What will an automation cost me?
Updated 4 November 2026
The Short Answer
An automation costs 1 credit for each message it drafts (2 on a Give Instructions step) and 1 for each person it sends to. Customised Message drafts one per person, Generic and Fill-In one per step, and your own words, a draft or a template cost nothing to draft. The turn-on check says when you are charged.
You pay for what a run drafts and sends, so an automation that is off, or finds nobody due, costs nothing.
What am I charged for?
Two things: every message a run drafts — 1 credit, or 2 on a Give Instructions step, as a Reply costs — and every person it sends to, 1 credit. How many drafts depends on each step's Message Type:
| Step | Drafts per run | A run to 20 people |
|---|---|---|
| Customised Message | one per person | 20 + 20 = 40 credits |
| Generic Message or Fill-In Message | one per step | 1 + 20 = 21 credits |
| Give Instructions, on Customised Message | one per person, at 2 | 40 + 20 = 60 credits |
| Write Myself, Use Draft or Use Template | none | 0 + 20 = 20 credits |
If any step in the sequence is Customised Message, a run is priced at one draft per person. If any step is Give Instructions, the check prices every draft at 2, the most a run can cost; each run is charged for what it actually drafts.
When a Use Template step goes to someone as your template, the turn-on check adds that Meta bills your WhatsApp account for each one.
When is the charge taken?
It depends on each step's approval level (It Checks With You in the panel shows it when every step agrees):
- Approve Before Sending and Send Automatically draft when the automation runs, so the credits go at the run.
- Notify Only and Confirm Before Drafting write nothing until you say yes, so the credits go then.
Same people, same number — only the moment differs. When steps differ, the turn-on check says which: Step 1 is charged when it runs; steps 2 and 3 when you say yes. Every new automation, and every sequence from Browse, starts on Confirm Before Drafting.
Where do I see the figure before it runs?
Flip the automation's switch in Extensions → Automations and the check that opens has a cost line. It always says when you are charged. It gives the number when a run comes to more than 50 credits, or more than your balance:
- You will be charged 60 credits for each run, total of 258 credits each month (Balance credits: 400) — charged at the run.
- Nothing is charged when this runs — it asks you first. Drafting and sending them costs 60 credits each time you say yes — charged at your yes.
The figure counts everyone the audience names at that moment, so a run that reaches fewer people costs less. On a New Leads automation it prices one lead instead: About … credits for each new lead, or under 50 credits, Each new lead uses credits when it’s written and sent.
How is the monthly total worked out?
On Approve Before Sending or Send Automatically, for a sequence that goes round more than once, the check multiplies one run by its Repeat:
| Repeat | Runs a month |
|---|---|
| Every Day | 30 |
| Every Weekday | 22 |
| Every Week | 4.3 |
| Every 2 Weeks | 2.2 |
| Every Month | 1 |
| Every 3 Months | a third |
| Every Few Days | 30 ÷ the days |
There is no monthly figure for On Command, for New Leads, for a sequence that runs once through, or on the two levels that ask you first.
Does an automation cost anything when nothing goes out?
No. Only automations that are switched on ever run, so one under Off costs nothing, however it is set up.
A run that finds nobody due drafts nothing and costs nothing. A Write Myself step with an empty box sends nothing, and when every step is like that the check says Nothing is charged for this one — and nothing will be sent either, because there’s no message written in it yet.
What if I run short of credits?
The check works out how many people your balance covers and says so before you turn it on: Your balance is 12 credits, so this will only send to 6 of the 20. When it covers nobody, it says so this won’t send anything yet.
Beside the cost line is Top Up Credits — or See Plans, on a plan that cannot top up.
How do I keep the cost down?
- Stay on Confirm Before Drafting, so drafts are written only for runs you say yes to.
- Use Generic Message or Fill-In Message on steps where one message fits everyone — one draft instead of one each.
- Use Write Myself, Use Draft or Use Template where fixed words will do — nothing to draft.
- Keep Give Instructions for the steps that need it: its drafts are 2 a person, the others 1.
- Narrow Who It Goes Through — the check prices sending at 1 credit a person.