64 per US dollar) — Qatar Central Bank, checked 2 November 2026
Broadchat team · Product and partner success team
The people who build and support Broadchat, the white-label WhatsApp Business API platform. We write from what we see while onboarding partners and their clients on the official WhatsApp Cloud API, and we check every article against Meta's current documentation.
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Frequently asked questions
How much is one WhatsApp marketing message in Qatar?
US$0.0341 per delivered marketing template to a Qatari number (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026), about QAR 0.124 at the fixed rate of 3.64 riyals to the dollar. Your provider's own fee or markup comes on top.
Why are the riyal prices approximate?
Meta has no Qatari riyal rate card; its 16 currencies include the dollar and the dirham but not the riyal. We convert the dollar card at the Qatar Central Bank's peg of QAR 3.64. Because the riyal is pegged, the conversion is stable, but your provider's billing currency and terms decide the actual figure.
Did WhatsApp prices change in Qatar in October 2026?
Not the rates. Qatar's rows were the same on the 1 Jul and 1 Oct 2026 cards (Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026: US$0.0341 marketing, US$0.012 utility). What changed is the rules: service replies beyond 1,000 per number per month, and utility templates inside an open window, are now charged.
Is it cheaper to message a customer's home-country number?
For utility messages, often yes: Nepali, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Egyptian numbers cost less than Qatari ones. For marketing it is the reverse; those numbers cost about twice the Qatari rate or more. Check the table above for each country.
Does Meta charge for messages that are not delivered?
No. Meta charges per delivered message, so a template to a number that is not on WhatsApp is not charged by Meta. Some providers add their own per-attempt fee; check the terms.