WhatsApp Business API in the UAE: prices and setup
Meta can bill WhatsApp messages in UAE dirhams, and the payment services of two store platforms RelayPlus connects, Shopify Payments for online sales and WooPayments, are available to businesses in the UAE. This guide gives Meta's published rates for numbers with the UAE's country calling code, effective 1 October 2026, its volume tiers, the stores and payment providers whose own pages name the UAE, and a calculator for an estimated cost.
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Meta's WhatsApp rates for UAE 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 the UAE's code, +971, are charged the United Arab Emirates' 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 the United Arab Emirates, 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: $0.0157 per delivered message, before volume tiers.
- Authentication, templates for identity verification: $0.0157 per delivered message, before volume tiers.
- Service, replies that are not templates, sent while the 24-hour window is open: $0.0157 per delivered message after the first 1,000 a month for each business phone number, with no volume tiers.
Billing in UAE dirhams
Meta can bill WhatsApp messages in UAE dirhams (AED), 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 dirhams, so the figures on this page are Meta's US dollar card, not a conversion into dirhams.
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 the UAE
Meta lowers the utility and authentication rates for the United Arab Emirates as a business sends more of those messages in a month. The UAE 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 the UAE.
| Utility: messages a month | Utility | Authentication: messages a month | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 100,000 | $0.0157 | 1 to 300,000 | $0.0157 |
| 100,001 to 1,000,000 | $0.0149 | 300,001 to 2,000,000 | $0.0149 |
| 1,000,001 to 4,500,000 | $0.0141 | 2,000,001 to 10,000,000 | $0.0141 |
| 4,500,001 to 40,000,000 | $0.0133 | 10,000,001 to 20,000,000 | $0.0133 |
| 40,000,001 to 80,000,000 | $0.0126 | 20,000,001 to 40,000,000 | $0.0126 |
| 80,000,001 and up | $0.0118 | 40,000,001 and up | $0.0118 |
Store platforms for UAE merchants
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. Shopify also brings in its products and customers.
Here is what each platform's own pages say about the UAE:
- Shopify: its payment service, Shopify Payments, is available to businesses in the UAE for online sales, with Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay, and pays out in UAE dirhams (AED).
- Salla: its help centre explains how a merchant in the UAE opens and verifies a store and adds a bank account in UAE dirhams.
- WooCommerce: its payment service, WooPayments, is available to businesses in the UAE, with business accounts only.
- Zid: it lists the United Arab Emirates among the countries where it is available, and invites merchants in the UAE to open an online store.
Payment links for UAE businesses
Connect Tap, MyFatoorah, Tabby or Tamara with your own account, then send a payment link in a WhatsApp conversation while its 24-hour window is open. RelayPlus follows each payment link and shows when it is paid.
All four say on their own pages that they serve the UAE:
- Tap: licensed in the UAE, it accepts the Jaywan local card scheme, Apple Pay, Google Pay and international cards there, with payouts in UAE dirhams.
- MyFatoorah: it operates in the UAE and has a dedicated UAE portal.
- Tabby: it offers buy now, pay later in the UAE, with 4 interest-free payments or up to 12 months to pay, and takes payments in AED.
- Tamara: it offers buy now, pay later in the UAE through Tamara FZE, licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, in up to 4 payments, and customers can pay with saved cards and Apple Pay.
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 the UAE
The calculator opens on the United Arab Emirates 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 utility message to a number with Saudi Arabia's code, +966, is charged Saudi Arabia's list rate, $0.0107, before volume tiers.
The UAE 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 the UAE?
Meta's list rate is $0.0576 for each marketing message delivered to a WhatsApp number with the UAE's country calling code, +971, effective 1 October 2026. Marketing messages have no volume tiers.
Does Meta bill WhatsApp messages in UAE dirhams?
Yes, if you choose it. UAE dirhams (AED) 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 links can I send to customers in the UAE?
Links from Tap, MyFatoorah, Tabby or Tamara, each connected with your own account, and all four say on their own pages that they serve the UAE. You send the 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 Salla's help centre explains how a merchant in the UAE opens and verifies a store with a bank account in UAE dirhams.
Do Tabby and Tamara offer instalments in the UAE?
Yes. Both offer buy now, pay later in the UAE, Tabby with 4 interest-free payments or up to 12 months to pay and Tamara in up to 4 payments. You can connect either to RelayPlus with your own account, then send its payment link in a WhatsApp conversation while the 24-hour window is open.
Can I use Shopify Payments in the UAE?
Yes, for online sales. Shopify says Shopify Payments is available to businesses in the UAE for online selling and pays out in UAE dirhams, and RelayPlus brings in your Shopify orders, products and customers.
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.