The WhatsApp Business app on your phone costs nothing. For most trade businesses, replying to customers costs nothing either. That is still true after the October 2026 pricing change, though it is worth knowing why.

Two tiers, two price points

WhatsApp has two versions for businesses.

The WhatsApp Business app is the one you download to a phone. Set up a profile with your business hours and a basic away message. It is free and always has been.

The WhatsApp Business Platform (sometimes called the Cloud API or Business API) is the version software uses. If messages land in ServiceM8, or any other business tool, it is the Platform underneath. This is the one that Meta charges for.

Before 1 October 2026, replies to customers sent through the Platform were free inside a 24-hour window. From that date, Meta started charging for them. Most trade businesses will not notice, because of what Meta added at the same time.

The 1,000 free service messages

Every business phone number on the Platform gets 1,000 free service messages per calendar month. They reset on the first of the month, they do not roll over, and the limit applies per number. The charge only applies from the 1,001st message.

A service message is a free-form reply you send to a customer who messaged you first, while that conversation is open. For most trade businesses, that is the bulk of what they send.

A firm doing 20 to 40 jobs a week probably sends well under 400 of those in a month. The 1,000-message allowance leaves room.

What does cost money

Templates sent to customers after 24 hours of silence. When a conversation has been quiet for more than 24 hours, you cannot send a free-form reply. You need a pre-approved template message. These are charged from the first one, whether or not you are inside your monthly allowance. This was true before October 2026 and has not changed.

Utility templates sent while a conversation is open. If you send a template to a customer who has already messaged you recently, that is charged too. Before 1 October it was free. Now it is not, and the 1,000-message allowance does not cover it. If you send an “on my way” or “job complete” template to every customer on every job, this is the line to watch.

Marketing templates. Always charged, from the first message.

Messages from customers are always free

If a customer messages you, neither of you pays for it. You do not pay to receive messages.

What a small trade business actually pays

For most: nothing, or very little.

A sole trader or a two-van firm whose customers message about bookings and jobs will likely sit well inside the 1,000 free replies a month.

The number to watch is templates. If you send a template message to every customer for every job update, and you run 100 jobs a week, that is 400 or more template messages a month. All charged from the first one. Meta publishes current rates by country on its pricing page (developers.facebook.com).

The practical question is: how much of what you send is templates, and how much is ordinary back-and-forth replies? For most trade businesses the answer is mostly the latter, and the first 1,000 of those are covered.

What has not changed

The WhatsApp Business app is still free. Nothing in the October 2026 changes touches it. If you are using the app and not connecting it to any other software, this does not affect you.

A customer’s message to you is still free to receive.

The 24-hour window for replying without a template is still there. Meta shortened nothing.

If you use the add-on

The ServiceHQ WhatsApp add-on runs on the Platform. What you pay Meta is the same whatever add-on you use, or none at all. The 1,000 free service messages a month belong to your number, not to any supplier.

Our pricing page shows what you pay us. What you pay Meta is separate and depends on how many template messages you send. For a typical trade business, the answer is a small amount or zero.

If you want to know what a firm like yours would typically pay before you commit to anything, ask us and we will tell you straight.