Gupshup's self-serve WhatsApp API in India costs a flat US$0.001 per message (roughly 9 paise) on top of Meta's own per-message fee, with no setup fee, no monthly subscription and no volume commitment. You pay from a prepaid wallet that works in US dollars, so your real rupee bill is Meta's charge plus about ₹8,800 of Gupshup fees for every 1 lakh messages, moving with the exchange rate.
That is the short answer to "gupshup pricing". The longer answer matters if you are comparing providers, because a few details change the monthly total: the wallet currency, which messages attract the Gupshup fee, a markup on some marketing messages, and what is quote-based rather than published. This guide covers each one using only what Gupshup lists on its own pricing and help pages, then works out real ₹ totals at 10,000 and 1,00,000 messages a month next to RichAutomate. All Gupshup figures are as listed on Gupshup's pricing and support pages at the time of writing (October 2026). Verify them before you sign.
Gupshup WhatsApp pricing at a glance
Gupshup's self-serve pricing page is short. It states that "Gupshup charges a standard 0.001 USD per message fee" and that the WhatsApp (Meta) fee "is billed at actuals". Here is everything the page and the linked help articles publish:
| Component | Published figure | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Gupshup fee, template message (outgoing) | US$0.0010 per message | Paid on every template you send, on top of Meta's fee |
| Gupshup fee, session message (outgoing and incoming text) | US$0.0010 per message | Incoming customer messages count too, not only your replies |
| Media above 64 KB (outgoing) | Free | No extra charge for images or documents |
| Voice calls (user- or business-initiated) | US$0.0001 per second | Only relevant if you use WhatsApp calling |
| Meta (WhatsApp) fee | Billed at actuals | Passed through from Meta's rate card, charged on delivery |
| Marketing via Cloud API instead of MM Lite | 6% markup on the WhatsApp marketing fee (from 1 Jan 2026) | Applies only in the cases listed below |
| Setup, subscription, volume commitment | None on self-serve | Pure pay-as-you-go |
| Enterprise and capped pricing plans | Not published | Quote-based, through Gupshup sales |
For an Indian buyer, the practical takeaway is simple: Gupshup's self-serve layer is cheap per message, and most of your bill will still be Meta's fee. That is true of every official WhatsApp provider, since Meta sets the per-message rate for everyone.
How the Gupshup wallet works (and why USD matters)
Gupshup calls its prepaid billing method the Wallet. According to its help centre, the wallet works in US dollars, where 1 credit equals US$1. You recharge through Stripe or Ebanx, with a minimum of US$10 and a maximum of US$10,000 per transaction, and Gupshup emails your billing address when the balance falls to US$5. Gupshup also lists an overdraft feature, so sending need not stop the moment the balance runs out. The free testing credit Gupshup once offered is listed as discontinued.
Two consequences for Indian businesses:
- Your rupee cost moves with the exchange rate. US$0.001 is about ₹0.088 at ₹88 to the dollar (the rate we assume throughout this page). If the rupee weakens, the same volume costs more. Your card issuer may also add a foreign-currency markup to each recharge.
- Meta's fee is taken from the USD rate card. Gupshup's help centre says its partner programme "works in the WhatsApp's USD rate card". So even Meta's charge reaches you as a dollar deduction, not as the INR rates Meta lists for India. The two are close but not identical once conversion is applied.
Gupshup's pages do not say how GST is shown on wallet recharges for Indian customers. If you need a GST invoice for input credit, ask before you recharge.
What Meta charges in India (the part every provider passes through)
Meta's fee is the same whichever official provider you use. For India, the per-message rates used on this page are:
- Marketing template: ₹0.8631 per delivered message
- Utility or authentication template: ₹0.115 per delivered message (our pricing page rounds this to about ₹0.13)
- Service replies: from 1 October 2026, Meta charges service messages beyond roughly 1,000 a month at about the utility rate, and utility templates sent inside an open customer-service window are charged too
All three exclude 18% GST. Gupshup's pricing table still lists service conversations as free, but because it bills Meta's fee "at actuals", Meta's October 2026 change should flow through to Gupshup accounts the same way it does everywhere else. Check how it appears in your wallet statement.
