Set a max price for marketing messages (BETA)

Updated: Aug 31, 2026

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Amidst the introduction of the max price feature on the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp, there is no change to how Meta charges on the WhatsApp Business Platform. Meta continues to charge on a per-message basis, as outlined in WhatsApp pricing.

The max price feature is available in Limited Beta as of May 15 and will be optional throughout 2026. Meta plans to make max price generally available in Q2 2027.

Action required: bid_spec is being replaced by optimization_spec. As of June 18, 2026, set the max price using the new optimization_spec object. The bid_amount and bid_strategy fields are unchanged — only the enclosing object name changes. Both bid_spec and optimization_spec are accepted until July 31, 2026, after which bid_spec is no longer supported. Update your create, retrieve, and update calls before July 31, 2026.

What is a max price?

In 2026, Meta is introducing new pricing features on the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp to enable businesses to control and optimize spend for their marketing messaging campaigns.

The first pricing feature allows you to set a maximum price (max price) per marketing message delivery; when a max price is set, Meta will charge that max price or lower for delivery. Businesses can choose to set a max price the same as, lower than, or higher than the published rate to achieve their objectives per campaign.

Lower costs while maintaining delivery rates similar to current WhatsApp campaigns, by setting max prices the same as published rates.

Reach more customer cohorts on WhatsApp at lower cost, by setting max prices lower than published rates.

Increase delivery rates during periods such as holidays and peak sales periods, by setting max prices higher than published rates.

The second pricing feature is the reach estimation tool, which helps businesses set the right max price by helping them understand estimated delivery rates and costs at different max prices.

Max price explainer

The max price feature allows you to set the maximum price you are willing to pay per message delivery. Meta charges your max price or lower. In the API, you express this as a bid_amount value per 1,000 deliveries within the optimization_spec object.

Max price explainer PDF⁠

Phased roll-out of the max price feature

The max price feature rolls out in three phases:

Limited Beta starting May 15, 2026 -- Any partner and any directly integrated business can integrate and use the max price feature and reach estimation tool. Each partner can enable these features for a limited number of clients.

Open Beta starting October 2026 -- Any partner can enable these features for all their clients.

General Availability (GA) as of Q2 2027 -- The max price feature will become required in eligible geographies and fixed, published rates for marketing messages will only apply on the Cloud API.

Before you begin

To use the max price feature, you must:

Have an active WhatsApp Business account that has been onboarded to the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp.

Be in a country eligible for MM API for WhatsApp.

Recommendations

Max price is an early-stage feature; performance may vary as Meta’s systems learn and improve.

Set your max price at the template level. The bid_amount in optimization_spec is what Meta’s delivery system optimizes against. Setting the right max price when you create the template gives the system the best signal for delivery optimization.

Use per_message_bid_multiplier for individual message adjustments only. The per_message_bid_multiplier scales the template’s bid_amount up or down for individual messages, but the delivery system generally gives better performance optimizing based on the original template-level bid_amount for bulk changes.

For example, if you set a template’s bid_amount to 50,000 and then apply a multiplier of 2.0 on every single message, delivery performance might differ from setting the template’s bid_amount to 100,000 directly — even though the effective max price is the same. For best results, set the bid at the template level and update the template’s optimization_spec as needed rather than changing the message level multiplier as a workaround for such cases.

Ramp up traffic gradually. When sending messages with a new max price template for the first time, increase volume slowly before sending at scale. This aligns with Template pacing best practices and helps the delivery system optimize effectively.

Start with A/B tests. This helps you assess the impact of different bidding rates on your delivery rates and cost per delivery. Run a four-arm test (10,000 send requests per arm) with a similar audience and time window, with the following conditions:

Arm A: No max price set

Arm B: Max price set at rate card

Arm C: Max price set at 1.5x rate card (1.2x for India and Saudi Arabia)

Arm D: Max price set at 0.9x rate card

Create templates with max price

Use the Message Templates API to set a maximum price and include the optimization_spec object in the request body.

optimization_spec replaces bid_spec as of June 18, 2026. bid_spec continues to be accepted until July 31, 2026, after which it is no longer supported. The bid_amount and bid_strategy fields are identical in both objects.

