WhatsApp Business API Pricing in Malaysia and Singapore (2026)

From 1 October 2026, Meta charges RM0.3467 for a marketing message to a Malaysian number and RM0.0564 for a utility, authentication or service message. For a Singapore number, the rates are S$0.0937 and S$0.0205. Messages customers send to you are free, the first 1,000 service replies on each business phone number each month are free, and conversations that start from a click-to-WhatsApp ad can be free for up to 7 days (Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing and rate cards, retrieved 11 October 2026).

The biggest change this year is that service replies are no longer free without limit. Pricing pages written before October 2026 say they are. This guide sets out the current rates for both markets, how Meta decides what to charge, what remains free, and what a typical month costs a small business. All rates come from Meta’s own rate cards.

How WhatsApp API pricing works

Meta charges per delivered message, not per conversation. The model changed on 1 July 2025, and any page that quotes “per conversation” rates is describing the old system. Each message a business sends falls into one of these categories:

• Marketing: promotions, offers, product announcements and re-engagement. A template message.
• Utility: updates about something the customer started, such as an order confirmation, a delivery update or an appointment reminder. A template message.
• Authentication: one-time passcodes for logging in or verifying an account. A template message.
• Service: free-form replies to a customer, which can only be sent within 24 hours of the customer’s last message.
• Meta Business Agent: messages written by Meta’s own AI agent, charged by token rather than per message.

The price depends on the category and on the recipient’s country calling code, not on where your business is registered. A message is charged only when it is delivered, and each message has one category, so it carries one charge.

Current rates for Malaysia and Singapore

These are Meta’s list rates, effective 1 October 2026. Meta publishes each rate card in 16 billing currencies; the table shows the MYR and SGD cards.

Recipient’s country	Billing currency	Marketing	Utility	Authentication	Service
Malaysia (+60)	MYR	RM0.3467	RM0.0564	RM0.0564	RM0.0564
Singapore (+65)	SGD	S$0.0937	S$0.0205	S$0.0205	S$0.0205
Malaysia (+60)	SGD	S$0.1101	S$0.0179	S$0.0179	S$0.0179
Singapore (+65)	MYR	RM0.2951	RM0.0646	RM0.0646	RM0.0646

Source: Meta’s MYR and SGD rate cards, effective 1 October 2026, downloaded from the WhatsApp Business Platform pricing page on 11 October 2026.

Malaysia also has an authentication-international rate of RM0.1685 (S$0.0535), which applies only to certain businesses sending authentication messages to Malaysian numbers. Meta’s authentication-international rates page explains who it covers.

Two points stand out. First, a marketing message costs about six times as much as a utility message to a Malaysian number and about four and a half times as much to a Singapore number. Second, the rows for cross-border messages matter: a Singapore company with Malaysian customers pays Malaysia’s rate for those messages, taken from the rate card for its billing currency.

Utility and authentication messages also have monthly volume tiers, which lower the rate once a business sends enough of them in one market. Marketing messages have no volume tiers. The tier thresholds are published on Meta’s pricing page, next to each rate card.

What changed on 1 October 2026

Since November 2024, replies to customers inside the 24-hour customer service window had been free. From 1 October 2026, Meta charges service messages at the same rate as utility messages in each market, after a free allowance. Utility templates sent inside the customer service window, which had also been free, are now charged at the utility rate.

The free allowance is set per business phone number: Meta provides 1,000 free service messages each month, which reset monthly and do not roll over. From the 1,001st service message in a month, each one is charged.

For a business that mostly answers questions, this is the change to plan around. A shop answering 3,000 customer messages a month on one Malaysian number now pays for 2,000 of them.

What is still free

Meta lists two cases in which messages you send are free. Messages customers send you are also free:

1. Messages from customers to you. Inbound messages are never charged.
2. The first 1,000 service messages each month, per business phone number.
3. The free entry point window. When a customer messages you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on an Android or iOS phone and you reply within the customer service window, your reply is free and opens a free entry point window that can stay open for up to 7 days. While it is open, Meta does not charge for marketing, utility, authentication or service messages. Meta Business Agent messages are still charged.

The free entry point window changes the economics of ad-driven sales. If most of your new enquiries come from click-to-WhatsApp ads, the follow-up conversation in the first week costs nothing in Meta fees, and the ad spend is the real cost of the lead.

