How much does WhatsApp for sales cost in the UK?

Why nobody gives you a straight answer Ask most WhatsApp providers what it costs and you'll get "it depends", followed by a demo request. It does depend. But that's not a reason to dodge the question, so here are the real numbers, including ours.

There are three layers. You'll pay something for each, even if one of them is only your time.

Layer 1: the WhatsApp account itself The WhatsApp Business app is free. It's fine for a sole trader replying to a handful of enquiries by hand. It's not built for following up hundreds of webinar registrants, and it doesn't connect to your CRM. I've covered the differences in WhatsApp Business app or the API: which do you need?.

The WhatsApp Business Platform (often called the API) is what you need once you want automation, a team inbox or AI replies. You access it through an approved provider. We use WATI, which costs our clients roughly £120 a month, plus Astra for AI conversations at roughly £80 a month. Our clients pay these directly, in their own name, so they own the account.

In the interest of honesty: I'm a WATI partner and may earn a referral fee if you sign up through our link. I'll still recommend something else if it suits you better.

Layer 2: Meta's message fees On the API, Meta charges per message, and the price depends on what the message is for. These are the UK rates from 1 October 2026, before your provider adds anything (everymessage):

Message type What it's for UK price per message

Marketing Offers, invitations, re-engaging old £0.0458 leads

Utility Reminders, confirmations, "your £0.0159 webinar starts in an hour"

Authentication One-time passcodes £0.0159

Service Replies to someone who messaged First 1,000 a month free per you number, then £0.0159

In plain English: 500 webinar registrants each getting three reminders costs about £24 in message fees. Sending all 500 a follow-up offer afterwards costs about £23. For most expert-led businesses, message fees are the smallest of the three costs.

Layer 3: setting it up This is where the real range sits, because this is where the thinking happens.

Route Typical cost What you get Best for

Do it yourself Your time, plus Whatever you build Confident, technical platform fees owners with a simple journey

A freelancer or A few hundred to Usually what you ask When you already automation agency a few thousand for know exactly what to pounds build

Our New Lead £500 + VAT One WhatsApp lead A low-risk first step Magnet Workshop magnet, built live in a day

Our Consultancy £6,000 + VAT Your AI stand-in built, Businesses with over three a written blueprint, someone in-house to months three strategy calls implement

Our Done For You From £10,000 + Strategy, your Sales Established VAT & Marketing Flight businesses with Plan®, journeys steady lead flow designed, built and tested

The difference between the cheaper and dearer routes isn't the software. Anyone can build what you ask for. The question is whether you're asking for the right thing. I've written more on that in DIY, freelancer or specialist: the best way to set up WhatsApp for sales.

What pushes the cost up or down How many journeys you need. One webinar follow-up is a small job. Separate journeys for webinars, challenges, events and old leads is a bigger one. Rule-based or AI. Menu-style flows are cheaper to build. AI conversations cost more to set up and test, but they handle questions you didn't think to plan for. Integrations. Connecting to your CRM, calendar or payment system adds time. Volume. More contacts means more message fees, though rarely enough to change the decision. Who handles the human side. Someone has to take over when a lead is ready to talk. If that's you, the design has to protect your diary.

The cost nobody prices in Every lead you have already cost you something. Sometimes it's ad spend. Often it's the hours that went into the webinar, the talk, the content or the event.

Here's a simple way to see it. Say you spent £3,000 on ads and got 300 webinar registrants. Each one cost you £10. If 200 of them never hear from you personally after the replay email, that's £2,000 of interest you paid for and walked away from. That's an illustration, not a client result, but run it with your own numbers. It's usually the biggest figure on the page.

So the honest way to judge the cost of WhatsApp is against that number, not against the price of an email tool.

Who shouldn't spend money on this If you don't yet have an offer that sells, or people showing interest in it, don't spend money on WhatsApp. It fixes follow-up, not demand. Get the offer and the lead flow working first.