WhatsApp Business API pricing in United Arab Emirates
Meta's per-message rates for recipients in United Arab Emirates, 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
- $0.0576
- Utility
- $0.0157
- Authentication
- $0.0157
- Service (after 1,000 free)
- $0.0157
Short answer
A WhatsApp marketing message to United Arab Emirates costs $0.0576, a utility message $0.0157 and an authentication (OTP) message $0.0157 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 | $0.0576 | $57.60 | +12% |
| Utility | $0.0157 | $15.70 | −31% |
| Authentication | $0.0157 | $15.70 | −31% |
| Authentication-international | $0.0510 | $51.00 | — |
| Service | $0.0157 | $15.70 | −31% |
Meta also publishes a United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) rate card; businesses billed in AED 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 United Arab Emirates?
SMS in United Arab Emirates starts at $0.0123 on etisalat, 22% below WhatsApp's authentication rate of $0.0157. We route SMS to 2 networks there (etisalat and du), so SMS stays the cheaper OTP channel unless WhatsApp's higher conversion matters more. A marketing template costs $0.0576, 4.7× that SMS rate, so promotions are where the gap is widest.
SMS in Arabic is UCS-2: 70 characters per segment, so a 120-character message bills as 2 SMS; WhatsApp bills 1 message.
Cost of 10,000 messages
| WhatsApp authentication | $157.00 |
| WhatsApp utility | $157.00 |
| WhatsApp marketing | $576.00 |
| SMS, list rate (etisalat) | $123.00 |
| SMS, list rate (du) | $123.00 |
| SMS at the 5M+ volume tier | $73.80 |
| 120-character SMS in Arabic (2 segments) | $246.00 |
Sender identity and registration in United Arab Emirates
No sender ID to register for WhatsApp: Meta reviews your display name. SMS fallback follows TDRA rules:
- SMS sender formats
- TDRA · etisalat: Alphanumeric (Latin or Arabic), up to 11 chars. AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders.
- TDRA · du: Alphanumeric (Latin or Arabic), up to 11 chars. AD- prefix mandatory on promotional senders.
- SMS sender ID registration
- TDRA · etisalat: Required — one sender ID per legal entity per use case
- TDRA · du: Required — registered alongside etisalat through the operator portal
- Typical lead time: 5-7 business days.
Consent and sending hours in United Arab Emirates
- Opt-in
- Verifiable opt-in required; source, timestamp, IP, and channel must be logged and retained for the life of the relationship. TDRA can request the audit trail at any time.
- Opt-out
- Every promotional SMS must carry STOP or ايقاف. Opt-outs are honoured network-wide and audited by TDRA. One-step, irreversible until the recipient re-consents.
- Sending hours
- TDRA's spam policy bars marketing text messages between 21:00 and 07:00 GST. Transactional OTP and alerts are 24/7.
- Time zone used for scheduling: Asia/Dubai.
Template languages for United Arab Emirates
Customers in United Arab Emirates mostly read Arabic, English, Hindi and Urdu. Arabic and Urdu are written right to left: preview templates on a phone, keep numbers, codes and links in their own variable, and do not mix scripts in one button label. With 4 languages in common use, pick the template language from the customer's stored preference, not from the phone number's country code.
Volume tiers
utility
| Monthly messages | Rate | vs list |
|---|---|---|
| 0–100,000 | $0.0157 | list |
| 100,001–1,000,000 | $0.0149 | -5% |
| 1,000,001–4,500,000 | $0.0141 | -10% |
| 4,500,001–40,000,000 | $0.0133 | -15% |
| 40,000,001–80,000,000 | $0.0126 | -20% |
| 80,000,001+ | $0.0118 | -25% |
authentication
| Monthly messages | Rate | vs list |
|---|---|---|
| 0–300,000 | $0.0157 | list |
| 300,001–2,000,000 | $0.0149 | -5% |
| 2,000,001–10,000,000 | $0.0141 | -10% |
| 10,000,001–20,000,000 | $0.0133 | -15% |
| 20,000,001–40,000,000 | $0.0126 | -20% |
| 40,000,001+ | $0.0118 | -25% |
authentication international
| Monthly messages | Rate | vs list |
|---|---|---|
| 0–300,000 | $0.0510 | list |
| 300,001–2,000,000 | $0.0485 | -5% |
| 2,000,001–10,000,000 | $0.0459 | -10% |
| 10,000,001–20,000,000 | $0.0434 | -15% |
| 20,000,001–40,000,000 | $0.0408 | -20% |
| 40,000,001+ | $0.0383 | -25% |
Volume tiers at 2,000,000 utility messages
2,000,000 utility templates a month in United Arab Emirates: $29080.00 instead of $31400.00 at list, a blended $0.01454 per message (7% off).