What a typical month costs

Take a car service workshop with one WhatsApp number, sending to customers in its own market. In a month it answers 3,000 customer messages, sends 2,500 booking confirmations and reminders, and sends one promotion to 2,000 customers who have opted in. Sending to 2,000 people in a day needs the 2,000 messaging tier, usually reached by verifying the business; a new portfolio starts at 250.

Item	Malaysia (MYR card)	Singapore (SGD card)
Service replies: 3,000, of which 1,000 free	2,000 × RM0.0564 = RM112.80	2,000 × S$0.0205 = S$41.00
Utility: 2,500 confirmations and reminders	2,500 × RM0.0564 = RM141.00	2,500 × S$0.0205 = S$51.25
Marketing: one promotion to 2,000 customers	2,000 × RM0.3467 = RM693.40	2,000 × S$0.0937 = S$187.40
Meta fees for the month	RM947.20	S$279.65

The single promotion makes up about three quarters of the Meta fees in Malaysia and two thirds in Singapore. Sending it to customers who have bought recently, rather than to everyone, usually does more for the bill than any other change. These figures are Meta’s list rates before volume tiers, and before any provider fees or tax.

Costs on top of Meta’s rates

Meta’s rates are only part of the bill. Most businesses reach the API through a business solution provider or build on Meta’s Cloud API directly, and the costs differ.

• Business solution providers offer an inbox, broadcasts and chatbots on top of the API, usually for a monthly subscription. Some also add a margin on each message. Compare providers on the total: subscription plus per-message charges at your expected volume.
• Building on the Cloud API directly avoids provider fees, but you need software to use it: an inbox for your team, templates, opt-in records and links to your CRM or booking system. That is a one-off build plus hosting.
• Meta Business Agent, if you use Meta’s AI agent, is charged at US$2.00 per million tokens instead of a per-message rate, and is charged even inside the free entry point window.
• Tax. Check whether the provider’s invoice adds tax. In Singapore, GST is 9% (IRAS). In Malaysia, ask your accountant how service tax applies to the provider and to Meta’s charges.

Limits and rules that affect cost

Messaging limits. A new business portfolio can send template messages to 250 unique customers in a rolling 24 hours, outside the customer service window. Verifying your business raises this to 2,000, and it scales automatically to 10,000, 100,000 and unlimited when message quality is high. The limit is shared by every number in the portfolio, not set per number (Meta, messaging limits). Plan a large launch broadcast around it.

Opt-in. Meta only allows messages to people who have opted in to receiving them from you. Keep a record of when and how each customer agreed.

Data protection. In Singapore, marketing messages to Singapore numbers fall under the Do Not Call provisions of the PDPA, so check the DNC registry unless you have clear consent (PDPC). Malaysia’s Personal Data Protection Act also applies to the customer data you hold in chat transcripts. Decide who can see transcripts and how long you keep them.

The WhatsApp Business app or the API

The free WhatsApp Business app works well for one person, or a few people, replying from one phone. It stops working well when several staff need to answer from one number, when you want automatic confirmations and reminders, or when conversations need to sit next to customer and order records.

That is when the API is worth paying for. In our CRM, WhatsApp and email land in one shared inbox and each conversation is linked to the customer and the deal. For a car dealer group in Johor Bahru, we built a WhatsApp service assistant that books workshop slots and answers in English, Malay or Chinese, and hands over to an advisor with the full transcript.

How to keep the bill down

• Segment broadcasts. Marketing is the expensive category. Send fewer, better-targeted promotions.
• Use click-to-WhatsApp ads for acquisition. Follow-ups within the free entry point window carry no per-message charge.
• Answer well the first time. Every extra back-and-forth after the first 1,000 service messages is charged. Clear replies and quick links to answers reduce volume.
• Don’t send utility templates you don’t need. One confirmation and one reminder is usually enough.
• Plan phone numbers deliberately. The free 1,000 service messages are per number, but messaging limits are shared across the portfolio.
• Recheck the rates each quarter. Meta updates pricing on a published calendar, with notice before changes.

If you want WhatsApp linked to your sales pipeline, or an assistant that answers routine questions so your team doesn’t have to, book a CRM demo. Bringing AI into the channels you already use is part of our AI integration work. You talk to the technical lead, and we reply within 24 hours.