A plan, and what you send.
A monthly plan, and a price for each message by what kind it is. The bigger the plan, the less each message costs. Every price is on this page, and shown again before you press send.
Solo
- An offer KES 4.10, an update KES 0.73
- 1 team member
- 1 WhatsApp number
- 500 contacts on your list
- 25 AI requests a month
Starter
- An offer KES 3.80, an update KES 0.68
- 3 team members
- 1 WhatsApp number
- 2,000 contacts on your list
- 100 AI requests a month
Growth
Most shops- An offer KES 3.66, an update KES 0.65
- 10 team members
- 3 WhatsApp numbers
- 25,000 contacts on your list
- 1,000 AI requests a month
Scale
- An offer KES 3.36, an update KES 0.60
- 30 team members
- 10 WhatsApp numbers
- 200,000 contacts on your list
- 5,000 AI requests a month
Enterprise
Sending 200,000 messages a month or more: a price for each message agreed with you, from KES 75,000 a month, and the set-up done with you, your systems connected to Sema included.
Every workspace starts with 14 days of Growth, free, with nothing charged for a plan until you choose one. Everything else (the shared inbox, automations and flows, catalogs, campaigns, the API) is on every plan. Prices in Kenyan shillings; businesses outside Kenya are billed in US dollars.
What a message costs
All in, on each plan, in Kenyan shillings. The price follows the country of the number you message, not where you are: choose it below.
| Message | Solo | Starter | Growth | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
An offer Promotions, new stock, a campaign | KES 4.10 | KES 3.80 | KES 3.66 | KES 3.36 |
An update Order ready, appointment, receipt | KES 0.73 | KES 0.68 | KES 0.65 | KES 0.60 |
A login code One-time passwords, through the API | KES 0.73 | KES 0.68 | KES 0.65 | KES 0.60 |
A reply Inside the 24 hours after a customer writes. The first 1,000 a month for each number are free. | KES 0.73Free for the first 1,000 | KES 0.68Free for the first 1,000 | KES 0.65Free for the first 1,000 | KES 0.60Free for the first 1,000 |
To Kenya, all in, in Kenyan shillings, from Meta’s rate card of 1 July 2026 at KES 130 to the dollar.
What is never charged
Messages your customers send you. A message that fails, which is refunded to your credit automatically. Sema bills from what Meta actually reports for each message, not its own guess.
Customers paying you by M-Pesa
Into your own paybill or till, from the conversation. Sema takes 0.5% of each payment that goes through: at least KES 2, at most KES 50, from your credit. Nothing on a payment that fails or is cancelled.
AI
Each plan includes AI requests every month: drafts, summaries and answers alike. Beyond them, KES 3.00 each from your credit, and one the model fails to answer is given back. AI is off until you switch it on.
The four kinds of message
WhatsApp prices a message by what it is for. A message you send first is an approved template, and Meta decides its kind when it approves it, by what it says, not by what you call it.
- An offer (marketing)
- Anything meant to sell, or that is not about something the customer already did with you. The dearest kind, and the one WhatsApp limits most: a customer who blocks or reports offers lowers your number’s quality.For example: a sale, new stock, an event invitation, a "we miss you", a newsletter.
- An update (utility)
- About something the customer already started: an order, a booking, a payment, their account. A utility template with a sales pitch in it is turned into marketing by Meta, at marketing’s price.For example: order ready, delivery on its way, appointment reminder, receipt, fee balance, statement.
- A login code (authentication)
- A one-time code and nothing else, with a button that copies it. Sent through Sema’s Verify, which makes the code, sends it and checks what the customer types.For example: a login code, a code to confirm a payment or a new phone.
- A reply (service)
- Anything you write in the 24 hours after a customer’s own message: words, photos, documents, buttons or lists, no template needed. The cheapest kind, and the first 1,000 a month for each number are free.For example: answering a question, sending a price list, confirming an order the customer just placed.
How you pay
Meta sets part of every message’s price and bills it to your card; the rest, and the plan, come from your Sema credit. What you see is the whole price.
- Meta, by card
- Add a card to your WhatsApp account in Meta’s WhatsApp Manager when you connect your number; Meta bills its part of each message to it, in US dollars. From 1 October 2026 Meta stops even replies from an account without one. No bank card? M-Pesa GlobalPay gives you a Visa card number that spends from your M-Pesa balance.
- Sema, by M-Pesa or card
- Top up your Sema credit by M-Pesa, or by card through Paystack. The plan and the rest of each message come from it, each shown on a monthly usage statement; every top-up gets a statement with your KRA PIN. If credit runs out, templates and campaigns stop. Replies to customers keep going, up to KES 1,000 below zero, so nobody is left mid-conversation.
- Coming: everything by M-Pesa
- Sema paying Meta for you, so the whole bill is one M-Pesa top-up and no card is needed. It is being set up with Meta; this page will say when it is here.
