The WhatsApp Business Platform charges a business for each message WhatsApp delivers, priced by the customer's country and the message category, while the WhatsApp Business app on your phone costs nothing to use. Same chat window, very different bill.
Replies are the big exception. When a customer messages you, a 24-hour customer service window opens, and Meta doesn't charge for service messages sent inside it. Outside that window, the Platform only lets you start a conversation with a message template that Meta has approved.
In short:
- The app is free and suits a business that answers from one or two phones.
- The Platform is an API, a way for software to send and receive messages, usually through a provider.
- Replies inside 24 hours are free on the Platform; reminders and promotions sent later are charged.
- Move when the phone, not the customer, has become the bottleneck.
The app is a phone, and the Platform is a pipe
The WhatsApp Business app is the version most Singapore shops already use. You get a business profile, a catalogue, greeting and away messages, quick replies and labels, all on the phone that holds your number. It's built for a person typing.
The Platform has no app of its own. It connects your number to software: a shared inbox from a provider, your booking system, or a front desk that answers by itself. That's what lets three staff answer one number, or a bot reply at 11pm with the real Saturday slots instead of an away message.
The trade-off is setup. Someone has to connect the number, get message templates approved and keep the connection running. Ask any provider what happens to the app on that number before you move it, because the answer decides how your team works on day one.
Free replies, paid reminders: how Platform pricing works
Meta charges when a message is delivered, not when it's sent, and sorts every message into one of four categories: marketing, utility, authentication and service. Service messages, the replies inside the 24-hour window, are free. Utility messages sent in response to a customer are free too. When someone reaches you from a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button, none of your messages are charged for the next 72 hours.
Here's how that plays out for a salon, as an illustration:
| Message | Category | Charged? |
|---|---|---|
| Answering "Got slot Saturday?" an hour after it arrives | Service | No |
| Confirming a booking the customer just made in the chat | Utility, in response | No |
| A reminder the day before, when the customer hasn't written since | Utility template | Yes, at the Singapore rate |
| "Our CNY packages are open" | Marketing template | Yes, at the Singapore rate |
Rates differ by market and category, and Meta publishes them on its pricing page, so check the Singapore figures before you budget. For most service businesses the paid part is reminders and promotions, which makes the bill easy to estimate: count last month's reminders and campaigns.
You've outgrown the app when the phone is the bottleneck
The app works until the number lives on one person's phone and that person is busy. These are the signs we look for:
- Two or more people need to answer the same number during the day.
- Enquiries that arrive while you're with a customer wait an hour or more.
- Evening and weekend questions get an away message instead of an answer.
- Someone copies bookings from chats into a calendar by hand.
- Day-before reminders depend on somebody remembering to send them.
If only one of these is true, fix it on the app first. Quick replies and labels go a long way, and our guide to missed WhatsApp enquiries after hours covers the free setup.
We'd stay on the free app longer than most vendors suggest
If one person answers, replies land within the hour on most days and bookings fit in a paper book, stay where you are. The Platform adds a provider, a monthly cost and templates to manage, and none of that helps a shop that isn't losing enquiries.
Move when you can name what the phone is costing you: the trial class booked elsewhere because nobody replied, or the slot that went empty because the reminder didn't go out. Those are the problems software on the Platform solves.
Four things to settle before you move a number
First, check who owns the number and the account, so a provider can't hold your customers' chats hostage when you leave. Second, write down how customers opted in. WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy only lets you message people who gave you their number and agreed to hear from you, and you must honour every opt-out.
Third, plan the escalation path. The same policy says that if you automate replies, customers must have a prompt, clear way to reach a person, such as a transfer to a staff member, a phone number or a support form. Fourth, budget for templates: list the reminders and promotions you send in a normal month and price them against Meta's Singapore rates.
Frequently asked questions
Is the WhatsApp Business app free?
Yes. The WhatsApp Business app is free to download and use, including greeting and away messages, quick replies and labels. Costs start when you use the WhatsApp Business Platform, which charges per delivered message for some categories.
Are replies to customers free on the WhatsApp Business Platform?
Replies inside the 24-hour customer service window are service messages, and Meta doesn't charge for them. The window opens and resets each time the customer messages you. Messages you start outside it must use an approved template and may be charged.
Do I need a provider to use the WhatsApp Business Platform?
Most small businesses use one, because the Platform is an API with no inbox of its own. A provider or a product built on the Platform gives your team somewhere to read and answer messages.
Can I send promotions to customers on WhatsApp?
Only to people who gave you their number and agreed to receive messages from you, according to WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy. On the Platform, promotions are marketing templates and are charged per delivered message.
How Furoki can help
Furoki Concierge is a front desk that answers from your approved prices and policies in English and 中文, books into real slots, sends confirmations and reminders, and hands exceptions to a person with the conversation attached. Website chat is live today, and WhatsApp on your own number is rolling out with our first pilot businesses. It's built for the point where the free app stops keeping up.
See how Concierge runs a front desk before you decide which WhatsApp you need.