Request syntax

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>/message_templates' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '
  {
    "name": "seasonal_sale_promo",
    "category": "MARKETING",
    "language": "en",
    "components": [
      {
        "type": "BODY",
        "text": "Shop our seasonal sale! Up to 50% off selected items."
      }
    ],
    "optimization_spec": {
      "bid_amount": <BID_AMOUNT>,
      "bid_strategy": "LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP",
      "bid_country_multiplier_overrides": { "IN": 1.2, "MX": 0.8 }
    }
}'

If optimization_spec is not included, the template uses standard rate card pricing.

Request parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`<ACCESS_TOKEN>` String	Required. System token or business token.	`EAAA...`
`<API_VERSION>` String	Optional. Graph API version.	v26.0
`<WABA_ID>`String	Required. WhatsApp Business Account ID.	`102290129340398`
`<BID_AMOUNT>` int32	Required. Maximum price per 1,000 message deliveries, expressed in your WABA currency’s smallest unit (cents for USD, paise for INR, peso for MXN). See supported currencies for a list of currencies.	`87000`
`<BID_STRATEGY>` Enum	Required. The bid strategy to use. Currently supports only `LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP`.	`LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP`
`bid_country_multiplier_overrides` Object (map)	Optional. Map of destination country to a bid multiplier, set inside `optimization_spec`. Keys are ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes; each value is the multiplier applied to `bid_amount` for sends to that country. Countries you do not list use a multiplier of `1.0` (the unmodified `bid_amount`). Constraints on `bid_country_multiplier_overrides` Up to 50 entries. Each multiplier must be greater than `0` and at most `10`. Keys must be valid ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (for example, `MX`, `IN`, `BR`).	`{"IN": 1.2, "BR": 1.5, "MX": 0.8}`

Calculating max price amounts

The bid_amount represents your max price per 1,000 deliveries in your WABA currency’s smallest unit. To convert from your desired per-delivery price:

Convert your desired per-delivery price to your WABA currency’s smallest unit

Multiply by 1,000 to express the value per 1,000 deliveries

Example: To set a max price of ₹0.87 per delivery:

Convert to paise: 0.87 Rupees = 87 paise

Multiply by 1,000: 87 x 1,000 = 87,000

Set bid_amount to 87000.

Example: To set a max price of $0.05 USD per delivery:

Convert to cents: $0.05 = 5 cents

Multiply by 1,000: 5 x 1,000 = 5,000

Set bid_amount to 5000.

How “optional” per-country bid multipliers work

A per-country bid multiplier scales the template’s bid_amount (max price) for a specific destination country, so you can bid more or less in some countries without creating a separate template for each one. You set the multipliers in the bid_country_multiplier_overrides map inside optimization_spec.

When a message is sent, Meta determines the recipient’s country from their phone number and applies the matching multiplier to the template’s bid_amount to produce the effective bid for that message:

Effective bid = bid_amount x country_multiplier

If the recipient’s country is not listed in the map, the multiplier is 1.0, so the template’s bid_amount is used unchanged. The effective bid is the maximum price Meta uses for that delivery — as with any max price, Meta charges that amount or lower per message delivered. A higher multiplier raises the max price for that country (which can increase delivery rates and cost per delivery); a lower multiplier lowers it.

Example

A template has bid_amount = 1000 (per 1,000 deliveries, in your WABA currency’s smallest unit) and this override map:

"bid_country_multiplier_overrides": { "IN": 1.2, "MX": 0.8 }

The effective bid then depends on where each message is sent:

Recipient country	Multiplier applied	Effective bid (per 1,000 messages delivered)
India (`IN`)	1.2	1000 x 1.2 = 1,200
Mexico (`MX`)	0.8	1000 x 0.8 = 800
Brazil (`BR`) — not listed	1.0 (default)	1000 x 1.0 = 1,000

Retrieve max price information

Use the Template API to get the max price setting on an existing template by querying the optimization_spec field.

Query optimization_spec as of June 18, 2026. Querying bid_spec continues to return the max price configuration until July 31, 2026, after which only optimization_spec is supported.

