Meta is introducing a new message category called Meta Business Agent, and rolling out pricing changes for several message types that have so far been free or bundled. Here’s what’s changing, when, and what it actually affects on the Chatarmin/ArminCX side. 💳 The three changes at a glance
What this means for you
Meta Business Agent is Meta’s own agentic platform — a separate thing from ArminCX. Anything ArminCX sends, whether it’s a human agent reply or the AI customer service agent, falls under the Service messages category. The change that actually affects Chatarmin users is the second one: from October 1, 2026, non-template replies your team or your AI agent sends can carry a Meta-side per-message charge, on top of anything Chatarmin already bills.
Service messages: pricing and free tier
Meta has published the rates for Service messages effective October 1, 2026. This is a return to charging. Meta charged for Service messages until November 2024. They were free from November 2024 through September 2026 and become billable again on October 1, 2026. After the free tier is used, Meta charges per delivered Service message. Rates are market-based — they depend on the recipient’s country and match Meta’s Utility and Authentication message rates.Each business phone number receives 1,000 free Service messages per month. The allowance covers delivered Service messages across 1:1 and group conversations. Meta charges from message 1,001 onward. The allowance resets monthly, and unused messages do not roll over.
Utility messages inside the 24-hour window
From October 1, 2026, Utility template messages sent inside an open 24-hour customer service window also become billable. They follow the same market-based per-message rates as other Utility templates.What stays the same
- The 24-hour customer service window itself does not change. You can still reply freely with non-template messages while the window is open — those replies are what Meta will bill as Service messages after the free tier. See What is the 24-Hour Window? for how the window works today.
- All messages remain free during the 72-hour free entry-point window after a customer starts a conversation through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or Facebook Page CTA.