The 6% markup on Cloud API marketing messages
From 1 January 2026, Gupshup adds a 6% markup on the WhatsApp marketing fee when marketing messages go through the regular Cloud API instead of Meta's MM Lite (Marketing Messages Lite) route. Per Gupshup's help article, this covers three situations:
- Accounts (mostly created before August 2025) that have not accepted, or are not eligible for, the MM Lite terms.
- Accounts that switched off automatic MM Lite routing on Gupshup's v2 APIs.
- Accounts sending marketing templates through Gupshup's regular v3 template endpoint instead of the MM Lite endpoint.
New WhatsApp accounts onboarded on Gupshup are placed on MM Lite by default, so most new self-serve users will not see this markup. If you are migrating an older number, ask which route your marketing traffic will use. At ₹0.8631 per marketing message, 6% adds about ₹0.052 per message, or about ₹5,200 on 1 lakh marketing sends.
Gupshup vs RichAutomate: worked ₹ cost at 10,000 and 1 lakh messages
Here is the arithmetic, done the same way for both providers. Assumptions: Meta's India INR rates above, ₹88 per US dollar for Gupshup's fee, MM Lite routing (no 6% markup) unless noted, GST excluded, and outgoing templates only. RichAutomate Client Pay means Meta bills your card directly at Meta's rate and RichAutomate adds ₹0.10 per message. SaaS Pay is RichAutomate's all-in wallet price.
| Monthly volume | Meta charge | Gupshup total (Meta + US$0.001) | RichAutomate Client Pay (Meta + ₹0.10) | RichAutomate SaaS Pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 utility | ₹1,150 | ₹1,150 + ₹880 ≈ ₹2,030 | ₹1,150 + ₹1,000 = ₹2,150 | ₹5,000 |
| 10,000 marketing | ₹8,631 | ₹8,631 + ₹880 ≈ ₹9,511 | ₹8,631 + ₹1,000 = ₹9,631 | ₹15,000 |
| 1,00,000 utility | ₹11,500 | ₹11,500 + ₹8,800 ≈ ₹20,300 | ₹11,500 + ₹10,000 = ₹21,500 | ₹50,000 |
| 1,00,000 marketing | ₹86,310 | ₹86,310 + ₹8,800 ≈ ₹95,110 | ₹86,310 + ₹10,000 = ₹96,310 | ₹1,50,000 |
| 1,00,000 marketing, Cloud API (6% markup) | ₹86,310 | ₹95,110 + ₹5,179 ≈ ₹1,00,289 | ₹96,310 | ₹1,50,000 |
To be fair about what this shows: on outgoing templates alone, Gupshup's published per-message fee is slightly below RichAutomate's ₹0.10 at today's exchange rate. The gap is about ₹120 at 10,000 messages and about ₹1,200 at 1 lakh. Three things can close or reverse it:
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- Incoming messages. Gupshup charges its US$0.001 on incoming session messages too. A support desk that receives 1 lakh customer messages a month adds roughly another ₹8,800 on top of the table above.
- Exchange rate and card forex charges. At ₹92 to the dollar, the Gupshup fee on 1 lakh messages becomes ₹9,200. Any foreign-currency markup your card applies to recharges adds a little more.
- Software on top of the API. The table compares messaging fees only. If you pay separately for an inbox, chatbot builder or agent seats, that cost belongs in the comparison too.
The formula you can reuse for any volume: Gupshup monthly cost ≈ (Meta fee per message × templates) + (US$0.001 × all messages, incoming and outgoing) × your exchange rate, plus 6% of the marketing fee if you are not on MM Lite. Or plug your own mix into the WhatsApp API cost calculator.
See your own numbers in rupees, not dollars. Start a 14-day free trial with 100 free credits. ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly, no per-seat fee, and a team inbox, no-code flow builder and broadcasts included from day one.