Request syntax

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<TEMPLATE_ID>/?fields=optimization_spec' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>'

Request parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`<ACCESS_TOKEN>` String	Required. System token or business token.	`EAAA...`
`<API_VERSION>` String	Optional. Graph API version.	v26.0
`<TEMPLATE_ID>` String	Required. ID of the WhatsApp message template.	`1733678867511493`

Example response

{
  "optimization_spec": {
    "bid_strategy": "LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP",
    "bid_amount": 87000,
    "bid_country_multiplier_overrides": [
      {"key": "IN", "value": 1.2},
      {"key": "BR", "value": 1.5},
      {"key": "MX", "value": 0.8}
    ]
  },
  "id": "1733678867511493"
}

Reading bid_country_multiplier_overrides. When you readbid_country_multiplier_overrides, it is returned as a list of {"key": <country_code>, "value": <multiplier>} objects. When you write it, you pass a map ({"IN": 1.2}). This is expected: the read and write formats differ. The field returns an empty list if the template has no multipliers set.

Update max price for templates

Use the Template API to update the max price setting on an existing template.

Templates can switch between rate card pricing and max price without creating a new template when the WhatsApp Business Account is enrolled in the max price feature:

Rate card pricing: The template has no maximum price configured and uses the applicable published rate.

Max price: The template has a maximum price per 1,000 message deliveries.

Send updates using optimization_spec as of June 18, 2026. Updates sent with bid_spec continue to be accepted until July 31, 2026, after which only optimization_spec is supported.

Other constraints follow the standard template editing limits:

Approved templates: Up to 100 edits per hour, 2,400 per day. Content edits still follow the existing limit of 1 per day and 10 per 30 days.

Rejected or paused templates: Unlimited edits

Set or update a max price

Set both bid_amount and bid_strategy in optimization_spec. Use the same request to change the amount when the template already has a max price.

Request syntax

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<TEMPLATE_ID>/' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "optimization_spec": {
    "bid_strategy": "LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP",
    "bid_amount": <BID_AMOUNT>,
    "bid_country_multiplier_overrides": { "IN": 1.4, "MX": 0.9 }
  }
}'

Remove a max price and return to rate card pricing

Set both bid_amount and bid_strategy to null. This clears the template-level maximum price and returns the template to standard rate card pricing.

This action also clears all bid_country_multiplier_overrides, if any. If you later switch back to max price, include any country overrides you want to restore.

Request syntax

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<TEMPLATE_ID>/' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "optimization_spec": {
    "bid_strategy": null,
    "bid_amount": null
  }
}'

Omitting optimization_spec from an update does not request a pricing-mode change. To return to rate card pricing, optimization_spec must contain exactly bid_amount and bid_strategy, with both explicitly set to null. Do not include any other fields.

Request parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`<ACCESS_TOKEN>` String	Required. System token or business token.	`EAAA...`
`<API_VERSION>` String	Optional. Graph API version.	v26.0
`<TEMPLATE_ID>` String	Required. ID of the WhatsApp message template.	`1733678867511493`
`<BID_AMOUNT>` int32	Required for max price. Maximum price per 1,000 message deliveries, expressed in your WABA currency’s smallest unit.	`5000`
`<BID_STRATEGY>` Enum	Required for max price. The bid strategy to use. Currently supports only `LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP`.	`LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP`
`bid_country_multiplier_overrides` Object (map)	Optional. Map of destination country to a bid multiplier (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 keys). Same constraints as create: up to 50 entries, each multiplier greater than `0` and at most `10`. Update behavior for `bid_country_multiplier_overrides` Whenever you send `optimization_spec` to set or update a max price, you must include `bid_amount` and `bid_strategy`. When setting or updating a max price, omit`bid_country_multiplier_overrides` to keep the current map unchanged. When setting or updating a max price, send an empty object (`{}`) to remove all overrides. A non-empty map fully replaces the existing map — it is not merged with it. Send the complete set of countries you want each time. When returning to rate card pricing, omit this field. The reset clears all overrides even when this field is omitted.	`{"IN": 1.4, "MX": 0.9}`

Update behavior while using max price

Current pricing mode	Update	Result
Rate card pricing	Non-null `bid_amount` and supported `bid_strategy`	The template switches to max price.
Max price	Different non-null `bid_amount` and supported `bid_strategy`	The template remains in max price mode with the updated amount.
Max price	Both bid fields explicitly set to `null`	The template switches to rate card pricing and clears all country multiplier overrides.
Either mode	`optimization_spec` omitted	The pricing mode does not change.

