WhatsApp Usage & Cost — Track Your Meta Spend
WhatsApp Usage & Cost — Track Your Meta Spend
The Dashboard → WhatsApp Usage page shows how many WhatsApp messages you've sent and received this month and gives an estimated Meta cost. It's your at-a-glance view of WhatsApp activity and spend.
Billed by Meta, not Botaura. You are billed by Meta directly for WhatsApp messages — Botaura never marks up or charges for them. The figures here are an indicative estimate and may differ from your actual Meta invoice.
Message Counts
Four cards at the top summarize the current month (shown as the month name):
- Total — all inbound + outbound messages
- Inbound — messages customers sent you
- Outbound — messages you/the bot sent
- Est. spend — estimated total cost this month, in your currency
Outbound by Category
WhatsApp prices outbound messages by category, so the page breaks your outbound messages into three, with a count and estimated cost for each:
- Service — free-form replies sent inside the 24-hour window. Free.
- Utility — order and account templates (order confirmation, status update, COD). Charged at Meta's utility rate.
- Marketing — promotional templates used for campaigns. Charged at Meta's (higher) marketing rate.
Below the breakdown you'll see the estimated total and the per-message rates being used (utility and marketing rates; service is free). These rates come from Meta's rate card and are indicative.
Plan Usage
A progress bar shows how much of your plan's monthly chat allowance you've used (e.g. "8,200 / 20,000") and the percentage. This is your Botaura message allowance (the same pool web chat uses), separate from Meta's per-message billing above. Plan usage is business-wide, not per number. To raise the limit, upgrade from Plans & Pricing.
Service Window
Shows how many conversations still have an open 24-hour window (e.g. "12 / 40") — the ones you can still reply to free-form because the customer messaged within the last 24 hours. For everything else you'd need an approved template. More on this in WhatsApp Templates & the 24-Hour Window.
Filtering by Number
If your business has more than one connected WhatsApp number, a dropdown lets you view usage for All numbers or a single number (your primary number is marked with a star). Note that plan-allowance usage stays business-wide even when you filter — only the message counts and cost estimate change per number.
Refreshing
Click Refresh to reload the latest figures. If no data appears yet, you probably haven't connected a number or sent any messages this month — see WhatsApp Setup.
FAQ
- Why is my estimate different from Meta's bill? These are indicative figures based on Meta's published rates and your message categories; your real invoice comes from Meta and is the source of truth.
- Why are service messages free? Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window aren't charged per message by Meta — only template messages (utility/marketing) are.
- Do bot replies count against my plan? Yes — bot and agent messages both count toward your monthly plan allowance shown here.
Related
- WhatsApp Templates & the 24-Hour Window
- Plans & Pricing
- Spend & Billing — your Botaura subscription
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