Since November 2024, replying to a patient on the WhatsApp Business API has been free as long as the patient messaged you in the last 24 hours. Starting today, October 1, 2026, Meta charges for those replies too.
If your clinic only uses the regular WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app on a phone, nothing changes for you. This update is about the WhatsApp Business API (WABA), the official platform behind booking assistants, automated reminders and shared inboxes.
What changed
Meta sorts every message a business sends into categories. Two of them change today:
- Service messages - normal replies typed by staff or sent by an AI assistant inside the 24-hour window - are now charged per delivered message. Every business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages each month. Charging starts at message 1,001.
- Utility templates sent inside the 24-hour window - booking confirmations, receipts, status updates - are charged from the first message. They were free inside the window from July 2025 until today.
A service message costs the same as a utility message for the patient's country, and Meta gives no volume discounts on service messages.
What stays the same
- Messages patients send you are free.
- The 24-hour rule still decides what you can send: free-form replies only inside the window, approved templates outside it.
- Patients who reach you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or the WhatsApp button on your Facebook Page still open a free 72-hour window if you reply within 24 hours. Your messages inside it cost nothing.
- Marketing, utility and authentication templates sent outside the window were already charged and still are.
How much does each message cost in Egypt?
Approximate Meta rates for messages delivered to patients in Egypt, at about 52 EGP to the dollar:
| Message type | USD | EGP (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Service (reply inside 24 hours, after the free 1,000) | $0.0036 | ~0.19 EGP |
| Utility template (confirmations, reminders) | $0.0036 | ~0.19 EGP |
| Authentication template (verification codes) | $0.0036 | ~0.19 EGP |
| Marketing template (offers, campaigns) | $0.0644 | ~3.35 EGP |
So 1,000 paid replies cost about $3.60, roughly 190 EGP. These are Meta's prices only and do not include fees your WhatsApp provider adds. Meta can change rates up to once a quarter, and the EGP amount moves with the exchange rate.
A quick example
A patient messages asking for an appointment. The clinic answers three questions, confirms the booking with a utility template, then answers one follow-up question.
| Message | Until yesterday | From today |
|---|---|---|
| 3 replies to questions | Free | Free up to 1,000 a month, then charged |
| Booking confirmation (utility template) | Free | Charged |
| Reply to the follow-up | Free | Free up to 1,000 a month, then charged |
For a small clinic, 1,000 free replies a month covers a lot. A busy clinic with an AI assistant answering every message can pass that number in the first week or two.
Why it matters for clinics
Each message costs little on its own. The cost comes from volume: one booking conversation often has 5 to 10 replies. A bot that sends a greeting, then "one moment", then the real answer as three separate messages now pays three times for one answer.
Meta also requires a payment method on the account. Without one, Meta delivers the 1,000 free replies and then stops delivering service messages until a payment method is added. For a clinic, that means a patient asking to book gets no reply.
How to keep WhatsApp costs low
- Answer in one message, not three. Put the greeting, the answer and the next step together.
- Don't send a template when a reply will do. Inside the window, a plain reply counts toward the free 1,000. A utility template is charged from the first one.
- Use Click-to-WhatsApp ads for new patients. Conversations that start from an ad get 72 free hours if you reply quickly.
- Reply fast. If a conversation goes quiet for more than 24 hours, you need a paid template to reach the patient again.
- Watch your monthly count. Know when you are getting close to 1,000 so the bill is never a surprise.
What this means for Kashfy clinics
Kashfy runs on the official WhatsApp Business API, so this change applies to us like every other WABA provider. We are reviewing how our assistant writes replies so it sends fewer, more complete messages, and we will contact clinics directly about any change that affects them. Clinics that connected their own WhatsApp number are billed by Meta on their own Meta account, and each of those numbers gets its own 1,000 free replies a month.
