For many businesses, WhatsApp has become the main front desk. You still need to choose the right tool, and know what messages cost since Meta changed its pricing. The WhatsApp Business app is free and is enough as long as one or two people reply from a phone. The platform, often called the API, connects WhatsApp to software, a website or an automated assistant: it is billed per message. Since 1 July 2025, Meta has billed template messages one by one. On 1 October 2026, replies sent within the 24-hour window become billable too. A conversation opened from a “Click to WhatsApp” ad stays free for 72 hours, if the business replies within 24 hours. Two tools under the same name “WhatsApp Business” refers to two things that are often confused. First, the app: it’s a free download, installs on a phone just like WhatsApp, and gives the business a professional profile with its address, opening hours, description and website. Then the platform, often called the API. It isn’t used from a phone but from software. It lets several agents share the same number, automates first replies, or connects conversations to the website and the customer management tool. The right choice depends less on the size of the business than on the volume of conversations and the number of people answering them. What the free app already does very well Before paying for a tool, it’s worth making the most of what the app already offers. Most businesses use only a small part of it. The catalogue: your products or services, each with a title and at least one photo, browsable without leaving the conversation. Quick replies: prepared messages for the questions that come up every day, such as prices, opening hours, the address or lead times. The greeting message, sent automatically when a customer first messages you, then again when they come back after fourteen days without contact. The away message, to let people know outside opening hours that you’ll reply later, rather than leaving a customer without news. Labels, to sort conversations: new contact, quote sent, order to deliver, customer to follow up. Set up properly, the app is enough for a restaurant, a shop, a practice or a salon replying from one or two phones. When to move to the platform The platform becomes useful when the app reaches its practical limits: too many conversations for one person, several agents on the same number, the need to automatically send an order confirmation, a delivery update or an appointment reminder. You access it through Meta’s API, usually via a provider or a customer relationship tool already connected to it. The messages a business sends on its own initiative go through templates approved by Meta, sorted into three categories: marketing, utility (a confirmation, an update) and authentication (a login code). What messages cost, and what changes on 1 October Since 1 July 2025, Meta has billed the platform per message: each delivered template is charged according to its category and the recipient’s country. Before that, you paid per 24-hour conversation. Until now, replying to a customer cost nothing. When a customer writes, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and free-form messages sent within that window were not billed, and neither were utility templates. Meta has announced that this changes on 1 October 2026: service messages and utility messages sent within that window will be billed per message. On the same day, Meta is also raising its rates in several countries, including Morocco. What stays free When a customer writes by tapping a “Click to WhatsApp” ad or the button on a Facebook page, and the business replies within 24 hours, messages stay free for 72 hours. And the WhatsApp Business app isn’t affected by this billing: it remains free. Rates vary from one country to another and change regularly. Meta’s official rate card is the reference: that’s what you check before pricing a project, not a table copied six months ago. Reply fast, and reply right The tool doesn’t make the sale. What makes it is how fast and how clearly you reply. A customer who writes to three businesses for the same quote often buys from the one that replies first, with a complete answer. Complete your profile: address, opening hours, a link to your website, and a description that says what you do in one sentence. Write quick replies for the ten most frequent questions, with prices when you can give them. Decide who replies, at what times and how quickly, and say so in the away message. Use labels so no quote gets lost: each conversation has a status, and you follow up on those still waiting. Only message first people who gave you their number and agreed to receive your messages: it’s WhatsApp’s rule, and the best way not to get blocked.