Against the other ways to buy it
What each charges for a message to a Kenyan number, all in, as they publish it, read on 26 September 2026.
| Who | An offer | An update | A month | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sema, Growth | KES 3.66 | KES 0.65 | KES 9,900 | The inbox for ten people, automations and flows, AI, catalogs, campaigns and the API, billed in shillings by M-Pesa. |
| Africa’s Talking The WhatsApp API, sold per message at its own rates: USD 0.032 an offer, 0.008 an update, 0.002 a reply; USD 50 a month and USD 85 to set up. | KES 4.16 | KES 1.04 | KES 6,500 | The API. The inbox, automations and campaigns are yours to build. |
| Twilio Meta’s rate, plus USD 0.005 on every message sent or received. | KES 3.57 | KES 1.17 | None | The API, billed in dollars by card. |
| 360dialog Meta’s rate, plus EUR 49 a month for each number, and 4% on usage paid by card. | KES 3.04 | KES 0.54 | KES 7,453 | The API. |
USD at KES 130, EUR at USD 1.17. The API providers sell the connection to WhatsApp; the software a team answers from is on top, built or bought. Prices change, and each name links to the page they were read from.
Your own month
Inside the 24 hours after they write: KES 0.65 each on Growth, and free for the first 1,000.
Order ready, appointment reminder, receipt: KES 0.65 each on Growth.
Promotions, new stock, a campaign: KES 3.66 each on Growth.
One-time codes sent through the API: KES 0.65 each on Growth.
36% of what you spend on messages.
- Messages
- KES 3,648
- Growth plan
- KES 9,900
- Total a month
- KES 13,548
Messages to numbers in Kenya, from 1 October 2026. Meta bills its part of each message to your card; the plan and the rest come from your M-Pesa credit. A message that fails costs nothing.
Questions about pricing
How is the price of a message made up?
A message’s price is set by its kind, by the country of the number you send it to, and by your plan: the bigger the plan, the less each message costs. The price on this page is the whole price. Meta bills its part to the card on your WhatsApp account and the rest comes from your Sema credit, but the total is exactly what is shown here and before you press send.
Which kind is my message?
A reply in the 24 hours after a customer writes is a reply, whatever it says. A message you send first is an approved template, and Meta decides its kind when it approves it, from what it says. The template studio says which kind Meta is likely to choose, and its price, before you submit it; if Meta changes a template’s kind later, Sema shows the new kind and charges by it.
Are replies ever free?
Yes. The first 1,000 replies a month on each number are free: Meta charges nothing for them, and neither does Sema. After that a reply to a Kenyan number is KES 0.65 on Growth. Updates are charged even inside a customer’s 24 hours, since Meta started charging for them on 1 October 2026.
Do I pay for messages customers send me?
No. Messages your customers send you are never charged, however many there are, and neither is a message that fails to be delivered: it is refunded to your credit automatically.
What about customers who come from my adverts?
When a customer taps a click-to-WhatsApp advert on Facebook or Instagram and writes to you, WhatsApp opens a 72-hour window in which your messages to them carry no Meta charge. Sema shows the window on the conversation and charges only its part.
Can I try Sema for free?
Yes. Every new workspace gets 14 days of Growth with nothing charged for a plan. Messages you send are paid from credit you top up by M-Pesa, so you decide exactly what a trial costs, and replies to customers keep going up to KES 1,000 below zero. Developers can build against the API with a test key, which checks everything and sends and charges nothing.
How do I pay?
Top up your Sema credit by M-Pesa from the Credit page, or by card through Paystack. Meta’s part of each message is billed to a card on your WhatsApp account; with no bank card, M-Pesa GlobalPay gives you a Visa card that spends from your M-Pesa balance. Every top-up gets a statement with your KRA PIN.
What happens when my credit runs out?
Templates and campaigns stop until you top up, so nothing is sent that you have not paid for. Replies to customers keep going, up to KES 1,000 below zero, and your next top-up covers them. A low-credit warning tells you before it happens.
Why does a message to another country cost more?
WhatsApp charges by the country of the number you message, and some cost far more than Kenya: an offer to a number in Nigeria or South Africa costs several times one to Kenya. Choose the country in the table above, or in the calculator, to see it.
Do prices change?
Sema’s plans and its part of each message change only with notice. Meta changes its rate card from time to time, usually each quarter, and Sema follows it on the day it takes effect. This page shows the rates in use and the date of Meta’s card.
Can I change or cancel my plan?
Moving up takes effect at once, and you pay the difference for what is left of the period. Moving down takes effect at the end of the period you paid for. Cancelling keeps the plan to the end of its period, then templates and campaigns pause; your conversations and contacts stay yours to export.
Try it before you pay for it.
14 days of Growth, free. Connect your number, answer real customers, and choose a plan when you know it works for you.
Start freeNothing to pay to start. Prices in Kenyan shillings.