Gupshup Pricing: Gupshup WhatsApp API Pricing, Cost per Message and Gupshup vs Twilio
Review directories list Gupshup as quote only. It is not. Its self serve price table charges a flat $0.001 a message on top of Meta, and it bills your customers' replies too.
Rates come from the per country price list Gupshup's own pricing page loads for the United States, and wallet terms from Gupshup's documentation, all checked September 11, 2026.
Gupshup monthly cost calculator
US dollarsEstimated Gupshup bill per month
$48.00
Cheapest of the three at this volume: Gupshup.
Replies and in window answers carry no Meta fee but do carry Gupshup's $0.001 and Twilio's $0.005. 360dialog's €49 is converted at 1.17 dollars per euro and states no markup on Meta. Marketing templates are left out because they do not deliver to US numbers.
How much does Gupshup cost?
Gupshup's self serve WhatsApp API costs $0.001 per message on top of whatever Meta charges, with no monthly fee on its price list. A utility or authentication message to a US number is $0.0034 from Meta plus $0.001 from Gupshup, so $0.0044 all in, or $44 for 10,000. You pay from a prepaid dollar wallet with a $10 minimum top up.
Two details change the bill more than the headline rate. Gupshup charges its $0.001 on incoming session messages as well as outgoing ones, so every customer reply costs a tenth of a cent even though Meta charges nothing for it. And on marketing messages that do not go through MM Lite, it adds 6% of Meta's fee. For a US business neither is expensive, and Gupshup still undercuts Twilio by $0.004 on every message in either direction.
Gupshup WhatsApp API pricing for US numbers
Gupshup's pricing page has a country selector. Pick United States and it loads this row from Gupshup's billing system, in US dollars per message. The left side is Meta's fee, which Gupshup states it bills at actuals. The right side is Gupshup's own fee.
| US message type | Meta's fee | Gupshup's fee | Total per message |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility template, outside the service window | $0.0034 | $0.0010 | $0.0044 |
| Authentication template | $0.0034 | $0.0010 | $0.0044 |
| Utility template inside an open 24 hour window | Free | $0.0010 | $0.0010 |
| Incoming message from a customer | Free | $0.0010 | $0.0010 |
| Your free form reply inside the window | Free | $0.0010 | $0.0010 |
| Media above 64KB | Per the message category | No extra charge | Same as the text message |
| Marketing template | $0.0250 | $0.0010 plus 6% of Meta | Does not deliver to US numbers |
| Business initiated voice call | $0.0138 a minute | $0.0001 a second | about $0.0198 a minute |
Why review sites say Gupshup has no public pricing
Several software directories describe Gupshup as quote based with no plans listed. The self serve price is public, but the table on Gupshup's page starts with India selected and fills its cells only after your browser asks Gupshup's billing system for a country's rates. A saved copy of the page, or a crawler that never runs that request, sees every Meta cell at 0.0000 and the marketing markup as NA. The $0.001 line is the only number printed in the page itself.
The Meta column is not Gupshup's to discount
Gupshup's US row shows Meta's utility and authentication fee at $0.0034, the same figure Twilio lists as its Meta pass through. That is expected: Meta prices by category and recipient country, and every provider pays the same rate. So the only part of this bill that competes on price is the right hand column, and at a tenth of a cent it is among the lowest per message fees any major provider publishes.
Gupshup charges for replies, and that decides support costs
Since November 1, 2024, Meta has charged nothing for service conversations. A customer writes in, you answer inside 24 hours, and Meta bills zero for the whole exchange. Providers do not all follow suit. Gupshup's price list applies its fee to session messages "for outgoing and incoming text", so each message in that exchange costs $0.001 whichever way it travels.
Take 1,000 support conversations a month where the customer sends five messages and your team sends five. That is 10,000 session messages. Meta charges nothing. Gupshup charges $10. Twilio, which also bills both directions, charges $50. 360dialog charges its flat €49 per number whether you handle ten conversations or ten thousand. For a support desk, Gupshup is the cheapest of the three until the conversation count gets large.
| Support messages a month | Meta | Gupshup | Twilio | 360dialog Regular |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 | $0 | $2.00 | $10.00 | about $57 |
| 10,000 | $0 | $10.00 | $50.00 | about $57 |
| 100,000 | $0 | $100.00 | $500.00 | about $57 |
Watch October 1, 2026
Meta has said service messages become chargeable from October 1, 2026. As of September 11, 2026, Meta's pricing documentation still states that service conversations are free and carries no service rate card, and Gupshup's US row still lists service as free. If Meta does start charging, that fee lands in the Meta column above and Gupshup's $0.001 stays on top of it. We track the change on our WhatsApp service messages page.
