Kenyan businesses that rely on WhatsApp to talk to customers are staring at higher operating costs after Meta announced it will begin charging for service messages that have largely been free, starting October 1, 2026.
The change targets firms using the WhatsApp Business Platform, among them banks, retailers, airlines, telcos, e-commerce companies and startups that depend on the app to confirm payments, process orders and respond to customer queries.
Under the new pricing, Meta will charge $0.0040 (about Sh0.52 to Sh0.57, depending on the rate card) for every delivered utility message sent to a customer within an open 24-hour service window. Marketing messages will cost considerably more, at about $0.0248 (roughly Sh3.3) each.
“From October 1, 2026, Meta will charge for utility messages sent in response to users within an open 24-hour customer service window. These messages have not been charged for since July 1, 2025,” Meta said in a notice to businesses.
Although the per-message cost looks small, it can add up quickly for companies handling large volumes of customer interactions. A business sending 500,000 chargeable messages a month, for instance, would pay roughly $2,200 (about Sh284,900) in Meta fees alone, before factoring in charges from business solution providers or software platforms.
Meta has also set a deadline for businesses to prepare. “For any Solution Provider or directly-integrated businesses that does not have a payment method on file by September 30, 2026, Meta will stop delivering service messages as of when they become charged on October 1, 2026,” the company said, urging businesses to add a payment method to their WhatsApp Business Accounts before the cutoff.
Kenya’s rates differ from those in other African markets. Nigerian businesses will pay about $0.0101 per utility message, South Africa about $0.0076, and Egypt about $0.0054. Marketing messages follow the same pattern, costing more in Nigeria and Egypt than in Kenya.
The move builds on changes Meta introduced in July 2025, when it shifted from conversation-based pricing to per-message charges for business-initiated marketing, utility and authentication messages, while keeping service replies free within the 24-hour window. That exemption now falls away in October.
For Kenyan startups and small businesses that have built customer service around WhatsApp, the shift could mean tighter margins and tougher choices about which messages are worth sending, while giving Meta a new revenue stream from the platform’s growing commercial use.
