WhatsApp Business API in Saudi Arabia: prices and setup
In Saudi Arabia, all five payment providers you can connect to RelayPlus say on their own pages that they serve merchants there, and Meta can bill WhatsApp messages in Saudi riyals. This guide gives Meta's published rates for numbers with Saudi Arabia's country calling code, effective 1 October 2026, its volume tiers, the stores and payment providers whose own pages name Saudi Arabia, and a calculator for an estimated cost.
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Meta's WhatsApp rates for Saudi numbers
Meta charges for each WhatsApp message it delivers, at a rate set by the message's category and the country calling code of the recipient's number. Messages to numbers with Saudi Arabia's code, +966, are charged Saudi Arabia's own rates on Meta's card.
Since 1 October 2026, Meta charges for service messages again, and a template sent inside an open customer service window is charged like any other. Meta's published rates for Saudi Arabia, in US dollars, effective 1 October 2026, are:
- Marketing, templates for promotional goals: $0.0576 per delivered message, with no volume tiers.
- Utility, templates for transactional or informational goals: $0.0107 per delivered message, before volume tiers.
- Authentication, templates for identity verification: $0.0107 per delivered message, before volume tiers.
- Service, replies that are not templates, sent while the 24-hour window is open: $0.0107 per delivered message after the first 1,000 a month for each business phone number, with no volume tiers.
Billing in Saudi riyals
Meta can bill WhatsApp messages in Saudi riyals (SAR), one of the 16 currencies it has enabled on the WhatsApp Business Platform. A business picks its currency when it creates its Messaging account, and Meta says that once selected, a currency cannot be changed.
Meta publishes a separate rate card for each currency, including one in Saudi riyals, so the figures on this page are Meta's US dollar card, not a conversion into riyals.
The plan price is what you pay RelayPlus. With direct billing, Meta bills your messages to your own WhatsApp Business Account at Meta's own rates.
Without a payment method on the Messaging account, Meta still delivers service messages within the monthly free tier, but stops delivering them once the free tier is used up.
Before you send a broadcast, RelayPlus shows an estimated cost: the number of contacts it can reach, multiplied by one stored rate for the template's category. Because that estimate uses one rate per category rather than each recipient's country, the amount Meta bills can differ from it.
Volume tiers in Saudi Arabia
Meta lowers the utility and authentication rates for Saudi Arabia as a business sends more of those messages in a month. Saudi Arabia and each of the two categories are counted on their own, and marketing and service messages have no tiers.
Meta works out the tier itself, from the charged messages sent across all the Messaging accounts your business portfolio owns, not per phone number. Messages sent free in a free entry point window do not count.
Each lower rate applies only to the messages inside its band, not to the whole month, and the count goes back to zero at the start of each month in the Messaging account's time zone. The table shows Meta's bands and rates for Saudi Arabia.
| Utility: messages a month | Utility | Authentication: messages a month | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 100,000 | $0.0107 | 1 to 300,000 | $0.0107 |
| 100,001 to 1,000,000 | $0.0102 | 300,001 to 2,000,000 | $0.0102 |
| 1,000,001 to 4,500,000 | $0.0096 | 2,000,001 to 10,000,000 | $0.0096 |
| 4,500,001 to 40,000,000 | $0.0091 | 10,000,001 to 20,000,000 | $0.0091 |
| 40,000,001 to 80,000,000 | $0.0086 | 20,000,001 to 40,000,000 | $0.0086 |
| 80,000,001 and up | $0.0080 | 40,000,001 and up | $0.0080 |
Stores and payment links for Saudi businesses
RelayPlus brings in orders from Shopify, Salla, WooCommerce and Zid, and orders are linked to the customer's contact through the phone number on the order.
Salla is a Saudi company based in Makkah. Zid lists Saudi Arabia among the countries where it is available, and its terms are governed by the laws of Saudi Arabia.
