Quick answer: In the UAE, Meta charges WhatsApp Business API fees per delivered message by template category — Marketing costs $0.0499 (about AED 0.18), Utility and Authentication each cost $0.0157 (about AED 0.058), and Service or free-form replies inside the 24-hour customer window are free. Rates are effective 1 October 2025. Remarketly passes Meta's fee through at exact cost, with no markup.
WhatsApp Business API pricing in the UAE, at a glance
| Category | Rate / delivered message | Inside the 24h service window | Outside the window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing (promotions, offers, re-engagement) | $0.0499 (approx AED 0.18) | Charged — billed even in-window | Charged at the same rate |
| Utility (order updates, receipts, reminders) | $0.0157 (approx AED 0.058) | Free | Charged $0.0157 (approx AED 0.058) |
| Authentication (OTPs, verification codes) | $0.0157 (approx AED 0.058) | Charged per message | Charged $0.0157 (approx AED 0.058) |
| Service / free-form replies | Free | Free — unlimited, no monthly cap | Cannot be sent — use a paid template |
USD figures are Meta's source of truth; AED amounts are approximations at the AED 3.6725 peg, plus any applicable VAT. Always confirm the live rate card in your WhatsApp Manager before budgeting.
How Meta's per-message model works (in plain English)
On 1 July 2025 Meta switched the WhatsApp Business Platform from per-conversation pricing to per-message pricing. Instead of paying for 24-hour conversation windows, you now pay for each template message Meta actually delivers, and the price depends on the template's category and on the recipient's country.
There are four categories. Marketing messages (promotions, offers, win-backs) are always charged, even when sent inside an open service window. Utility messages (order confirmations, delivery updates, appointment reminders) are free if delivered inside an open 24-hour service window and charged only outside it. Authentication messages (OTPs and verification codes) are charged per delivered message. Service and free-form replies — any normal back-and-forth conversation — are completely free as long as you send them inside the 24-hour customer service window.
The service window is the key concept. Every time a customer messages you, a fresh 24-hour window opens. Inside that window you can reply freely with non-template messages at no cost, and any utility template you send is also free. Once the window closes, you can only re-open the conversation with a (chargeable) template. There is also a free entry point: when a customer reaches you by clicking a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call-to-action button, messages are free for 72 hours.
One important clarification for 2026: the old “first 1,000 free service conversations per month” allotment no longer applies. Since 1 November 2024 all service conversations are free for everyone, with no monthly cap, so long as they stay inside the open window. Do not budget around a 1,000-free figure — it is outdated.
The exact UAE rates (effective 1 October 2025)
Meta publishes UAE rates in US dollars, so the dollar figure is always the source of truth. The dirham is hard-pegged at AED 3.6725 to USD 1.00, so the AED conversions below are stable approximations — clearly labelled as estimates, not Meta-published AED prices.
- Marketing: $0.0499 per delivered message, about AED 0.18. (The UAE marketing rate was increased on 1 October 2025.)
- Utility: $0.0157 per delivered message, about AED 0.058 — free in-window.
- Authentication: $0.0157 per delivered message, about AED 0.058.
- Service / free-form: free in-window.
UAE is on Meta's flat list rate for utility and authentication — it does not appear in Meta's volume-tier discount tables (unlike India, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia), so high senders do not get scaled discounts here. There is no volume discount for marketing in any market.
One edge case that does not affect most UAE businesses: Meta lists a higher “Authentication-International” rate (about $0.0510, AED 0.187), but it is triggered only for very high-volume senders based outside the UAE — roughly 750,000+ authentication messages a month to +971 numbers sent outside service windows — and it keys off the recipient's +971 country code, not the recipient roaming. A UAE business sending OTPs to its own UAE customers pays the standard $0.0157, not this rate. Always verify the current rate card on Meta's official pricing page (and in your WhatsApp Manager) before you rely on these figures, since Meta updates them periodically.
A worked monthly example for a UAE SMB
A typical UAE SMB sending 2,000 marketing messages, 1,000 utility messages, and 500 authentication (OTP) messages a month — while handling all customer replies as free in-window service messages — pays Meta roughly:
- Marketing: 2,000 × $0.0499 = $99.80
- Utility: 1,000 × $0.0157 = $15.70 (and AED 0 for any utility messages sent inside an open service window)
- Authentication: 500 × $0.0157 = $7.85
Total Meta fee: about $123.35 per month, or roughly AED 453 at the AED 3.6725 peg, plus any applicable VAT. With Remarketly there is no per-message or per-conversation markup on top of this Meta fee.
