How does Whatsapp make Money

WhatsApp Basics

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum. It’s a free secured messenger service that allows domestic and international communication among users on a secured network.

It’s currently headquartered in Menlo Park, California with Facebook (FB)/ Meta Platforms, Inc. as the parent company.

Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, making it the largest subsidiary of the company next to Instagram and Facebook Messenger. WhatsApp does not trade independently.

As a messenger service, WhatsApp is robust. Users can send text messages, voice messages, make both voice and video calls, share images and documents, and share one’s location.

Essentially, anything a user needs to communicate with another is available via WhatsApp.

Users like the platform because it is free with no ads and offers end-to-end encryption, with the company stating that it is not able to read or capture messages.

WhatsApp Business Model

The product of WhatsApp is simple: a robust personal messaging service. How it makes money is a little different than many others in the arena.

WhatsApp started as a ‘freemium’ service, where users were able to send messages for free for the first year and then renew at an annual $0.99 fee.

They have shifted from this business model and stayed away from in-app advertising. Instead, they make money through WhatsApp for Business and WhatsApp Pay.

There are a number of competitors in the market, all who have different business models for revenue generation. Some of the top competitors are LINE, Kakao, Kik, and Skype.

• LINE makes money from in-game purchases and other services such as stickers.
• Kakao generates revenues from advertising.
• Kik gives users rewards for watching advertisements.
• Skype is a subscription service for worldwide calling.

2 Ways WhatsApp Makes Money

1. WhatsApp for Businesses

While the service is free for consumers to use, businesses can sign up for WhatsApp for Business to use the platform for sales and support.

The WhatsApp Business API is used by major brands such as Netflix, Uber, and Wish. It originally encouraged businesses to use the platform and provide quick responses.

WhatsApp would charge businesses for delayed responses. So while the business could respond for free within 24 hours, it would be charged a fee for responses later than that.

The new business API for WhatsApp for Business applies charges based on a messaging tier. The charges are:

• First 250,000 messages: $0.0085 per message
• Next 750,000 messages: $0.0083 per message
• Next 2 million messages: $0.0080 per message
• Next 3 million messages: $0.0073 per message
• Next 4 million messages: $0.0065 per message
• Above 10 million messages: $0.0058 per message

Essentially, the more messages a company sends, the cheaper the rate is.

2. WhatsApp Pay

WhatsApp Pay is a payment feature similar to PayPal. Users can send money to friends, family, and businesses for free. The party receiving the money is charged 3.99% per transaction.

Like other money sending services, this app connects to a linked bank account where the funds are taken from or deposited. This service is currently only available in India and Brazil on specific devices.

Bottom Line

You can’t invest in WhatsApp on its own but you can understand how the messenger giant makes money for its parent company, Facebook.

WhatsApp is becoming a larger revenue source as it competes to maintain its market share on secure messenger services.

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