Credit, plans and what messages cost
What you pay, for what, and how to keep it topped up.
How paying works
You pay for Sema in two ways, both from the same place:
- A plan, monthly or yearly, for the workspace.
- Each message you send, priced by its kind and shown before you send it.
Today every workspace is on direct billing: Meta bills its part of each message to the card on your WhatsApp account, and the rest, along with your plan, comes from your Sema credit, which you top up by M-Pesa. The prices below are the whole price of each message, card and credit together. See the card Meta asks for.
Plans
A new workspace gets 14 days of Growth, free. Choose a plan on the Credit page, monthly or Yearly (two months free).
| Plan | A month | A year | Team members | Numbers | Contacts | AI requests a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | KES 1,490 | KES 14,900 | 1 | 1 | 500 | 25 |
| Starter | KES 2,900 | KES 29,000 | 3 | 1 | 2,000 | 100 |
| Growth | KES 9,900 | KES 99,000 | 10 | 3 | 25,000 | 1,000 |
| Scale | KES 29,900 | KES 299,000 | 30 | 10 | 200,000 | 5,000 |
The plan is taken from your credit at the start of each period. If you have not chosen one when the trial ends, templates and campaigns pause until you do. Replies to customers who write to you never stop over billing.
Sending 200,000 messages a month or more? Enterprise is a price for each message agreed with you, from KES 75,000 a month: ask us on the Pricing page.
What each message costs
What one message to a Kenyan number costs, all in, on each plan. The price follows the country of the number you message: the Pricing page has every country, and what each kind of message is.
| Message | Solo | Starter | Growth | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| An offerMarketing: promotions, new stock, a campaign | KES 4.10 | KES 3.80 | KES 3.66 | KES 3.36 |
| An updateUtility: order ready, appointment, receipt | KES 0.73 | KES 0.68 | KES 0.65 | KES 0.60 |
| A login codeAuthentication, through the API | KES 0.73 | KES 0.68 | KES 0.65 | KES 0.60 |
| A replyInside the 24 hours after a customer writes | KES 0.73 | KES 0.68 | KES 0.65 | KES 0.60 |
| A reply, within the first 1,000Each month, on each number | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Messages to other countries are priced by Meta’s rate for that country; the reply box and the campaign builder show each one’s price before you send. A message that fails is returned to your credit. The statement shows what each message actually cost.
Topping up
- Open Credit, and under Top up with M-Pesa choose an amount (KES 500, 1,000, 2,500 or 5,000) or type one from KES 50 to KES 150,000.
- Check the M-Pesa number and press Add KES ….
- Your phone shows the M-Pesa request; enter your PIN. Sema says Check your phone., then Credit added. once M-Pesa confirms it.
Owners, admins and members with the Billing role can top up. Every top-up gets a statement.
When credit runs low
Set a Low-credit warning on the Credit page: when the balance falls below it, owners, admins and billing members are told in Sema and by email.
If the credit runs out:
- templates and campaigns stop until you top up;
- replies to customers keep going, up to KES 1,000 below zero, so nobody is left mid-conversation. Your next top-up covers it.
Changing or cancelling a plan
- Move up takes effect at once. You pay the difference for what is left of the period; the button shows it.
- Move down takes effect when the period you have paid for ends, and only if the workspace fits the smaller plan by then.
- Cancel the plan: it runs to the end of the period, then templates and campaigns pause.
- If a renewal cannot be paid because the credit is short, you have seven days to top up before templates and campaigns pause. Topping up restarts them within minutes.
Invoices and statements
The Credit page links two documents, deliberately kept apart:
- Invoices show what you paid Sema: each top-up, with your KRA PIN.
- Usage statement shows what your credit went on: every message, plan and fee.
Not what you needed? Ask us.