Kenyan businesses face higher online costs as WhatsApp stops free messages
WhatsApp will charge $0.0040 (Sh0.52) per delivered message.
Kenyan businesses that rely on WhatsApp for customer service and sales are facing new fees from Meta starting October 1, 2026. Companies that use WhatsApp Business Platform will now pay Ksh0.52 per delivered service message to customers. This applies to businesses, customer-care teams, chatbots, and other large-scale systems, not the regular WhatsApp app used by individuals.
The change is significant as WhatsApp has been an affordable way for businesses to interact with customers. Now, businesses will have to pay for every qualifying service message sent through the Business Platform, which could quickly add up for companies handling thousands of customer interactions. For example, sending 100,000 chargeable messages would cost around Ksh52,000.
The impact will vary for businesses. A small retailer may see a modest increase, while large companies like banks, airlines, and e-commerce platforms could face higher bills. To cope, businesses may need to be more strategic about their communication, automate routine responses, improve efficiency, or invest in chatbots and AI to handle routine inquiries.
It's important to note that the new charges do not affect individuals sending ordinary WhatsApp messages. The charges target businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform at scale. For Kenyan businesses, this means they need to reassess their customer communication strategy and consider diversifying channels, maintaining customer databases, and evaluating the necessity of each interaction through WhatsApp.
Written by urgent.news from People Daily Kenya's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
