WhatsApp Business API pricing in Colombia
Meta's per-message rates for recipients in Colombia, effective 1 October 2026, with volume tiers, free-message rules and a worked monthly example. OmniChannels.ai passes Meta's rate through with zero markup.
- Marketing
- $0.0125
- Utility
- $0.0008
- Authentication
- $0.0008
- Service (after 1,000 free)
- $0.0008
Short answer
A WhatsApp marketing message to Colombia costs $0.0125, a utility message $0.0008 and an authentication (OTP) message $0.0008 from 1 October 2026, charged by Meta per delivered message. The first 1,000 service messages per number each month are free. OmniChannels.ai charges Meta's rate with zero markup.
Rates by message category
| Category | USD per message | Per 1,000 messages | vs nearby average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing | $0.0125 | $12.50 | −80% |
| Utility | $0.0008 | $0.80 | −94% |
| Authentication | $0.0008 | $0.80 | −94% |
| Service | $0.0008 | $0.80 | −94% |
Meta also publishes a Colombian Peso (COP) rate card; businesses billed in COP pay those rates instead of the USD figures shown.
Free-message rules, how volume tiers are counted and Meta's price-change calendar are the same in every market: see the rules on the WhatsApp pricing hub.
WhatsApp or SMS in Colombia?
An authentication (OTP) template in Colombia costs $0.0008, 97% less than the cheapest SMS: $0.0300 on Tigo Colombia. We route SMS to 3 networks there (Claro Colombia, Movistar Colombia and Tigo Colombia). Even a marketing template, at $0.0125, costs less than the cheapest SMS here.
SMS in Spanish fits 160 GSM-7 characters per segment until one character outside GSM-7, or an emoji, drops it to 70.
Cost of 10,000 messages
| WhatsApp authentication | $8.00 |
| WhatsApp utility | $8.00 |
| WhatsApp marketing | $125.00 |
| SMS, list rate (Claro Colombia) | $346.00 |
| SMS, list rate (Movistar Colombia) | $323.00 |
| SMS, list rate (Tigo Colombia) | $300.00 |
| SMS at the 5M+ volume tier | $180.00 |
Sender identity and registration in Colombia
No sender ID to register for WhatsApp: Meta reviews your display name. SMS fallback follows CRC rules:
- SMS sender formats
- CRC · Claro Colombia and Movistar Colombia: Alphanumeric (where supported) or numeric long-code / short-code
- SMS sender ID registration
- CRC · Claro Colombia and Movistar Colombia: Set by the operators; BroadNet confirms the current requirements during onboarding
- Typical lead time: 5-10 business days.
Consent and sending hours in Colombia
- Opt-in
- Verifiable opt-in required, with consent records retained per the local data-protection law.
- Opt-out
- STOP / SAIR keyword honoured network-wide. Opt-out is one-step and applied across the operator.
- Sending hours
- Law 2300 of 2023 limits advertising SMS to Monday–Friday 07:00–19:00 and Saturday 08:00–15:00, never on Sundays or public holidays. Transactional 24/7.
- Time zone used for scheduling: America/Bogota.
Template languages for Colombia
Customers in Colombia mostly read Spanish.
Volume tiers
utility
| Monthly messages | Rate | vs list |
|---|---|---|
| 0–100,000 | $0.0008 | list |
| 100,001–1,000,000 | $0.0008 | -5% |
| 1,000,001–4,500,000 | $0.0007 | -10% |
| 4,500,001–15,000,000 | $0.0007 | -15% |
| 15,000,001–30,000,000 | $0.0006 | -20% |
| 30,000,001+ | $0.0006 | -25% |
authentication
| Monthly messages | Rate | vs list |
|---|---|---|
| 0–120,000 | $0.0008 | list |
| 120,001–400,000 | $0.0008 | -5% |
| 400,001–1,000,000 | $0.0007 | -10% |
| 1,000,001–5,000,000 | $0.0007 | -15% |
| 5,000,001–10,000,000 | $0.0006 | -20% |
| 10,000,001+ | $0.0006 | -25% |
Volume tiers at 2,000,000 utility messages
2,000,000 utility templates a month in Colombia: $1500.00 instead of $1600.00 at list, a blended $0.00075 per message (6% off).
| Messages in the month | Messages | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–100,000 | 100,000 | $0.0008 | $80.00 |
| 100,001–1,000,000 | 900,000 | $0.0008 | $720.00 |
| 1,000,001–2,000,000 | 1,000,000 | $0.0007 | $700.00 |
Worked example
An illustrative month for a business messaging customers in Colombia, at list rates before volume tiers:
| Marketing | 50,000 × $0.0125 | $625.00 |
| Utility | 200,000 × $0.0008 | $160.00 |
| Authentication | 100,000 × $0.0008 | $80.00 |
| Service (1,000 free) | 29,000 × $0.0008 | $23.20 |
| Meta charges for the month | $888.20 |
Illustrative volumes. Excludes taxes, platform fees and volume-tier discounts.
Which category drives the bill
In the example month, marketing is 70% of the bill in Colombia but only 13% of the messages: one marketing template costs as much as 15.6 utility templates. Moving order and account updates to utility templates, and answering inside the free service window, lowers the bill fastest.
Colombia compared with nearby markets
Marketing in Colombia ranks 1 of 5 in this group (1 = cheapest) and is 80% below the average of the other markets. Utility and authentication are 94% below their average.
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | $0.0125 | $0.0008 | $0.0008 |
| Peru | $0.0703 | $0.0300 | $0.0300 |
| Mexico | $0.0397 | $0.0085 | $0.0085 |
| Brazil | $0.0625 | $0.0068 | $0.0068 |
| Rest of Latin America | $0.0740 | $0.0113 | $0.0113 |
Source: Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform rate card (USD), effective 1 October 2026, retrieved 2026-10-10. Rates are set by Meta and can change; your quote confirms the current rate.
WhatsApp pricing in Colombia: questions
How much does a WhatsApp message cost in Colombia?
From 1 October 2026, Meta charges per delivered template message to recipients in Colombia: $0.0125 for marketing, $0.0008 for utility and $0.0008 for authentication. Rates are in USD.
Is WhatsApp cheaper than SMS in Colombia?
An authentication (OTP) template in Colombia costs $0.0008, 97% less than the cheapest SMS: $0.0300 on Tigo Colombia. We route SMS to 3 networks there (Claro Colombia, Movistar Colombia and Tigo Colombia). Even a marketing template, at $0.0125, costs less than the cheapest SMS here. SMS in Spanish fits 160 GSM-7 characters per segment until one character outside GSM-7, or an emoji, drops it to 70.
Which WhatsApp messages cost the most in Colombia?
In the example month, marketing is 70% of the bill in Colombia but only 13% of the messages: one marketing template costs as much as 15.6 utility templates. Moving order and account updates to utility templates, and answering inside the free service window, lowers the bill fastest.
What do 2,000,000 utility messages a month cost in Colombia?
2,000,000 utility templates a month in Colombia: $1500.00 instead of $1600.00 at list, a blended $0.00075 per message (6% off).
Which opt-in rules apply to business messages in Colombia?
Verifiable opt-in required, with consent records retained per the local data-protection law. STOP / SAIR keyword honoured network-wide. Opt-out is one-step and applied across the operator.
How does WhatsApp pricing in Colombia compare with nearby markets?
Marketing in Colombia ranks 1 of 5 in this group (1 = cheapest) and is 80% below the average of the other markets. Utility and authentication are 94% below their average.