Why these numbers are easy to get wrong
WhatsApp pricing is one of the most misreported topics online. While researching this post we found UAE marketing rates quoted anywhere from AED 0.16 to AED 0.35 across third-party blogs, several of them still describing the UAE as being on per-conversation pricing — which has not been true since July 2025. Some even mislabelled per-message rates as per-conversation.
The authoritative figures are Meta's USD rate card: Marketing $0.0499, Utility $0.0157, Authentication $0.0157, effective 1 October 2025. When a vendor or article gives you a flat AED “per-conversation” price, that is a red flag the source is outdated. Anchor every estimate to Meta's per-message USD rate by category and the recipient's country — that is the only model in force in the UAE today.
How Remarketly charges: exact pass-through, zero markup
This is the part most platforms quietly skip. Many BSPs and aggregators add their own per-message or per-conversation surcharge on top of Meta's fee, or bundle messaging into opaque “credit” packs where the real cost per message is hard to see.
Remarketly passes Meta's WhatsApp fee through to you at exact cost, with no markup. A UAE marketing message costs you the literal $0.0499 (about AED 0.18) that Meta charges — not a marked-up rate. Utility and authentication cost the literal $0.0157 each. Free in-window service replies stay free. You can model your own numbers on the WhatsApp pricing calculator, and the full per-category breakdown lives on the WhatsApp API pricing guide. To keep costs down in practice, lean on the free service window for support, use utility templates inside open windows where you can, and reserve paid marketing templates for genuinely high-intent re-engagement — exactly the kind of targeted campaigns the remarketing module and the AI bot are built to run.
TRN, VAT receipts and Arabic support
For UAE businesses, clean tax documentation matters. Meta's published rate-card figures do not include VAT — the UAE's 5% VAT may be applied on top by Meta or your billing entity depending on how your account is set up, so always check your actual invoice for the VAT line and confirm your TRN (Tax Registration Number) is recorded on the billing account so input VAT is recoverable. Treat any AED total in this article as “plus applicable VAT — check your invoice.”
On the experience side, WhatsApp is a bilingual reality in the UAE: customers message in Arabic and English, often in the same thread. Remarketly is built for that — platform-wide AI translation lets your team read and reply across Arabic and English, and templates can be authored in both languages so your marketing, utility and authentication messages land naturally for each customer. That keeps your paid templates relevant (and therefore worth the per-message fee) instead of being ignored.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to send a WhatsApp marketing message in the UAE?
Meta charges $0.0499 per delivered marketing message in the UAE — about AED 0.18 at the AED 3.6725 peg — effective 1 October 2025. Marketing messages are billed even when delivered inside an open 24-hour customer service window, and there are no volume discounts for marketing. Through Remarketly you pay that exact Meta fee with no markup, plus any applicable VAT.
Are WhatsApp customer-service replies really free?
Yes. Any free-form (non-template) reply you send inside the open 24-hour customer service window is free, with no monthly cap. The window opens fresh every time the customer messages you. Utility templates are also free inside that window. Outside the window you can only re-open the chat with a chargeable template. The old 1,000-free-conversations-per-month allotment no longer applies — service is simply free in-window since 1 November 2024.
What does an OTP / authentication message cost in the UAE?
$0.0157 per delivered authentication message in the UAE, about AED 0.058, charged per message regardless of the service window. Meta also lists a higher Authentication-International rate (about $0.0510), but it only applies to very high-volume senders based outside the UAE — a UAE business sending OTPs to its own UAE customers pays the standard $0.0157.
Does Remarketly add a markup on top of Meta's WhatsApp fees?
No. Remarketly passes Meta's per-message fee through at exact cost with zero markup — $0.0499 for a UAE marketing message, $0.0157 for utility and authentication, and free for in-window service replies. Many BSPs add a per-message or per-conversation surcharge or hide costs in credit packs; Remarketly does not.
Is VAT included in these WhatsApp prices?
No. Meta's rate card is published in USD and does not include VAT. The UAE's 5% VAT may be added on top by Meta or your billing provider depending on your setup, so check your actual invoice for the VAT line and make sure your TRN is on file so the VAT is recoverable.
Run WhatsApp without the markup
Model your expected bill on the WhatsApp pricing calculator, see the full rate breakdown on the WhatsApp API pricing guide, then join the waitlist to run marketing, utility and authentication messages at Meta's exact cost — no per-message markup, ever.