Understanding WhatsApp messaging pricing on BSG

WhatsApp on BSG involves two separate charges, from two different parties:

1. Meta charges you for the message traffic (the WhatsApp messages themselves).
2. BSG charges you a platform subscription for using the platform.

Understanding which is which — and why — is the key to reading your costs.

Why two bills? The Tech Provider model

BSG is a Meta Tech Provider, not a reseller. That has a concrete benefit for you: you pay Meta directly for traffic, at Meta's published list rates, with no markup from BSG. BSG only charges for the platform (a subscription). Providers that resell WhatsApp traffic typically add 30–60% on top of Meta's rates; as a Tech Provider, BSG doesn't touch the traffic price.

So you'll see a Meta invoice for messages and a BSG charge for the subscription — they're independent.

1. What you pay Meta (the traffic)

Meta bills you directly, charging the payment method on file in your WhatsApp Manager. BSG is not involved in this billing.

Meta charges per message (since July 1, 2025), based on the template category and the recipient's country:

• Marketing — promotions, offers (the most expensive category).
• Utility — order updates, reminders, alerts.
• Authentication — one-time passwords and verification codes.

A few things that lower or zero out the cost:

• Utility templates sent inside an open 24-hour customer-service window are free.
• Free entry point: if a customer reaches you via a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or Page button, messaging is free for 72 hours.
• Rates are per country and differ significantly (a local number in-market is much cheaper than international), and volume tiers lower utility/authentication rates at scale.

For the current rates by country and category, use the interactive WhatsApp Business Platform pricing page (pick a market, currency, and category to see the rate). You can also download the full rate cards from Meta's pricing documentation. (BSG doesn't set or mark up these rates.)

Set up billing on Meta first. Until a valid payment method is attached in WhatsApp Manager, your messages won't send (Meta error 131042).

2. What you pay BSG (the platform subscription)

BSG uses a subscription model: a flat monthly fee that includes a monthly message allowance (included volume). Plans range from Free through Starter / Growth / Scale / Enterprise — see the WhatsApp tab under Prices in your BSG cabinet for the current fees and included volumes.

Billing cycle. One calendar month. It starts when you first activate a paid plan and resets on each automatic renewal. (On the Free plan, the cycle starts when you connect your first WABA.)

When you reach your included volume:

• If your plan supports overage, sending continues — the excess is billed in overage blocks (per the platform's billing logic, 5,000 messages per block) at your plan's overage rate, charged automatically from your BSG balance. Sending only pauses if your balance can't cover the overage; once you top up, launch a new campaign for any recipients not yet reached.
• If your plan doesn't include overage (e.g., Free), sending is paused once you reach your included volume, and picks back up at the start of your next billing cycle (or right away if you upgrade). A campaign that was in progress ends when sending pauses, so simply relaunch it for the remaining recipients once you have volume again.

This BSG allowance is separate from Meta's messaging limits — the BSG number counts messages sent through BSG on your plan, while Meta enforces its own portfolio-level messaging limits independently.

3. What counts toward your BSG volume

BSG counts your usage from Meta's delivery events, so you're billed for messages that actually go out — not for ones that don't:

• A message counts (+1) when Meta reports it sent.
• It's removed (−1) if that message later fails, or if it's sent but not delivered within the template's validity window (TTL).
• A failure with no preceding send doesn't count at all.

In practice, that means your plan volume reflects messages that were sent and delivered — undelivered and failed messages are backed out. Counts are tracked per WABA and for your account overall, and reset at the start of each billing cycle (and when you upgrade).

4. SMS fallback is billed separately

If you use SMS fallback (alternative_channel), those SMS messages are billed by BSG at its SMS rates, from your BSG balance — separately from your WhatsApp subscription and from Meta's traffic charges. See BSG WhatsApp API Overview for how fallback works, and Manage the WhatsApp stop-list on BSG for how it interacts with opt-outs.

At a glance

Related guides

• Getting started with 1-way WhatsApp on BSG — connecting your account and setting up Meta billing.
• BSG WhatsApp API Overview — sending, SMS fallback, and the delivery statuses that drive billing counts.
• Common WhatsApp API errors — including the billing/payment error 131042.