Pricing

Two costs, kept apart.
No surprises.

WhatsApp charges for messages. Qelo charges for the software that sends them. The two are billed separately, and Qelo never marks up WhatsApp's rates.

Meta, direct

WhatsApp's message charges

Every approved message sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform carries a charge that Meta bills to your own WhatsApp Business account — by message category and country. Qelo does not add to it, and does not bill it.

Categories include marketing, utility and authentication; each has its own rate, and rates vary by destination country. South Africa's rates are on Meta's page.

See Meta's published pricing

Billed by Meta to your WABA — not via Qelo
Pay per delivered message, by category + country
Free to receive replies (including STOP) inside the 24-hour window
Requires a payment method on your Meta Business account

Qelo Connect

The software

Qelo Connect itself — the library, approvals, contact list, audience builder, paced sending, delivery and read tracking, and the reply inbox. We are still settling how it is priced, so talk to us about what you need and we will go through it with you.

Every shop pays Qelo separately from Meta. That keeps the two bills clean and auditable.

Talk to us about pricing

No extra on Meta's message charges
One price conversation — we go through it with you
Connect a new number or existing via coexistence — same software
Cancel any time (you keep your WhatsApp Business account)

What counts

Only opted-in messages cost.

Only people who said yes

A campaign only goes to contacts marked opted in. Imported contacts must have an opt-in record before they can receive. Contacts marked opted out are skipped automatically — and not billed.

One message, one charge per person

When you send an approved message to 400 people, Meta counts 400 messages — one per recipient — at the marketing rate for that destination. Failures are not charged.

Replies are different

When a customer writes back inside the 24-hour window, you answer directly — those session messages are a different (much lower) category. Replies, STOPs and reads are not marketing charges.

Billing reality

Who bills whom.

Meta bills you — monthly, to the payment method you added in Meta Business Suite, for bulk approved messages your shop sent.

Qelo bills you separately for Qelo Connect software. One relationship with Meta, one with Qelo. No bundle that hides the message cost.

If you leave Qelo Connect, your WhatsApp Business account stays yours with Meta. You can connect it to other Platform software or return to the WhatsApp Business app.

Common question

Why not bundle it?

Shops ask why we do not resell Meta's messages at a marked-up per-message price. Because that hides what is really happening — Meta's rates are public and billed to your account, and Qelo's value is the software around them.

Keeping the two apart means you can audit Meta's invoice, compare rates before you send, and understand exactly what each rand bought you in delivered messages.

Want a number to size it?

Tell us your list size and how often you plan to send — we will size the Meta charges and talk through Qelo Connect.

Talk to us Sign up anyway

Two costs, kept apart.No surprises.