How Are Messages and Conversations Billed?
Messages and conversations are paid directly to your messaging provider — Infobip, Meta Direct, Twilio or another you connect — on your own provider account. Arino never bills for messages, never marks them up, and never acts as a messaging reseller. This article explains what drives your messaging cost and how to monitor it; for the figures Arino does charge, see billing and plans, which is the single canonical rate card.
Arino Never Bills Your Messages
This is the most common point of confusion, so it is worth stating first. Every Arino One client owns their own provider accounts — on the Remix route you create them during onboarding, on the BYO route you already have them. Your provider invoices you for traffic, and Meta bills the WhatsApp conversation fees. Arino is not in the middle of that relationship at any point.
The only charges Arino ever raises are the one-time Account Setup of $449 if you chose the We build it for you option, the Arino One plan (from $99/month), WebRTC minutes at $0.009, and Ping Me hardware and usage. Messaging is not on that list, and it is not on it under any route, build option or connection status.
A practical consequence: because you hold the provider contract, you also benefit from your own volume rates or negotiated terms rather than someone else's blended pricing.
What the $99/month Plan Does and Doesn't Touch
Every Arino One plan (from $99/month) includes the full platform: instance connection and management, live web chat, the platform and GDPR features from setup, and access to WebRTC calling. Plans differ only by team size. A plan has no effect whatsoever on message pricing — connected or unconnected, your messages cost exactly the same and are billed by exactly the same providers.
WhatsApp Conversation Categories
WhatsApp doesn't charge per message — it charges per 24-hour conversation, categorised by Meta as:
- Marketing — promotional content, offers, product updates
- Utility — transactional updates tied to an existing transaction (order confirmations, shipping updates)
- Authentication — one-time passcodes and identity verification
- Service — replies within the free customer-service window opened by the customer
Once a conversation window opens in a given category, every message exchanged inside it is covered by that single conversation charge — you are not billed again per message until a new 24-hour window opens. Sending outside an existing window with a template message opens (and charges) a new conversation. Rates vary by category and by the customer's country, which is why the console shows spend broken down by category rather than a single blended rate.
SMS Segments
SMS is billed per segment rather than per message. A standard GSM-encoded message fits roughly 160 characters into one segment; longer messages, or messages using characters outside the GSM alphabet (such as emoji or certain accented characters), split into multiple segments and are billed accordingly. Destination country also affects the per-segment rate significantly, since it reflects the receiving network's charges.
Other Metered Channels
Email and other channels follow the same principle — charged at the underlying provider rate for volume sent, directly on your provider account. Voice/WebRTC minutes and Ping Me usage are the exception in that Arino does bill them; they have their own dedicated pricing and are covered in voice and WebRTC billing and Ping Me billing rather than here.
Where Each Cost Lands
| Cost | Who bills you |
|---|---|
| WhatsApp conversations | Meta and your provider, directly on your own account |
| SMS segments | Your messaging provider, directly |
| Email and other channel volume | The underlying provider, directly |
| PSTN number rental and termination | Your telephony provider, directly, at your account rates |
| WebRTC in-browser minutes | Arino, at $0.009/minute |
| Ping Me device and usage | Arino ($200 device, $0.10 per press, $0.009 per talk minute) |
| Arino One plan | Arino, from $99/month, priced by team size |
| Account Setup | Arino, $449 one-time, only if we build it for you |
Reading Usage in the Console
Open the console and go to Account → Usage. Usage is broken down by channel (WhatsApp, SMS, email, voice, Ping Me) and, for WhatsApp, further by conversation category. Figures update through the period so you can track spend before your provider invoice arrives rather than being surprised by it. Your provider console remains the authoritative record for messaging charges, since the provider is the party billing them.
Spend Alerts
Under Account → Usage → Alerts, set a monthly threshold per channel. When cumulative spend crosses that threshold, all account administrators receive an email notification. This is particularly useful for catching a misconfigured automation that sends far more messages than intended — a spend alert usually surfaces the problem well before the provider invoice does. Alerts are advisory only; crossing a threshold does not pause sending, so pair alerts with your own provider-side controls if you need a hard stop on spend.
For the rates Arino charges, and how setup and the optional monthly connection are structured, see billing and plans.
Frequently asked
Is Messaging Included in the Arino One Plan?
No. Every Arino One plan (from $99/month) includes the full platform: connection and management, live web chat, platform and GDPR features, and access to WebRTC. All message and conversation costs are paid separately and directly to your messaging provider.
Who Actually Charges for WhatsApp Conversations — Arino or Meta?
Never Arino. Meta sets the underlying conversation rate and your provider carries the traffic, and they bill you directly on your own account. Arino does not mark up, resell or invoice message usage under any route or build option.
Does This Change If I Skip the Arino One Plan?
No. Messaging always runs through your own provider accounts and is always billed to you by those providers. The connection only affects whether Arino manages and supports the instance and whether WebRTC calling is available.
What Counts as One WhatsApp Conversation?
A 24-hour session opened by either the business or the customer, categorised by Meta as marketing, utility, authentication or service. Every message inside that window belongs to the same conversation and isn't charged again.
How Are SMS Messages Charged?
By segment (roughly 160 characters per segment for GSM-encoded text) and by destination country, since SMS rates vary significantly by network. Your messaging provider bills these to your account directly.
Can I Get Warned Before I Overspend on Messaging?
Yes. Set a monthly spend threshold per channel in the console and administrators are notified by email when it's crossed. Your provider account also supports its own balance and spend controls.
Apply this to your own deployment
This guide describes decisions we make on live platforms. Tell us your channels, systems and region and we will map it to an architecture outline, a provisioning plan and an indicative commercial model — usually within one business day.