WhatsApp to shift to per-message billing from July 1, 2025

WhatsApp to shift to per-message billing from July 1, 2025

Greetings Recruiters,

If you’re using WhatsApp to connect with candidates through Zoho Recruit, there’s an important pricing change coming up that you’ll want to plan for.

What’s changing?  

Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is moving away from conversation-based pricing and switching to per-message billing on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

Previously, you were charged once for all messages sent within a 24-hour window (after initiating a conversation). With the new model, every business-initiated message will be charged separately—based on:

WhatsApp Business Platform Pricing

Note: Charges apply only to messages successfully delivered to users.
So if you send, say, one marketing message and two utility messages outside a customer service window, you'll be billed for three separate messages.

What counts as a "customer service window"?  

The customer service window is a 24-hour period that starts every time a candidate sends you a message.

During this window:

  • You can send free-form/ non-template (real-time) replies

  • You can also send utility template messages 

This means updates like interview confirmations, status alerts, and reminders are now free—if they’re sent as part of an active conversation.

This update builds on a change introduced in November 2024, and now includes utility templates as well.

72-hour free messaging after ad or Facebook CTA clicks  

If a candidate taps on a WhatsApp ad or the "Send Message" button on your Facebook page, a 72-hour free window is triggered.

Here’s how it works:

  • First 24 hours: You can send any number of free-form or template messages

  • Next 48 hours: You can continue the conversation using template messages only

More on the 72-hour window

This is a great way to follow up with interested candidates—at no extra cost.

Volume-based discounts now available  

If you regularly send high volumes of utility or authentication messages, WhatsApp’s new tier-based pricing model can help reduce costs automatically.

Discounts are:

  • Applied based on your monthly volume

  • Available for utility and authentication messages only

  • Region-specific, with updated rates shared by Meta

View volume-based pricing

What’s considered a utility message?  

From July 1, 2025, utility templates must meet stricter criteria.

They should:
  • Be non-promotional

  • Contain information the user explicitly requested

  • Be essential to a process (e.g., appointment reminders, job status updates, or login alerts)

Templates that don’t meet these criteria may be recategorized as marketing, and charged accordingly.

What should you do now?  

  1. Audit your existing templates – Make sure they're correctly categorized

  2. Time your responses to make use of the free 24-hour and 72-hour windows

  3. Review your usage patterns and prepare for potential cost shifts

  4. Bookmark Meta’s pricing page for the most current region-specific rates

 WhatsApp's official website for up to date rates

We'll keep monitoring this on our side too. If anything changes from the Zoho Recruit end—or if we roll out specific features or best practices to support this—we’ll update you right away.

Regards,
Team Zoho Recruit

    • Sticky Posts

    • An update to improve email delivery | Email Authentication & Relay

      Update Rollout Latest Update: Enterprise users (8th July, 2025) This update is now live for Enterprise plan users in all regions. This includes People Plus, but not Zoho One, which will be covered in an upcoming update. Professional users (31st May 2025)
    • Zoho Recruit User Group Meet-up | INDIA 2025 (Venue Finalised)

      Hello Zoho Recruit users from India, We’re pleased and excited to announce our 2025 edition of Zoho user group meet-up in India in five cities! In this meet-up, our team of experts will help you understand the intricate nuances to use Zoho Recruit better,
    • Zoho Recruit is coming to the UK | Zoho Community Learning Series

      Customers from the United Kingdom, Exciting news: We will be in London for the Zoho Recruit user meet up. Our team will help you better understand the intricate nuances of Zoho Recruit to help you hire faster, inform about new and upcoming features, and
    • Ask the experts - A live Q & A discussion on Zoho Recruit

      We are delighted to come back with another edition of Ask the Experts community series. This edition, we'll be focusing on everything about Zoho Recruit. The topics will focus on the features that are used/asked by the majority of users and also based
    • Restriction on 'From' addresses with a public domain

      Dear Zoho Recruit Community, We hope this message finds you well. This post is to inform you about some important updates regarding email restrictions within Zoho Recruit. Effective post 31st March 2025, we will be implementing changes to the use of email
    • Recent Topics

    • Automated log-out/session end

      I'm concerned about security of our data. Is it possible to set an automatic time-out for user sessions on Zoho CRM, after a certain period of inactivity or when the session reaches a certain duration (12 hours perhaps)? 
    • Multiple currencies - doesn’t seem to work for site visitors / customers

      I am trying to understand how the multiple currency feature works from the perspective of the website visitor who is shopping on my Zoho Commerce site. My site’s base currency is US Dollars (USD) but my store is for customers in Costa Rica and I would
    • Zoho Sites - contact us form