Common errors

Condition	Resolution
Only one bid field is supplied.	Send both `bid_amount` and `bid_strategy`, or set both to `null` when returning to rate card pricing.
A reset request includes any other non-null field in `optimization_spec`.	Send an `optimization_spec` object that contains only `bid_amount` and `bid_strategy`, with both set to `null`.
An unsupported bid strategy is supplied.	Use `LOWEST_COST_WITH_BID_CAP`.
Pricing-mode switching is unavailable for the account or template, and you try to set a max price on a rate-card template.	Confirm that the WhatsApp Business Account is enrolled in the max price feature and the template was not created for campaign sends. The API returns `You are not allowed to update bid_spec for a template that does not have bid_spec.`
Pricing-mode switching is unavailable for the account or template, and you try to remove an existing max price.	Confirm that the WhatsApp Business Account is enrolled in the max price feature and the template was not created for campaign sends. The request fails with `bid_strategy is required`.

Adjust max price when sending messages

The message-level max price multiplier is subject to change during the beta period.

Use the Marketing Messages API to apply a multiplier at sending time to adjust the template-level max price for individual messages. This allows you to adjust the max price for individual messages without editing the template.

Request syntax

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>/marketing_messages' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "to": "<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>",
  "type": "template",
  "template": {
    "name": "seasonal_sale_promo",
    "language": {
      "code": "en"
    }
  },
  "bid_spec": {
    "per_message_bid_multiplier": "<PER_MESSAGE_BID_MULTIPLIER>"
  }
}'

In this example, the multiplier of 1.5 increases the template’s bid_amount by 50%. If the template’s bid_amount is 2000, the effective max price for this message becomes 3000.

Request parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`<ACCESS_TOKEN>` String	Required. System token or business token.	`EAAA...`
`<API_VERSION>` String	Optional. Graph API version.	v26.0
`<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_PHONE_NUMBER_ID>` String	Required. WhatsApp business phone number ID.	`106540352242922`
`<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>` String	Required. WhatsApp user phone number.	`+16505551234`
`<PER_MESSAGE_BID_MULTIPLIER>` Float	Optional. Default: `1` A positive multiplier applied to the template’s `bid_amount`. For example, `1.5` increases the max price by 50%, `0.5` decreases it by 50%, and `1` (default) uses the template’s max price amount unchanged.	`1.5`

Estimate reach and costs

The Reach estimation helps you understand your expected deliveries and costs at different max price levels.

Request syntax

Use the WhatsApp Business Account API to get the estimated delivery ranges and cost ranges at various max price amounts.

Meta generates estimates from historical data, and they are for informational and planning purposes only. They do not guarantee future delivery outcomes, costs, or performance. Actual results may differ due to changes in platform conditions or other variables.

The targeting_spec value must be serialized JSON. For example:

curl 'https://graph.facebook.com/<API_VERSION>/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>/reachestimate?targeting_spec={"geo_locations":{"countries":["IN"]}}&date_interval=<DATE_INTERVAL>' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>'

Request parameters

Placeholder	Description	Example Value
`<ACCESS_TOKEN>` String	Required. System token or business token.	`EAAA...`
`<API_VERSION>` String	Optional. Graph API version.	v26.0
`<WABA_ID>`String	Required. WhatsApp Business Account ID.	`102290129340398`
`<DATE_INTERVAL>` Enum	Required. Lookback period for the historical data used to generate estimates. One of: `L1D` (last 1 day), `L7D` (last 7 days), `L14D` (last 14 days), `L28D` (last 28 days).	`L7D`
`<TARGETING_SPEC>` JSON	Required. Serialized JSON specifying geographic targeting. Must include `geo_locations` with a `countries` array.	`{"geo_locations":{"countries":["IN"]}}`