Gupshup vs Twilio, 360dialog, Wati and AiSensy at US volumes
The fair comparison is the cost of getting a US utility message delivered, Meta's fee included, since that is the traffic a US business can actually send. Every figure is from the vendor's own published price list.
| Provider | Monthly fee | Per US utility message | 10,000 messages | 100,000 messages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gupshup self serve | None | $0.0044 | $44.00 | $440.00 |
| Twilio | None | $0.0084 | $84.00 | $840.00 |
| 360dialog Regular | €49 per number | $0.0034, states no markup | about $91 | about $397 |
| AiSensy Basic, annual | $40.50 | $0.00408 | $81.30 | $448.50 |
| Wati Growth, annual | $59 | $0.00612 | $120.20 | $671.00 |
Gupshup vs Twilio
Same model, one fifth of the fee. Neither has a monthly charge and both pass Meta through, but Gupshup adds $0.001 where Twilio adds $0.005, in both directions. Gupshup is cheaper at every volume. Twilio earns its premium with mature SDKs, one bill across SMS, voice and WhatsApp, and support contracts, which matter more to an engineering team than a tenth of a cent.
Gupshup vs 360dialog
360dialog charges a flat €49 a month per number and states no markup, so it wins once Gupshup's $0.001 fees pass about $57. That is roughly 57,000 billable Gupshup messages a month, counting customer replies. Below that, Gupshup is cheaper and needs no subscription. Above it, the flat fee wins, and 360dialog's dollar cost moves with the euro.
Gupshup vs AiSensy and Wati
AiSensy's US rate card is $0.00408, a 20% markup on Meta that is still slightly below Gupshup's $0.0044, so on outbound utility alone AiSensy Basic catches up above about 127,000 messages a month. Wati is dearer per message and has a subscription. Both bundle an inbox and campaign tools that Gupshup's raw API does not.
Twilio's $0.005 fee and Meta's $0.0034 US utility rate are from Twilio's WhatsApp pricing page. 360dialog is converted at 1.17 dollars per euro. AiSensy's figure is from its US dollar country rate sheet, and Wati's from its US dollar rate card. The same crossover logic across more vendors is on our cheapest WhatsApp API provider page, and each rival has its own breakdown: Twilio WhatsApp pricing, 360dialog pricing and Wati pricing.
How Gupshup billing works: the wallet, the 6% and the enterprise tier
Gupshup's self serve product is prepaid. You load a US dollar wallet, where one dollar is one credit, and every Meta fee and Gupshup fee is deducted from it as messages go out or come in. Gupshup's documentation puts the minimum recharge at $10 and the maximum at $10,000 per top up. Credits are non transferable and non refundable, and the wallet can dip slightly below zero, to a set overdraft limit, before sending stops. Set up the low balance alert before a large send, not after.
The 6% applies to marketing messages that do not go through Meta's MM Lite route. Gupshup's pricing table works it out as 6% of Meta's marketing fee for the recipient's country. A US company messaging customers in the UK, where Gupshup lists Meta's marketing fee at $0.0635, pays $0.0635 plus $0.00381 plus the flat $0.001, so $0.06831 a message. For US recipients the row is moot, because marketing templates have not delivered to US numbers since April 1, 2025.
| Billing term | Self serve | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly or setup fee | None listed | A quiet month costs nothing beyond what you send |
| Wallet currency | US dollars | No exchange rate drift on a US budget |
| Recharge | $10 minimum, $10,000 maximum | Credits cannot be refunded, so start small |
| Gupshup fee | $0.001 per message | Applies to templates out and session messages in both directions |
| Marketing markup | 6% of Meta's fee | Only on non MM Lite marketing, and only outside the US in practice |
| Enterprise | Quoted by sales | Custom features and support, terms not published |
Is Gupshup the right price for your business?
Gupshup's pricing makes sense when
- ✓You have a developer who will call the API directly and you want the lowest per message fee short of going to Meta yourself
- ✓Your volume is irregular, so a pay as you go wallet beats a subscription you pay in quiet months
- ✓You are leaving Twilio for cost and your integration can move to a different API
- ✓You want a dollar invoice instead of a euro subscription
Look at other options when
- ✕You send more than about 57,000 billable messages a month on one number, where 360dialog's flat fee wins
- ✕Nobody on the team writes code, so a raw API leaves you building the sending tool yourself
- ✕You need a shared inbox for agents, which the self serve API does not bundle
- ✕The job is sending template campaigns to a spreadsheet of customers, not integrating an API into your product
That last case is where most small US businesses land. Gupshup's price is low because it sells plumbing: you still need something that imports the contact list, merges names into an approved template, schedules the send and shows who received it. WaBulkSend is built for that job: bulk campaigns from your contact lists using approved WhatsApp templates, on plans that start at $29 a month, or $14.50 a month billed yearly. If you are still choosing between API providers rather than tools, our WhatsApp Business API pricing guide explains what Meta charges in each category, and our comparison of AiSensy alternatives for US businesses covers the bundled platforms.