What RichAutomate charges, for comparison
RichAutomate has two plans, both with ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly fee and no per-seat charge:
- Client Pay: Meta bills your card at Meta's rate, with no markup. RichAutomate charges ₹0.10 per message, billed in rupees. This is the lowest-cost option for most senders.
- SaaS Pay: ₹1.50 per marketing message and ₹0.50 per utility message, Meta's fee included, from one rupee wallet with one invoice. It costs more per message, but suits teams that cannot put a card on Meta or want a single bill.
Both plans include the team inbox, the no-code chatbot flow builder and broadcast campaigns, so the per-message figure is the whole software cost. For a feature-by-feature breakdown, read Gupshup vs RichAutomate pricing decoded. Full rates are on the pricing page.
Gupshup SMS pricing in India
Gupshup runs a large SMS business in India alongside WhatsApp, but it does not publish India SMS rates on its website. Its SMS API page lists no per-SMS price, and enterprise SMS is sold through its sales team. So Gupshup SMS pricing is quote-based, and it will depend on your volume, route (promotional, transactional or OTP) and DLT setup. Anyone quoting a "Gupshup SMS price per message" online is quoting a deal, not a published rate card.
When you get a quote, compare it with what the same message would cost on WhatsApp. An OTP or order update on WhatsApp costs Meta's utility or authentication rate plus your provider's fee, and it arrives with your business name, logo and delivery and read receipts. Many teams now send WhatsApp first and fall back to SMS only when a message is not delivered. The full comparison is in WhatsApp Business API vs SMS cost in India.
What to ask Gupshup sales before you sign
Gupshup's self-serve pricing is transparent, but enterprise and capped plans are not published. Use this checklist to get a quote you can compare line by line:
- Currency: Will I be billed in USD or INR? If USD, what exchange rate is used and when?
- GST: Will I receive a GST-compliant Indian invoice for wallet recharges so I can claim input credit?
- Meta rate card: Is Meta's fee charged from the USD or the INR rate card for my Indian recipients?
- Incoming messages: Is the per-message fee charged on incoming customer messages on my plan?
- Marketing route: Will my marketing messages go through MM Lite, or will the 6% Cloud API markup apply?
- Service messages: How will Meta's October 2026 charges for service replies beyond ~1,000 a month appear on my statement?
- Software: Is a shared team inbox, chatbot builder and campaign tool included, or priced separately? Are there per-agent seat fees?
- Minimums: Is there a minimum monthly spend, minimum recharge or annual commitment on the enterprise plan?
- Support: What support level and response time comes with my plan, and is onboarding help charged?
- Exit: Can I move my number to another provider later, and is any unused wallet balance refundable?
Ask RichAutomate, or any other provider, the same ten questions. If you are shortlisting, our roundup of the best Gupshup alternatives in India uses the same checklist.
Who Gupshup pricing suits, and who should compare
Gupshup is one of the longest-running messaging platforms in India, and its self-serve pricing is clear: one small fee per message, Meta at actuals, no subscription. It is a sensible fit for developer teams that want a pure API, already work with USD billing, and plan to build their own inbox and automation or buy them separately.
It is worth comparing if you are a small or mid-sized Indian business that wants rupee billing with a GST invoice, a ready-made team inbox and chatbot builder without extra software, or a single all-inclusive price per message. At those needs, total cost of ownership matters more than a few paise of per-message fee.
Bottom line
Gupshup's self-serve WhatsApp pricing in India is US$0.001 per message plus Meta's fee at actuals, paid from a USD prepaid wallet with no setup or monthly fee. That works out to about ₹20,300 for 1 lakh utility messages and about ₹95,110 for 1 lakh marketing messages at ₹88 to the dollar, before incoming-message fees, forex charges, GST or any software you add. Enterprise plans and India SMS rates are quote-based. RichAutomate Client Pay costs about ₹1,200 more per lakh outgoing templates on those assumptions, billed in rupees, with ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly, no seat fees and the inbox, flow builder and broadcasts included. Start your free trial and compare real invoices side by side.
Still choosing between the big three? See Gupshup vs Wati vs Interakt for platform fees, markups and the 25,000-message cost math in one table.