Example response

{
  "waba_currency": "USD",
  "estimates": [
    {
      "bid_amount": 400,
      "users": 1000,
      "deliveries_lower_bound": 500,
      "deliveries_upper_bound": 570,
      "cost_lower_bound": 389.74,
      "cost_upper_bound": 390.74
    },
    {
      "bid_amount": 520,
      "users": 1000,
      "deliveries_lower_bound": 600,
      "deliveries_upper_bound": 650,
      "cost_lower_bound": 400.74,
      "cost_upper_bound": 510.74
    }
  ]
}

The response contains multiple estimates entries at different max price amounts, allowing you to compare expected delivery volumes and costs across price points.

Response fields

Field	Description
`waba_currency`	The currency of your WhatsApp Business account.
`bid_amount`	Max price per 1,000 message deliveries, in the WABA currency’s smallest unit.
`users`	Targeted user count. Fixed at 1,000 during beta.
`deliveries_lower_bound`	Lower bound of the estimated delivery range for this max price amount.
`deliveries_upper_bound`	Upper bound of the estimated delivery range for this max price amount.
`cost_lower_bound`	Lower bound of the estimated average cost per 1,000 deliveries, in the WABA currency’s smallest unit.
`cost_upper_bound`	Upper bound of the estimated average cost per 1,000 deliveries, in the WABA currency’s smallest unit.

Metrics and billing

Messages sent with or without the max price feature use the same Marketing Lite product type (SKU) for billing purposes.

Marketing messages sent with max price appear in analytics with the following identifiers:

Pricing Analytics/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>?fields=pricing_analytics: pricing_category = MARKETING_LITE

Template Analytics/<WHATSAPP_BUSINESS_ACCOUNT_ID>?fields=template_analytics: product_type = MARKETING_MESSAGES_LITE_API

Webhooks use lowercase marketing_lite for pricing.category, while analytics APIs use uppercase MARKETING_LITE for pricing_category. When max price is enabled, the delivered and read status webhooks also include a cost object with the estimated charge for the message.

Delivered/read webhook example (with max price)

"pricing": {
  "billable": true,
  "pricing_model": "PMP",
  "category": "marketing_lite",
  "type": "regular",
  "cost": {
    "amount": 0.035,
    "currency": "USD"
  }
}

Webhook cost fields

Field	Type	Description
`amount`	Float	Cost of the delivered or read message. Appears on `delivered` and `read` events. The unit is the currency base unit (dollar for USD, rupee for INR), consistent with the analytics API `cost` field.
`currency`	String	WABA-supported currency in ISO format.

The price reported in the delivered/read webhook may differ from the final charge on your invoice due to small variations in data processing (same as Analytics API). Your billing invoice is the source of truth for final pricing.

Pricing analytics response example

{
  "pricing_analytics": {
    "data": [
      {
        "data_points": [
          {
            "start": 1748761200,
            "end": 1748847600,
            "country": "IN",
            "pricing_type": "REGULAR",
            "pricing_category": "MARKETING_LITE",
            "volume": 1,
            "cost": 10
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Template analytics response example

{
  "data": [
    {
      "granularity": "DAILY",
      "product_type": "MARKETING_MESSAGES_LITE_API",
      "data_points": [
        {
          "template_id": "1421988012088524",
          "start": 1718064000,
          "end": 1718150400,
          "sent": 1,
          "delivered": 1,
          "read": 1,
          "cost": [
            {
              "type": "amount_spent",
              "value": 0.01
            },
            {
              "type": "cost_per_delivered",
              "value": 0.01
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

For more details on metrics, see Viewing metrics.

Error codes

Code	Message	Possible reasons and solutions
131061	Marketing templates containing bid_spec are not supported by the Cloud API. To use templates with bid_spec, please use the Marketing Messages API for WhatsApp.	You are sending a template that has a max price set (`optimization_spec`, or `bid_spec` before its July 31, 2026 deprecation) to the Cloud API `/messages` endpoint. Send to the `/marketing_messages` endpoint instead.
100	You need to sign the testing legal agreement before sending out messages.	You have not signed the testing legal agreement. Please sign the agreement to gain access to this feature.

For a full list of error codes, see Error codes.