Questions people ask about Gupshup pricing
How much does Gupshup cost?
On its self serve WhatsApp API, Gupshup charges $0.001 per message on top of Meta's fee, with no monthly subscription on its price list. A utility or authentication message to a US number costs $0.0034 from Meta plus $0.001 from Gupshup, so $0.0044. You pay from a prepaid dollar wallet with a $10 minimum recharge. Enterprise plans are quoted by sales.
What is Gupshup's pricing model?
Two fees come out of one prepaid wallet. The WhatsApp fee is Meta's per message rate for the category and recipient country, billed at actuals. The Gupshup fee is a flat $0.001 per outgoing template and per incoming or outgoing session message. On marketing messages not sent through MM Lite, Gupshup also adds 6% of Meta's marketing fee.
Does Gupshup charge for incoming messages?
Yes. Gupshup applies its $0.001 fee to session messages in both directions. Meta charges nothing for a customer's reply or for your free form answer inside the 24 hour window, so on a support conversation Gupshup's fee is the only charge. It is a fifth of Twilio's $0.005, which Twilio also applies in both directions.
Is Gupshup cheaper than Twilio?
Yes, at every volume. Both pass Meta's rate through and neither charges a monthly fee, but Gupshup adds $0.001 per message and Twilio adds $0.005. A US utility message costs $0.0044 on Gupshup and $0.0084 on Twilio, so 10,000 of them cost $44 against $84. Twilio's case rests on its SDKs, multi channel billing and support, not price.
Does Gupshup have a monthly fee?
Gupshup's self serve WhatsApp price list shows no monthly or setup fee, only per message charges, billed from a prepaid US dollar wallet where one dollar equals one credit. Its enterprise offering, with dedicated support and custom features, is priced by quote through sales, so terms there can differ from the self serve list.
What is the minimum recharge on Gupshup?
Gupshup's wallet documentation sets the minimum recharge at $10 and the maximum at $10,000 per top up. Credits are non transferable and non refundable, so load a small amount while testing. The wallet can run slightly negative, to a set overdraft limit such as minus 20 credits, and sends a low balance alert.
Does Gupshup charge a markup on WhatsApp marketing messages?
Yes, on marketing messages not sent through Meta's MM Lite route. Gupshup's pricing table calculates it as 6% of Meta's marketing fee for the recipient country, on top of the flat $0.001. For a UK recipient that is Meta's $0.0635 plus $0.00381 plus $0.001. For US recipients it is academic, because marketing templates do not deliver to US numbers.
Can Gupshup send WhatsApp marketing messages to US numbers?
No provider can at the moment. Meta paused marketing template delivery to US phone numbers on April 1, 2025, and the pause still stands, so Gupshup's $0.025 US marketing row is a price for a message that fails. Utility and authentication templates, and replies inside the 24 hour service window, deliver to US numbers normally.
Is Gupshup pricing in US dollars?
Yes. Gupshup's self serve price table lists every country's rates in US dollars, including India, and the wallet is funded in dollars. That is easier to budget than a euro priced provider such as 360dialog, whose dollar cost moves with the exchange rate. The Meta portion still depends on where each recipient's number is registered.
What are the best Gupshup alternatives?
It depends on volume and on what you need beyond the API. Above roughly 57,000 messages a month, 360dialog's flat fee per number with no markup costs less. For a shared inbox, Wati or respond.io bundle one in a subscription. If the job is bulk template campaigns to your own contact lists, a campaign platform fits more closely than a raw API.
Cheap API fees still need a sending tool on top
If your WhatsApp work is template campaigns to your own customer lists, skip building the sender. Plans start at $29 a month, or $14.50 a month billed yearly.
See WaBulkSend pricing →Keep comparing
Twilio WhatsApp pricing
The $0.005 fee in both directions and what lands on the invoice.
360dialog pricing
A flat euro fee per number, and the volume where it beats per message billing.
Cheapest WhatsApp API provider
Why the cheapest provider flips at a volume instead of being a fixed ranking.
Wati pricing
Wati's US dollar plans and the 80% markup in its rate card.
Infobip pricing
Enterprise CPaaS contracts and the monthly minimum that decides the bill.
WhatsApp business solution providers
How providers charge, and when you need one at all.