WhatsApp Business API, explained for South African businesses
The WhatsApp Business API, which Meta calls the WhatsApp Business Platform, lets software send and receive WhatsApp messages from a business phone number. Meta charges per delivered message, by category. In South Africa a marketing template costs US$0.0379 and a utility template US$0.0095. Messages from customers to a business are free.
Checked against Meta's pricing page on · by Timo van Deventer, Senior AI Product Specialist
The WhatsApp Business app and the API
WhatsApp has two ways for a business to message customers.
- The WhatsApp Business app is a free-to-download app for small businesses. You use it on a phone, for one-to-one chats with your customers.
- The WhatsApp Business Platform, usually called the WhatsApp Business API, lets software send and receive messages from your business phone number. In Meta's words, it "enables businesses to communicate with customers at scale". Messages come in to your software through webhooks, and outside a 24-hour customer service window you can only send templates, which generally need Meta's approval before you can send them.
You don't always have to choose. Through a Meta partner, a business can connect its existing WhatsApp Business app number to the API and keep using the app for one-to-one chats, with the message history kept in sync between both.
What the API is used for
Meta lists order confirmations and shipping updates, appointment reminders, product recommendations, transactions from product discovery to payment, one-time passwords, and custom interactive conversations (about the platform).
What the WhatsApp Business API costs in South Africa
Since 1 July 2025, Meta has charged per delivered message, not per conversation. The rate depends on the message's category and on the country code of the number it goes to. These are Meta's South African rates from its rate card effective 1 October 2026, in US dollars per delivered message:
| Message | Used for | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing template | Promotions | US$0.0379 |
| Utility template | Transactional or informational updates | US$0.0095 |
| Authentication template | One-time passwords and codes | US$0.0095 |
| Service message | A reply inside the 24-hour customer service window | US$0.0095 after the first 1,000 each month |
What Meta doesn't charge for:
- Messages from a customer to your business.
- The first 1,000 service messages each month, per business phone number. They don't roll over.
- Messages in a free entry point window, which opens when a customer messages you from an ad that clicks to WhatsApp and you reply.
Utility and authentication templates get lower rates at higher volumes. Meta publishes rate cards in 16 currencies; the rand isn't one of them, so these are the US dollar rates. Meta may change prices on the first day of a quarter. Checked on : see Meta's pricing page for the current rates.
How to get access
Meta lists what you need to use the platform (about the platform):
- A Meta business portfolio.
- A WhatsApp account in that portfolio, which holds your phone numbers and display name.
- A Messaging account in that portfolio, which holds your templates, billing and payment method.
- A business app in that portfolio, with access tokens and the right permissions.
You can build on Meta's Cloud API yourself, or use software from one of Meta's partners that handles the API for you. With Kwalify, we connect your own WhatsApp Business account for you during setup.
How Kwalify uses it
Kwalify runs applications on WhatsApp: it asks your questions one at a time, collects and checks the documents, chases what is missing and gets the agreement signed. Each business uses its own WhatsApp Business account and number, so customers see your business name. Kwalify connects that account for you during setup, along with your payment and AI accounts. Kwalify charges no fee per WhatsApp message: you pay Meta directly, at the rates above.
See applications on WhatsApp. Or how it works.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between the WhatsApp Business app and the API?
What is the WhatsApp API used for?
Is the WhatsApp Business API free?
What does the WhatsApp Business API cost?
How do I connect to the WhatsApp API?
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