The three categories
Every message you send falls into one of three buckets, and Meta prices each differently:| Category | What it’s for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Promotions, offers, re-engagement | ”20% off this week”, “We miss you” |
| Utility | Updates tied to an action the user took | Order confirmation, shipping update, payment receipt |
| Authentication | One-time passcodes / login codes | ”Your OTP is 123456” |
Marketing is the most expensive category; utility and authentication are cheaper. Designing
a flow as a utility update instead of a marketing blast can meaningfully cut cost — when
it’s genuinely tied to something the customer did.
Free vs paid — the simple version
A customer messages you first
You get a free service window to reply (no per-message charge for normal back-and-forth
in that window).
You start the conversation
A broadcast, reminder, or OTP opens a paid conversation, priced by its category.
How to plan your costs
- Estimate how many business-initiated conversations you’ll send per month (these are the paid ones).
- Split that estimate across Marketing / Utility / Authentication — the mix drives the total.
- Replies inside the customer-service window are effectively free, so flows that get customers to message you first are the cheapest to run.