Meta's WhatsApp rates for the United Kingdom
Per delivered message, Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026, on Meta's USD card and its GBP card:
| Category | What it is for | USD | GBP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Offers, launches, re-engagement, abandoned-cart nudges | US$0.0635 | £0.0458 |
| Utility | Order, delivery, booking, payment and account updates | US$0.0220 | £0.0159 |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes for login and verification | US$0.0220 | £0.0159 |
| Service | Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window, after the first 1,000 free per number each month | US$0.0220 | £0.0159 |
The GBP column applies to WhatsApp Business accounts that Meta bills in pounds sterling; the billing currency is chosen when the account is set up.
Which numbers these rates apply to
Meta prices each message by the country calling code of the person who receives it, not by where your business is. Every message to a number in the United Kingdom (country code +44) is charged the rates above, whether you send it from a local number or from abroad.
What changed on the 1 Oct 2026 card
Meta kept the marketing, utility and authentication rates for the United Kingdom the same as on the 1 Jul 2026 card.
The bigger change on 1 Oct 2026 applies everywhere: service replies are charged after the first 1,000 per business number each month (the service rate for the United Kingdom is US$0.0220), and utility templates are charged even inside an open customer service window. Until 30 Sep 2026, service replies and utility templates sent inside an open window were free.
What is free and what is charged
- Template messages (marketing, utility, authentication) are charged per delivered message. A message that fails or is never delivered is not charged; whether it is read makes no difference.
- Service messages: when a customer messages or calls you, a 24-hour customer service window opens and you can reply without a template. Each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month; the rest are charged. The allowance does not roll over.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads: if a customer messages you from one of these ads and you reply within 24 hours, messages in that chat are free for up to 7 days (the free entry point window).
- Meta Business Agent, Meta's own AI agent, is billed separately by tokens, even inside a free entry point window.
Volume tiers for utility and authentication
Meta lowers the utility and authentication rates for very large senders. Tiers are counted per market and category across your whole business portfolio and reset every month; marketing and service have no tiers. The tier thresholds and discounted rates for the United Kingdom are in Meta's volume-tier files linked from its pricing page. The rates on this page are the base (list) rates, before any tier discount.
Worked example: one month of messages to the United Kingdom
An illustrative business sends, from one number, 5,000 marketing messages, 10,000 order and delivery updates, 2,000 login codes and 3,000 customer-service replies to +44 numbers in the United Kingdom. Computed from the Meta rate card effective 1 Oct 2026:
| Messages in the month | Sent | Charged | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing templates (offers, launches) | 5,000 | 5,000 | US$0.0635 | US$317.50 |
| Utility templates (order and delivery updates) | 10,000 | 10,000 | US$0.0220 | US$220.00 |
| Authentication templates (one-time passcodes) | 2,000 | 2,000 | US$0.0220 | US$44.00 |
| Service replies (first 1,000 free) | 3,000 | 2,000 | US$0.0220 | US$44.00 |
| Total Meta charges | 20,000 | 19,000 | US$625.50 |
Meta's charges come to US$625.50 for the month, or £451.60 on the GBP card. Marketing is about 51% of the bill, so sending offers only to opted-in, engaged contacts changes the total far more than trimming order updates. This is an example, not a quote: taxes and your provider's fees are not included.
How the United Kingdom compares with other markets
Of the 47 markets on Meta's card, the United Kingdom ranks 23 for the marketing rate and 16 for the utility rate (1 = most expensive). A marketing message costs about 2.9 times a utility message here. Sort every market by any category in the table of every market.
Meta's charges are only part of the cost
You also pay for the software that sends the messages: a platform subscription and, with some providers, a markup on each message. Ask any provider for both numbers. Broadchat runs on Meta's official WhatsApp Business API (Cloud API) and is sold through partners, who set their own plan prices and messaging rates. Agencies and resellers can offer WhatsApp to their clients under their own brand. The pricing calculator uses India's rates; for the United Kingdom, use the table and example above. The WhatsApp API pricing guide explains categories and billing in more depth.
Sources
- Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform (Meta for Developers): rate cards effective 1 Oct 2026, free tier, free entry point and volume tiers; checked 2 Nov 2026.