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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://orbit-docs.devotel.io/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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WhatsApp Pricing

Devotel is a Tech Provider (TP), not a Business Solution Provider (BSP). That means your WhatsApp conversation costs are billed directly by Meta to the payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account. Devotel never takes a cut of message traffic and does not resell conversations. WhatsApp on Orbit is free — templates, flows, inbox, AI assist, campaigns, analytics. You pay Meta for conversations; you pay Devotel nothing for WhatsApp.

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Who bills what

CostWho you payHow
WhatsApp conversations (user→business or business→user within 24h)MetaMeta debits the payment method on your WABA directly
WhatsApp phone number purchase (if new)The carrier / number marketplaceOne-time or monthly fee per number
Orbit’s platform features (inbox, templates, AI, campaigns, webhooks, API)Nobody (for WhatsApp)Free on every tier, including Starter
Other Orbit channels (SMS, voice, email, RCS, etc.)OrbitPer-unit credit pricing — see Pricing
So on the Orbit platform, your WhatsApp work incurs no Orbit charges. On Meta’s side, you’ll see a monthly invoice for the conversations your WABA opened.

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How Meta prices conversations

A conversation is a 24-hour window of messages between your business and a single user. Meta charges once per window, regardless of how many messages flow.

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Four categories

The first template you send sets the category for the entire 24-hour window.
CategoryWhat it’s for
AuthenticationOTPs, login codes, password resets, 2FA
UtilityTransactional — order status, appointment reminder, delivery ETA, payment receipt
MarketingPromotional — campaigns, re-engagement, abandoned cart, upsells
ServiceUser-initiated conversations (customer support) — free the first 1,000/month
Category drives price. Mis-categorising a template (a marketing template submitted as “utility” to save money) risks WABA suspension — see Restricted Content Policy.

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Indicative 2025-Q2 rates

These are Meta’s rates, not Orbit’s. Meta updates them quarterly (Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1). Check Meta’s conversation pricing page for live numbers by country.

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United States (USD per conversation)

CategoryRate
Authentication$0.0135
Utility$0.0150
Marketing$0.0250
Service (after 1K/month tier)$0.0150

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Brazil

CategoryRate
Authentication$0.0315
Utility$0.0080
Marketing$0.0625

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India

CategoryRate
Authentication$0.0014
Utility$0.0011
Marketing$0.0123

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Europe (range, varies by country)

CategoryRate
Authentication0.046–0.046–0.086
Utility0.030–0.030–0.061
Marketing0.125–0.125–0.150
Rates differ significantly between countries — Egypt is cheaper than Germany is cheaper than the UK. See the full matrix on Meta’s page.

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Free entry points

Some conversations are free even outside the service tier:
  • First 1,000 service conversations per month on every WABA
  • Click-to-WhatsApp ads — conversations opened from a Meta ad get the first 72 h free
  • Facebook Page “Message on WhatsApp” button — same 72 h free window
Free entry points are automatic; nothing to configure.

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The 24-hour window

Day 1, 09:00  Send marketing template
              → MARKETING window opens (charged marketing rate)
Day 1, 09:30  Send utility template
              → Same window, NO extra charge
Day 1, 17:00  User replies "thanks"
              → Still same window, no extra charge
Day 2, 10:00  Send utility template
              → NEW window (marketing window closed at 09:00 Day 2)
              → UTILITY window opens (charged utility rate)
Three rules:
  1. One window = one charge. Multiple messages within the window don’t add up.
  2. User-initiated replies are free (service category), up to 1,000/month per WABA.
  3. The first template fixes the category. A utility template sent later in a marketing window doesn’t reprice it.

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How you read the Meta invoice

Meta bills monthly to the payment method on your WhatsApp Business Account. Find your invoice:
  1. business.facebook.com → Billing → Account Spending Limits → WhatsApp
  2. Or Settings → Payments → Transactions for line-by-line history
Meta’s line items look like: 
WhatsApp Business Platform — United States — Marketing       412 × $0.0250 = $10.30
WhatsApp Business Platform — United States — Utility       1,205 × $0.0150 = $18.08
WhatsApp Business Platform — India — Authentication        8,847 × $0.0014 = $12.39
WhatsApp Business Platform — Service (free tier)           1,000 × $0.0000 =  $0.00
These line items come from Meta’s own insights — not from Orbit. If a conversation appears in Orbit but not on your Meta invoice (or vice versa) within 72 h, it’s a reconciliation issue to raise with Meta support, not Orbit.

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How Orbit helps you track Meta’s billing

Orbit can’t invoice you for WhatsApp conversations — but we can mirror Meta’s insights so you have an operational view without needing to dig through Meta Business Manager every time.

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Insights mirror

Dashboard → Channels → WhatsApp → Insights pulls the conversation count + estimated cost from Meta’s Graph API every 6 hours. You’ll see:
  • Conversations opened today / week / month, split by category
  • Estimated Meta spend (using current rates + country mix of your actual traffic)
  • Free-tier quota remaining (how many of the 1,000 service conversations you’ve used)
  • Per-template rollup
This is estimated, sourced from Meta’s Graph API. The authoritative invoice is whatever Meta shows in Business Manager.

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Budget alerts (Orbit-side, optional)

You can configure budget alerts in Orbit that fire based on our mirrored Meta numbers:
  • Alert email when estimated WhatsApp spend passes a threshold you set
  • Alert email when the 1,000 free-tier runway is < 48h at current pace
These are soft alerts. Orbit does not block sends based on Meta’s billing — that’s Meta’s job, and they do it via their own spending limits.

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Set Meta-side limits

We recommend every tenant set a Meta-side spending limit at business.facebook.com → WhatsApp → Payment settings. This is the only hard cap that can actually stop Meta from running up a bill.

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Upgrading to a BSP relationship (future)

When Devotel becomes an approved Business Solution Provider later in 2026, tenants will get the option to route billing through Orbit — consolidated invoice, credit-wallet integration, single currency. Today, as a Tech Provider, Meta bills you directly. If you want to be notified when the BSP option becomes available, email whatsapp-support@devotel.io.

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FAQ

No. Devotel is a Tech Provider — we have no billing relationship with you for WhatsApp conversations. Meta bills you directly.
Yes — templates, AI assist, campaigns, inbox, analytics, webhooks, API, flows, catalog. Everything. No feature is behind a paywall for WhatsApp specifically.
Because Orbit doesn’t issue it. Your WhatsApp invoice lives in Meta Business Manager → Billing. Orbit’s Insights page shows an estimate for operational planning, not an authoritative bill.
Meta’s classifier may re-categorise and backbill; a pattern of mis-categorisation can also get your WABA suspended. Worst case, Meta terminates the WABA and you lose the number. Always submit the correct category.
Meta does not offer pre-paid reservations at the rate-card level. You can pre-fund your Meta Payments account, but Meta applies the then-current rate at the moment of conversation.
No. Orbit’s WhatsApp feature set is unlimited on every plan. Limits come from Meta’s messaging tier (250 → 1K → 10K → 100K → unlimited), which is a function of your quality rating — see Setup Guide.