> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.msgcompanion.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Meta charges

> Which WhatsApp messages Meta charges for, who bills you, and how to keep those charges down.

Meta, which owns WhatsApp, charges for some of the messages a business sends. These charges are separate from your Companion plan. Meta bills your card directly, and Companion adds nothing on top.

Meta sets its prices by country and by type of message, and changes them from time to time. The WhatsApp setup screen in Companion links to Meta's current price list.

## What is charged and what is free

| Message | Charge |
| - | - |
| A reply sent from Companion, by your team or by a workflow | Free up to a monthly allowance for each WhatsApp number, then charged for each message |
| A template, including a marketing message or a broadcast | Charged for each message |
| A reply sent from the WhatsApp Business app on your phone | Free |
| A message in website chat | Not charged by Meta. It does not go through WhatsApp |

A reply is a message you send within 24 hours of the customer's last message. See [How WhatsApp messaging works](/get-started/how-whatsapp-messaging-works).

## Add a card at Meta

Meta will not deliver chargeable messages without a payment method on your WhatsApp account. Add one in Meta's billing settings. The WhatsApp setup screen in Companion has the link.

If a broadcast stops because of a billing problem at Meta, put the card right at Meta and then resume the broadcast. See [Send a broadcast](/broadcasts/send-a-broadcast).

## See how many free replies you have used

Owners and admins see a **Free replies this month** card on **Home**. For each WhatsApp number it shows:

* how many of the month's free replies have been used
* how many are left, or how many were sent past the allowance
* the date the count resets, which is the first day of the next month.

The count covers replies sent from Companion that Meta accepted. It leaves out templates, which are charged separately, and replies from the WhatsApp Business app, which are free.

This is Companion's own count, so that the bill is not a surprise. Meta's invoice is the final figure.

## Keep charges down

<Note>Owners and admins only.</Note>

You can switch off typed replies so that your team replies from the WhatsApp Business app, which is free.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open General settings">
    Go to **Settings**, then **General**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Switch off typed replies">
    Under **Messaging**, switch off **Typed replies on WhatsApp**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

With typed replies off:

* nobody can type a message into a WhatsApp conversation, on the web or in the phone app
* your team replies from the WhatsApp Business app on the phone, and those replies still appear in Companion
* templates, payment links, products and other actions still send from Companion, and workflows keep running
* website chat is not affected.

Messages that workflows send still count towards the allowance. Switch the setting back on at any time.

## Related

* [How WhatsApp messaging works](/get-started/how-whatsapp-messaging-works)
* [Workspace settings](/settings/workspace)
* [Templates overview](/templates/overview)
* [Plans](/billing/plans)


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.