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Analysis
Every article in Analysis. 9 articles
Is your NGO on the WhatsApp API? Your service messages can still be free
Since 1 October 2026, replies on the WhatsApp Business Platform are billed once a phone number passes 1,000 a month. Government bodies and community non-profits that Meta counts as eligible still pay nothing for them, through 31 December 2027. Who qualifies, how to check your account, and what to do if it says REGULAR.
November 11, 2026
PSOE vs Frente Amplio: the WhatsApp battle, in data
We counted all 139 posts on the two WhatsApp channels that copied Exército do Lula's playbook in Spain. LA FUERZA DE LA GENTE, run by PSOE supporters, has more followers. FRENTEAMPLISTAS gets more out of each one. Which formats work, which don't, and what campaign teams can take from it.
October 29, 2026
How WhatsApp became Brazil's campaign trail, from 2018 to 2026
In 2018 Brazil's presidential race ran through private groups and paid mass messaging that nobody outside could see. In 2026 it ran through public channels with millions of followers, registered at the electoral court. What changed in between, from WhatsApp's forward limits and the TSE's rules to the arrival of Channels, and what stayed exactly the same.
October 26, 2026
WhatsApp API pricing from October 2026: the 24-hour window no longer makes anything free
Since 1 October 2026, replying to a customer on the WhatsApp Business API costs money. Free-form replies are billed at the utility rate once a number passes 1,000 a month, and utility templates sent inside the 24-hour window are billed from the first one. This post walks through the current card, with real figures for ten markets.
October 5, 2026
VOX becomes Europe's most-followed party on WhatsApp in twelve days: signs of fake followers?
In twelve days VOX's channel went from fourth to first among the European parties we track, from 39,000 to 82,000 followers. But reactions and forwards per post did not follow, the pattern that usually marks an inflated audience.
September 15, 2026
Free WhatsApp service messages end on 1 October 2026
Since November 2024 you could reply to customers inside the 24-hour service window for free, as much as you liked. That ends on 1 October 2026: service messages start billing at the utility rate, though the first 1,000 a month on every business number stay free. The same update also charges for utility replies in the window, moves nine markets onto their own rates, and raises prices in several more. Here is the whole picture, with before-and-after figures.
September 2, 2026
Six years of WhatsApp API pricing: some rates up 300%, and free messages set to end
We read six years of Meta’s WhatsApp Business pricing, quarter by quarter. Some rates have climbed as much as 300% with no announcement, others have been cut just as sharply, and the free service messages introduced in 2024 are reported to end on 1 October 2026. Every figure here is dated and sourced from the change ledger we maintain.
August 19, 2026
WhatsApp API Pricing: What Changed in Q3 2026
On 1 July 2026 Meta moved six markets onto standalone WhatsApp Business Platform rates, raised utility and authentication prices across most of them, cut Poland sharply, nudged Western-European marketing up, and let Brazil bill in reais. Here is exactly what moved, with the before-and-after figures, every one traceable to our dated change ledger.
August 13, 2026
4 keys and 2 examples of how the far right uses WhatsApp
How far-right movements turn WhatsApp into a machine for recruitment and disinformation, the four-part playbook, case studies from Brazil and Spain, the 2024–2025 escalation with AI, and what progressive campaigns can learn to fight back.
July 17, 2025