| Messages in the month | Messages | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–100,000 | 100,000 | $0.0157 | $1570.00 |
| 100,001–1,000,000 | 900,000 | $0.0149 | $13410.00 |
| 1,000,001–2,000,000 | 1,000,000 | $0.0141 | $14100.00 |
Worked example
An illustrative month for a business messaging customers in United Arab Emirates, at list rates before volume tiers:
| Marketing | 50,000 × $0.0576 | $2880.00 |
| Utility | 200,000 × $0.0157 | $3140.00 |
| Authentication | 100,000 × $0.0157 | $1570.00 |
| Service (1,000 free) | 29,000 × $0.0157 | $455.30 |
| Meta charges for the month | $8045.30 |
Illustrative volumes. Excludes taxes, platform fees and volume-tier discounts.
Which category drives the bill
Utility templates are the largest line in the example month in United Arab Emirates: 39% of the bill for 53% of the messages. Marketing costs only 3.7× utility here, so the utility volume tiers matter more than the category mix.
United Arab Emirates compared with nearby markets
Marketing in United Arab Emirates ranks 3 of 5 in this group (1 = cheapest) and is 12% above the average of the other markets. Utility and authentication are 31% below their average.
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0576 | $0.0157 | $0.0157 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0576 | $0.0107 | $0.0107 |
| Qatar | $0.0341 | $0.0120 | $0.0120 |
| Oman | $0.0341 | $0.0247 | $0.0247 |
| Kuwait | $0.0792 | $0.0440 | $0.0440 |
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 United Arab Emirates: questions
How much does a WhatsApp message cost in United Arab Emirates?
From 1 October 2026, Meta charges per delivered template message to recipients in United Arab Emirates: $0.0576 for marketing, $0.0157 for utility and $0.0157 for authentication, and $0.0510 for authentication-international. Rates are in USD.
Is WhatsApp cheaper than SMS in United Arab Emirates?
SMS in United Arab Emirates starts at $0.0123 on etisalat, 22% below WhatsApp's authentication rate of $0.0157. We route SMS to 2 networks there (etisalat and du), so SMS stays the cheaper OTP channel unless WhatsApp's higher conversion matters more. A marketing template costs $0.0576, 4.7× that SMS rate, so promotions are where the gap is widest. SMS in Arabic is UCS-2: 70 characters per segment, so a 120-character message bills as 2 SMS; WhatsApp bills 1 message.
Which WhatsApp messages cost the most in United Arab Emirates?
Utility templates are the largest line in the example month in United Arab Emirates: 39% of the bill for 53% of the messages. Marketing costs only 3.7× utility here, so the utility volume tiers matter more than the category mix.
What do 2,000,000 utility messages a month cost in United Arab Emirates?
2,000,000 utility templates a month in United Arab Emirates: $29080.00 instead of $31400.00 at list, a blended $0.01454 per message (7% off).
What is the authentication-international rate in United Arab Emirates?
$0.0510 per message, 3.2× the domestic authentication rate of $0.0157. Meta charges it only when an eligible business sends authentication templates to users in United Arab Emirates from outside its primary business location.
Which opt-in rules apply to business messages in United Arab Emirates?
Verifiable opt-in required; source, timestamp, IP, and channel must be logged and retained for the life of the relationship. TDRA can request the audit trail at any time. Every promotional SMS must carry STOP or ايقاف. Opt-outs are honoured network-wide and audited by TDRA. One-step, irreversible until the recipient re-consents.