Contents
Business models that work
- Managed service: monthly fee for setup, bots, templates and campaign management, plus messaging at your rates.
- Software resale: your branded platform at a per-seat or per-plan price; clients run it themselves.
- Hybrid: software plus a block of managed hours.
Rate cards and margin
Your cost is the platform's floor rate for each unit (message by category, SMS, email recipient, web session). Your sell rate is your rate card. Keep both on every transaction so you can see margin per client. Avoid opaque bundles: clients increasingly know Meta's rates.
Wallets and credit risk
In a prepaid model you top up one wallet and client usage draws it down. Set per-client credit limits and low-balance alerts so one client's campaign cannot drain your balance. Decide what happens at zero: pause marketing sends, keep service replies.
Reuse is where margin comes from
The agencies that scale build a bot once — clinic appointments, real-estate qualification, order status — and deploy it across clients with per-client variables. Rebuilding per client caps how many clients you can handle.
Compliance is your reputation
If a client spams, their number's quality drops and your brand takes the hit. Make opt-in collection part of onboarding, use consent-enforcing campaigns, and read the opt-in rules together with each client.
How ChatRhino supports partners
Four-level tenancy (platform, partner, sub-partner, client), branding and custom domains, versioned rate cards, per-client overrides, prepaid wallets, three billing modes and commission reports. See for agencies.
Step by step
- Pick your niche. Choose one or two industries where you can reuse the same bots and templates across clients.
- Set your pricing. A monthly management fee plus messaging at your rate card, with a markup over platform cost.
- Brand the platform. Apply your logo, colours and domain so clients see your product.
- Choose a billing mode. Prepaid wallet funded by you, client pays provider directly, or platform invoices — per client.
- Onboard clients. Number connection, business verification, opt-in collection and first templates.
- Report and review. Monthly usage, margin and outcomes per client; adjust pricing as volumes change.
Frequently asked questions
Can an agency resell the WhatsApp Business API?
Agencies typically resell a platform built on the WhatsApp Business Platform, under their own brand, while the platform or a BSP holds the Meta relationship.
How should agencies price WhatsApp services?
A monthly management or software fee plus messaging at a rate card with a transparent markup over cost.
How do agencies avoid unpaid messaging bills?
Use a prepaid wallet with per-client credit limits and low-balance alerts, and pause marketing sends when funds run out.
Sources
Official documentation we checked (November 2026). Rules and prices change; the source is the authority.
- Meta — WhatsApp Business Platform pricing https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy https://business.whatsapp.com/policy
This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice.