Sending 1 lakh WhatsApp messages a month in India costs about ₹23,000 if they are utility or OTP messages and about ₹96,000 if they are marketing messages on RichAutomate Client Pay (Meta's rate plus ₹0.10 per message, with ₹0 monthly fee). The message category decides roughly 80% of your bill, so fix the mix first and pick the provider second.
This page works out the real numbers for 1,00,000 messages under the pricing that applies from 1 October 2026, when Meta started charging service replies beyond about 1,000 a month. Every assumption is shown so you can swap in your own volumes, or run them through the WhatsApp API cost calculator.
The rates used on this page
| Charge | Rate (India, per delivered message) | Who bills it |
|---|---|---|
| Meta marketing template | ₹0.8631 | Meta |
| Meta utility or authentication template | ₹0.13 | Meta |
| Meta service reply (from 1 Oct 2026) | First ~1,000/month free, then about the utility rate | Meta |
| RichAutomate Client Pay platform fee | ₹0.10 per message | RichAutomate |
| RichAutomate SaaS Pay (all-inclusive) | ₹1.50 marketing, ₹0.50 utility | RichAutomate only |
Meta rates are the India figures shown on our pricing page. Meta revises rates by market and GST treatment depends on how you are invoiced, so check the live rate card before you budget. There is ₹0 setup and ₹0 monthly fee on both RichAutomate plans.
What 1 lakh messages cost, by category
| 1,00,000 messages of… | Meta charge | Client Pay fee (₹0.10) | Client Pay total | SaaS Pay total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing templates | ₹86,310 | ₹10,000 | ≈ ₹96,310 | ₹1,50,000 |
| Utility templates (order, payment, delivery updates) | ₹13,000 | ₹10,000 | ≈ ₹23,000 | ₹50,000 |
| Authentication (OTP) templates | ₹13,000 | ₹10,000 | ≈ ₹23,000 | Ask for a quote |
| Service replies inside open chats | 99,000 × ₹0.13 ≈ ₹12,870 | ₹10,000 | ≈ ₹22,870 | Ask for a quote |
The gap between the first two rows is the single biggest lever. The same 1 lakh sends cost about four times more when Meta classifies them as marketing. Our guide to marketing vs utility messages shows the wording that keeps transactional templates in the utility category.
A realistic mix: 1 lakh messages for a growing D2C brand
Few businesses send only one category. Here is a common split for an Indian online store doing about 10,000 orders a month.
| Message type | Volume | Meta charge |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing broadcasts (offers, restock, festive sale) | 30,000 | ₹25,893 |
| Utility (order confirmation, dispatch, delivery, COD) | 50,000 | ₹6,500 |
| Service replies (support chats, first 1,000 free) | 20,000 | 19,000 × ₹0.13 ≈ ₹2,470 |
| Meta subtotal | 1,00,000 | ≈ ₹34,863 |
| Client Pay platform fee | 1,00,000 × ₹0.10 | ₹10,000 |
| Monthly total on Client Pay | ≈ ₹44,863 |
That is about ₹0.45 per message all-in, with no monthly plan, no setup charge and no per-agent seat fee on top. Marketing is 30% of the volume but about 74% of the Meta bill, which is why broadcast targeting matters more than anything else at this scale.
Want this maths on your own numbers? Start a 14-day free trial with 100 free credits. No card, ₹0 setup, and your dashboard splits spend by category from day one.
Client Pay vs SaaS Pay at 1 lakh messages
RichAutomate offers two ways to pay, and at high volume the choice matters.
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- Client Pay: you add your own card to your Meta WhatsApp Business Account and Meta bills you directly at its rates. RichAutomate charges ₹0.10 per message. You get two invoices and the lowest unit cost, which is why most high-volume senders choose it.
- SaaS Pay: one prepaid wallet with RichAutomate at ₹1.50 per marketing and ₹0.50 per utility message, Meta charges included. You get one invoice and no card on the Meta side, which suits teams whose finance process cannot add a card to Meta. At 1 lakh messages it costs more than Client Pay.
A simple rule: if you send more than a few thousand messages a month and can add a card to Meta, Client Pay is cheaper. Compare both on the pricing page.
How provider pricing models change the bill
Meta's rate is the same on every official provider. What differs is what the provider adds. At 1 lakh messages, three things decide the gap:
| Pricing element | What to check | Effect at 1 lakh messages |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly plan fee | Is there a fixed fee even in a quiet month? | Fixed cost regardless of volume |
| Per-message markup on Meta's rate | Is Meta billed at cost, or with a margin added? | Every ₹0.10 of markup adds ₹10,000 |
| Per-agent seat fee | Does adding a support agent raise the bill? | Grows with team size, not messages |
| Setup or onboarding fee | One-time charge to go live? | One-off, but adds to year-one cost |
Ask every vendor for their all-in price per message for your exact mix, then multiply by 1,00,000. We list the extras that usually hide in plans in our guide to WhatsApp API with no monthly fee, and high-volume options in the cheapest WhatsApp API for high-volume senders.
5 ways to cut the cost of 1 lakh messages
- Keep transactional templates in utility. One promotional line can push an order update into marketing and multiply its cost by more than six.
- Segment broadcasts. Every delivered marketing message is billed whether it converts or not. Send to recent buyers and recent repliers, and drop contacts who ignore several broadcasts in a row.
- Use the free 72-hour entry point. Chats that start from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button are free for 72 hours when you reply within 24 hours. See free entry point conversations.
- Send fewer, fuller replies. After the first 1,000 service messages, every support reply is billed, so one complete answer beats three short ones.
- Send OTPs on WhatsApp first, SMS only as fallback. Do not pay for both channels on every login.
For the full list of tactics after the October change, read 9 ways to cut WhatsApp API cost after October 2026.
What changed on 1 October 2026
Until September, service replies inside an open 24-hour window were free without limit. From 1 October 2026, only the first ~1,000 service messages a month are free, and utility templates sent inside an open window are charged too. At 1 lakh messages this adds roughly ₹10,000 to ₹13,000 a month for a support-heavy account, which is real money but still far below what a wrong template category costs. The rule change is explained in WhatsApp service message charges from October 2026.
Bottom line
Budget about ₹23,000 for 1 lakh utility or OTP messages, about ₹96,000 for 1 lakh marketing messages, and somewhere around ₹45,000 for a typical mixed month, on RichAutomate Client Pay. Get the category mix right first, then choose a provider that bills Meta at cost with no monthly or seat fees. RichAutomate charges ₹0 setup, ₹0 monthly and ₹0.10 per message, with a team inbox, no-code flow builder and broadcasts included. Start your free trial or check the numbers on the pricing page.