WhatsApp API can be your best growth channel or your most confusing bill. Since Zoko keeps a lot of info on different pages, we thought of giving you a structured and clearer breakdown of their pricing, so that you can budget with confidence and decide if Zoko fits your use case.
Summary, in one glance
Zoko charges a monthly plan fee plus WhatsApp’s own charges. Some plans also have per conversation platform fees and fair-use overage fees.
Starter is $39.99/month with a $0.015 per conversation platform fee. Plus $64.99/month and Elite $114.99/month show $0 per conversation on the pricing page. A MAX plan is listed on the INR tab.
WhatsApp fees are passed through at Meta’s rate card, with the first 1,000 conversations per WABA free each month. Zoko’s docs show example India rates and confirm the free 1,000 policy.
Zoko also prices Flows and fair-use items like extra agents, rules, and segments. Pre-built ecommerce flows are free, custom flows are priced per flow with a monthly step allowance.
Zoko Plans, Fees, and What they include
Plan fees and platform meter
Plan | Monthly fee | Zoko platform fee per conversation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Starter | $39.99 | $0.015 | Instagram add-on listed at $9.99/month. WhatsApp billed as per Meta rate card. Zoko |
Plus | $64.99 | $0.00 | Platform shows zero per-conversation fee, Meta fees still apply. Zoko |
Elite | $114.99 | $0.00 | Platform shows zero per-conversation fee, Meta fees still apply. Zoko |
Max* | ₹33,833/month | ₹0 | Listed on the INR tab, with separate fair-use limits. Zoko |
*Currency varies by tab on Zoko’s pricing page.
How WhatsApp charges apply
Zoko passes WhatsApp charges at Meta’s rate card. Their billing guide shows example rates for India, such as $0.0099 for a marketing or business-initiated conversation and $0.0040 for a user-initiated conversation, and confirms the first 1,000 conversations per WABA are free each month.
Fair-use limits and overages
Zoko displays fair-use limits for conversations and agents by plan. If you cross them, small overage fees apply.
Conversation fair-use limits and overage
Plus: 5,000 conversations per month, then 0.199 cents per additional conversation
Elite: 100,000 per month, then 0.099 cents per additional conversation
Max: 5,000,000 per month, then 0.049 cents per additional conversation
Zoko also shows the INR view for the same rows as 19.9 paisa, 9.9 paisa, and 4.9 paisa per extra conversation.
Agents fair-use and overage
Plus: 5 agents included, then $15 per additional agent per month
Elite: 10 agents included, then $12 per additional agent per month
Max: 30 agents included, then $9 per additional agent per month
The INR tab lists ₹1,249, ₹999, ₹749 per extra agent for the respective plans.
Other fair-use items (from Zoko’s billing guide)
Plans include a set number of rules and segments, then charge $0.99 per extra rule and $0.99 per extra segment per month on certain tiers. Check your plan’s fair-use table before scaling automation.
Flows pricing
Zoko splits flows into two buckets:
Pre-built ecommerce flows like abandoned checkout, order shipped, order delivered, COD reconfirmation, product upsell, and reorder reminder are listed as free.
Custom flows are $5.99 per flow per month. Each account gets 500,000 free steps per month, then $0.0002 per additional step. INR view shows ₹599 per flow and ₹0.02 per extra step. Zoko
Billing model and credits
Zoko states that all charges are prepaid. You pay the monthly subscription at the start of the billing period, then top up prepaid credits to cover conversation usage. Plan changes can be made any time, with upgrades taking effect immediately and downgrades from the next period. Zoko mentions discounted pricing for brands that commit to 250K conversations or more per month on an annual basis.
Putting it together, how to estimate your monthly cost
A simple way to plan is to add three parts:
Plan fee for Starter, Plus, Elite, or Max
WhatsApp charges as per Meta’s rate card, minus the first 1,000 free conversations per WABA
Any Zoko platform extras, like Starter’s $0.015 per conversation, fair-use overages if you cross limits, agent overages, and any paid custom flows you enable
Zoko’s billing guide gives a sample for India and explains how the 24-hour conversation session is counted, which helps you forecast accurately if you are sending follow-ups within the service window.
Pros, cautions, and who Zoko suits
Where Zoko fits
You want WhatsApp plus Shopify features with a ready set of ecommerce flows, and you prefer pass-through Meta rates with no extra per-conversation platform fee on higher plans.
What to watch
On Starter, include the $0.015 per conversation platform fee in your math.
Keep an eye on fair-use limits if your monthly conversations or agents grow fast, since overages do apply, even if they are small.
If you build many custom flows, add the $5.99 per flow per month and any extra steps above the 500K monthly allowance. Zoko
How Heltar compares - At a glance
If you prefer per-session platform pricing with a clear monthly subscription and low session fees after free credits, Heltar gives that model out of the box. For WhatsApp-first teams that run multi-step flows, this can keep your platform cost predictable while you scale messaging depth. Heltar not just helps you send bulk messages via WhatsApp API but also create seamless automated workflows.
Scenario 1, many agents on support + moderate volume
A retail brand runs support on WhatsApp with many agents and ~30,000 automated sessions a month.
| Item | Heltar | Zoko |
|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Growth, 80 dollars per month | Elite, 114.99 dollars per month |
| Platform usage | 30,000 sessions x 0.02 dollars = 600.00 | Per conversation fee on Elite is 0 within fair-use |
| Agents | No agent overage listed in Heltar pricing | Elite includes 10 agents. 70 extra agents x 12 dollars = 840.00 |
| Other platform extras | none in this setup | none in this setup |
| Total platform fee | 680.00 dollars | 954.99 dollars |
| Heltar vs Zoko | Heltar cheaper by 274.99 dollars |
Notes
Zoko Elite has no per conversation platform fee, but it charges per extra agent after fair-use.
Heltar Growth charges per automated session, and the monthly subscription is lower than Zoko Elite.
Scenario 2, campaign heavy brand with custom flows
A D2C brand runs many campaigns and languages. They keep 60 custom flows live and execute about 1.5 million flow steps in a month. They also fire ~50,000 automated sessions.
| Item | Heltar | Zoko |
|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Pro, 150 dollars per month | Elite, 114.99 dollars per month |
| Platform usage | 50,000 sessions x 0.001 dollars = 50.00 | Per conversation fee on Elite is 0 within fair-use |
| Custom flows | Included in Heltar pricing model | 60 flows x 5.99 dollars = 359.40 |
| Flow step overage | not applicable | 500,000 free steps, then 1,000,000 extra steps x 0.0002 dollars = 200.00 |
| Total platform fee | 200.00 dollars | 674.39 dollars |
| Heltar vs Zoko | Heltar cheaper by 474.39 dollars |
Why these cases are common?
If your business needs a large support team, Zoko’s agent overages add up fast. Heltar does not meter agents in the pricing you shared.
If you run many custom automations, Zoko adds both a per-flow fee and a per-step meter above the monthly allowance. Heltar charges per automated session, so your fee stays steady as you add steps inside a session.
Final word
Zoko’s pricing mixes a monthly plan, Meta’s own rates, and fair-use rules. Once you know which items apply to you, the budget is easy to model. If you want help deciding whether Zoko or a per-session model suits your flow design and list size, we can walk you through the math for your case.
Book a quick demo with Heltar, and we will map your current WhatsApp plan to a clean cost view and a launch checklist.