You can also connect Tap, MyFatoorah, Moyasar, Tabby or Tamara with your own account, then send a payment link in a WhatsApp conversation while its 24-hour window is open, and RelayPlus shows when the link is paid. All five say on their own pages that they serve Saudi Arabia:
- Tap: licensed by the Saudi Central Bank, it offers mada, Apple Pay and international cards in Saudi Arabia, plus Tamara and Tabby instalments where supported.
- MyFatoorah: regulated by the Saudi Central Bank, it operates in Saudi Arabia.
- Moyasar: it serves businesses in Saudi Arabia only, accepts mada, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, STC Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, and settles to your bank account in Saudi riyals.
- Tabby: supervised by the Saudi Central Bank, it offers buy now, pay later in Saudi Arabia, with 4 interest-free payments or up to 12 months to pay.
- Tamara: supervised by the Saudi Central Bank, it offers buy now, pay later in Saudi Arabia, and its Saudi site advertises paying in up to 24 months.
An Arabic app, with your number connected directly to Meta
The RelayPlus app is available in English and Arabic, with a right-to-left layout in Arabic, and WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger conversations arrive in one shared inbox.
Agents can build an order in a WhatsApp conversation and send it with a payment link or as cash on delivery, while the 24-hour window is open. A customer whose contact language is Arabic gets the order message in Arabic.
Your number connects to Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API directly, not through a reseller, and RelayPlus is a Meta-approved Tech Provider on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
Estimate your cost in Saudi Arabia
The calculator opens on Saudi Arabia and estimates what Meta would charge for a number of delivered messages in one category, from Meta's published rates. For utility and authentication messages, it applies the volume tiers above.
The result is an estimated cost. It does not take off the 1,000 free service messages each business phone number gets a month, or the messages Meta does not charge for in a free entry point window, and it does not include taxes. That window opens for up to 7 days when you reply within the customer service window to someone who wrote from a click-to-WhatsApp ad on WhatsApp's Android or iOS app.
The price follows the recipient's number, so change the market for customers with other numbers: a marketing message to a number with Kuwait's code, +965, is charged Kuwait's rate, $0.0792.
Saudi Arabia is also one of the markets with a higher authentication-international rate, which the calculator does not apply. Meta charges it only when it has found the business eligible, the business is based in another country, and the message is delivered after the business's start time.
Meta's rates for all 47 markets on its card are in our guide to WhatsApp Business API pricing by country.
Questions people ask
How much does a WhatsApp marketing message cost in Saudi Arabia?
Meta's list rate is $0.0576 for each marketing message delivered to a WhatsApp number with Saudi Arabia's country calling code, +966, effective 1 October 2026. Marketing messages have no volume tiers.
Does Meta bill WhatsApp messages in Saudi riyals?
Yes, if you choose it. Saudi riyals (SAR) are one of the 16 currencies Meta has enabled on the WhatsApp Business Platform. A business picks its currency when it creates its Messaging account, and Meta says it cannot be changed after that.
Which payment providers can I connect for payment links in Saudi Arabia?
Tap, MyFatoorah, Moyasar, Tabby and Tamara, each with your own account, and all five say on their own pages that they serve Saudi Arabia. You then send a payment link in a WhatsApp conversation while its 24-hour window is open.
Can I connect my Salla store?
Yes. RelayPlus brings in orders from Salla, as it does from Shopify, WooCommerce and Zid, and orders are linked to the customer's contact through the phone number on the order.
Can businesses outside Saudi Arabia use Moyasar?
No. Moyasar says it currently provides its services within Saudi Arabia only, and it settles payments to your bank account in Saudi riyals.
Are replies to Saudi customers within 24 hours free?
Not since 1 October 2026. Meta charges $0.0107 for each service message delivered to a number with Saudi Arabia's code, effective 1 October 2026, after 1,000 free service messages a month for each business phone number, and a template sent inside the 24-hour window is charged like any other.
Is the RelayPlus app in Arabic?
Yes. The RelayPlus app is available in English and Arabic, with a right-to-left layout in Arabic, and a customer whose contact language is Arabic gets order messages in Arabic.
See it on your own number.
Book a demo at a time that suits you, or start a free trial and connect your WhatsApp number.