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Tied is a Meta-approved direct BSP — no resold infrastructure between you and WhatsApp, and no intermediate markup on Meta’s fees. WhatsApp is the default messaging app across most of Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. If you sell outside North America, this is often not a secondary channel.
2.78 billion monthly active users, 180+ countries, and a 98% message open rate. Setup takes hours, not weeks — embedded signup, no carrier approval.

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The 24-hour window governs everything

Almost every question about WhatsApp cost and behaviour comes back to one rule. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour service window opens. Inside it you can reply freely, in your own words, for free. The window resets with every new customer message — so an active support thread can run for days without costing anything. Outside the window you cannot send free-form text at all. You must use a pre-approved template, and it is chargeable. The 24-hour service window, what it makes free, how it restarts, and the separate 72-hour free entry point window. The 24-hour service window, what it makes free, how it restarts, and the separate 72-hour free entry point window.
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Inside the window — free

Free-form replies are free. Utility templates are free too.
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Outside the window — template only, and charged

Marketing, utility and authentication templates. No free-form text is possible.
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Authentication is the exception

Authentication templates are charged even inside the window. OTP traffic never rides the free window.

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The 72-hour window that actually saves money

When a customer reaches you through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page CTA button, a 72-hour Free Entry Point window opens in which everything is free — marketing, utility and authentication templates included.
Structuring acquisition around the Free Entry Point window routinely cuts WhatsApp messaging costs 60–80%. It is the single largest lever on a WhatsApp bill, and it is a campaign-structure decision rather than a technical one.
If you are running paid acquisition anywhere near WhatsApp, routing it through Click-to-WhatsApp rather than to a landing page changes your unit economics materially.

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Templates

Anything sent outside the 24-hour window must be a template approved by Meta in advance. Templates are submitted and tracked from within Tied — see Message templates. Three categories, and the category determines the price:

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What you can send

Reply buttons and list messages

Tappable options instead of asking the customer to type a number.

WhatsApp Flows

Multi-screen forms and workflows completed inside the thread.

Product catalogs

Single and multi-product messages pulled from your catalog.

WhatsApp Pay and payment links

Payment in-thread where the market supports it.

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Quality rating

Meta assigns your number a quality rating based on how recipients react — blocks and reports push it down. A low rating reduces your messaging limits and, sustained, can suspend the number.
Quality rating is a real operational risk, not a vanity metric. The fastest way to damage it is sending marketing templates to people who opted in for order updates. Keep consent scoped to the category you will actually send.

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Rates

Meta’s fee varies by recipient country and message category — the recipient’s country code sets the rate, not your business location. Tied adds a flat $0.005 per chargeable message, the same everywhere, and $0 for service messages. Inbound messages are always free at both layers. Full per-country tables: WhatsApp channel fees.

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Next

WhatsApp channel fees

Per-country rates, volume tiers, and the authentication-international rate.

Message templates

Creating, submitting and tracking template approval.

Campaigns

Broadcast and ongoing campaigns, including WhatsApp-specific rules.

Channels overview

How WhatsApp compares to everything else.