      I have added a contact us form to my website. I wanted to change the layout so I deleted the section of Contact Us form. When I again try to add the section of Contact Us form, it shows error that "This form already exists on this page."  I am unable
    • Reopen ticket

      Hello! Can I reopen a ticket just using the API ticket/sendReply ? What's the rules to do it? I'm trying but it doesn't reopen the ticket, it just send the reply
    • Zoho CRM App - Links

      Hi  Is there are plan for making Custom Links available in the Zoho CRM Android App? I can't see them being added? Thanks Gene
    • Templates

      Trying to sort out / get rid of unwanted invoice templates, the error msgs are not at all helpful. Surely it's easy to amend the error msg by including a list of the names of the customers / vendors that use it, denying deletion or making it inactive
    • Contacts limit in basic vs standard - what counts? Are customers contacts?

      I’ve been using books for a number years for my small business. I only ever work with 20 clients at any given time. I do purchase services from a number of vendors to run my business, so there are some comtacts there too. I used to use the basic package,
    • Finding missing records

      I have a challenge and I am not really sure where to start with it. I can't find any similar threads on here, can anyone help: I have two forms, FormA and FormB. Both forms have records that contain a field called Job_Number. What I am trying to achieve
    • Zoho CRM - Option to create Follow-Up Task

      When completing a Zoho CRM Task, it would be very helpful if there was an option to "Complete and Create Follow-Up Task" in the pop-up which appears. It could clone the task you are closing and then show it on the screen in edit mode, all the user would
    • Read webpage - MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP

      I have the following VBA script, put together from various sources (mainly zoho forum/help/support, so it once worked, I guess): private Sub GetListOfSheets() Dim url As String Dim xmlhttp As Object Dim parameters As String Dim html As String range("B1").value
    • Addin Support in Zoho Sheet

      Is there any addin support available in zoho sheet as like google marketplace to enhance productivity by connecting with other apps, providing AI data analysis, streamlining business processes, and more?
    • Scheduled Reports - Do not send empty report

      Hello, We are intensively using reports in the CRM, especially for sales managers.  When data is empty, they still receive an email. Can you add an option to avoid sending the report when data is empty?
    • Prevent Unapproved Quotes from Exporting to Zoho CRM Finance Module

      Is it possible to prevent unapproved quotes in Zoho Books from being exported from Zoho Finance module inside Zoho CRM?
    • ZOHO BOOKS - RECEIVING MORE ITEMS THAN ORDERED

      Hello, When trying to enter a vendor's bill that contains items with bigger quantity than ordered in the PO (it happens quite often) - The system would not let us save the bill and show this error: "Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered." 
    • Updates for Zoho Campaigns: Merge tag, footer, and autoresponder migration

      Hello everyone, We'd like to inform you of some upcoming changes with regard to Zoho Campaigns. We understand that change can be difficult, but we're dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition while keeping you all informed and engaged throughout the process.
    • Sending email notifications based on language

      Hello. I would like to know how we can bypass the default notifications (which are just in English) for when a ticket is created/replied to/closed, to be in other languages, based on the language field in the ticket? I can create other email templates,
    • Process between CRM and Campaigns to ensure double opt-in contacts?

      I would like to ask for a few clarifications to ensure we fully comply with best practices and legal requirements: According to the documentation (Zoho Campaigns CRM sync – Default option), the best and recommended way to sync contacts is by using the
    • What's New in Zoho Inventory | August – October 2025

      Hello customers, The last quarter has been incredibly productive! We've released a powerful slate of new features and enhancements in Zoho Inventory designed to give you better control, greater efficiency, and expanded functionality across your inventory
    • Let's Talk Recruit: Meet Zia, your all-in-one AI assistant (Part-2)

      Welcome back to Let’s Talk Recruit series. In Part 1, we introduced Zia and how AI is reshaping the way recruiters work. This time, we’re taking a closer look at how far Zia has come and how each update continues to simplify your everyday tasks. When
    • Zoho Developer - Feature Request Platform

      Zoho Developer is one of the most underatted platform in zoho ecosystem, however, it may just be what zoho needs to welcome more people to use Zoho Services. The more developers you have creating zoho creator applications and zoho extensions the more
    • Download a file from within a zoho creator widget

      I have a widget running in Zoho Creator , it displays uploaded documents in a table file, and I have added a download link in the view. ( The widget is created with html, css and javascript). I do not succeed in getting the download working. Do I have
    • Last/Previous month in relative date filter

      In the relative date filter, what is the difference between "Last 2 months" and "Previous 2 months"? So, if we are on 25-July, then is my understanding correct of the following: Last 2 months :=:      25-May~24 July Previous 2 months :=:     01-May~30-June Thanks.
    • Tags get removed from notes on mobile

      I don't know why this keeps happening even after all these app updates but if you log out and log back into the app or you reinstall it, all the tags you assigned to your notes get taken off, but if you go on the desktop version the tags are still there.
    • Show Zoom Link in Recipient's Calendar

      We set up meetings within a record, selecting the "Make this an online meeting".  We use Zoom. Most of the recipients go to their calendar (usually Gmail or Outlook, corporate) to join the Zoom meeting, but there is no Zoom link in the calendar. Can this
    • How to fetch custom fields for time entries in Zoho Project API v3

      In the previous Zoho Projects REST API, we were able to retrieve custom field details for time entries, including picklist options, using the endpoint: GET /restapi/portal/[PORTAL_ID]/timesheetcustomfields In the new Zoho Projects API v3, we tried using
    • Possible to connect Zoho CRM's Sandbox with Zoho Creator's Sandbox?

      We are making some big changes on our CRM so we are testing it out in CRM's Sandbox. We also have a Zoho Creator app that we need to test. Is it possible to connect Zoho CRM's Sandbox to Zoho Creator's Sandbox so that I can perform those tests?
    • VAT rates - exempt and out of scope

      Good Evening, UK based company here. I am a bit confused in respect of setting up VAT rates for exempt goods and services; at present I am simply leaving the VAT rate blank in the transactions in order to prevent any VAT appearing in the VAT return. When
    • Zoho is blocking emails I subscribe to from one sender

      About 4 months ago I stopped receiving newsletters that I subscribe to from @thedispatch.com. They tell me that zoho's server is blocking them. I've added them to my contacts list, but they're not even reaching my inbox. I don't know how to troubleshoot
    • Introducing Lead Capture: Empower exhibitors to capture leads effortlessly

      Events provide a great opportunity for exhibitors to generate awareness and engage with potential customers. Efficiently distributing attendee information to exhibitors through a seamless and secure way is of paramount importance. Introducing Lead Capture
    • Very long loading times | bad performance [ZOHO DC: EU]

      Hello there, we have recently noticed that the loading times have become extremely long when retrieving tickets and ticket details. For example, I open any ticket and get the following view. The subject and standard information (ticket owner, status etc.)
    • Work Order Creation Issue

      Dear Team, I would like to inquire about the daily limit for Work Order creation in Zoho FSM. Yesterday (02/05/2025) at around 6:30 PM GST, I attempted to create a Work Order, but I have been unable to do so since then. Please find the attached image
    • Double opt-in notifications and customizable confirmation messages for your webforms

      Dear CRM Community, We are excited to announce a major upgrade to our Webforms feature. You can now customize the confirmation message shown to your users who double opt-in from your webform and also customize your confirmation emails when they submit
    • Accessing shared mailboxes through Trident (Windows)

      Hi, I have a created a couple of shared mailboxes. The mailboxes are showing up on the browser based Zoho workplace, but I cannot seem to figure out how to access my shared inboxes through Trident (Windows). Am I missing something or is this feature not
    • URGENT: ChatGPT Extension Failing With “gpt-3 Access Error” (Priority Support)

      Appreciate support reviewing this urgently. I am a Priority Support member and need immediate clarification on a recurring issue involving the ChatGPT extensions inside Zoho Desk. Both extensions — including the version created and published by Zoho —
    • Server error when trying to Data > Sort > Custom Sort

      Been using Data > Sort > Custom Sort for a while, now it has suddenly stopped working. When selecting the same data range and trying to execute, I get "Sorry! There was a problem saving your last edit. Please try again."
    • Zoho Desk iOS update: Custom buttons, follow/ unfollow option on tickets

      Hello everyone! In the most recent Zoho Desk iOS app update, we have brought in support to access the custom buttons configured on web app(desk.zoho.com). Using custom buttons you can seamlessly execute predefined actions directly from their mobile devices,
    • Zoho pdf suit

      Pl. design products with following feature: 1. Please add all features given in Ilovepdf website to work on pdf files. It is mandatory to use pdf in court work. 2. Courts have prescribed New Times Roman, pl. add this font as well 3. Indexing, signature
    • Zoho Not Working

      Today Zoho not wokring
    • Dynamically autofill fields with URL parameters

      I have a zoho form embedded in my organization's WP website. Our users find their account with a search tool, and then can select to open this page with the embedded form. The URL of the page holds the parameter that I need, but I cannot figure out how
    • User Automation: User based workflow rules & webhooks

      User management is an undeniable part of project management and requires adequate monitoring. As teams grow and projects multiply, manual coordination for updating users & permissions becomes difficult and can give way to errors. User automation in Zoho
    • Next Page