HOW DOES

whatsapp

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Jan Koum and Brian Acton launched the app in 2009. Five years later, they sold it to Facebook (now Meta) for $22 billion.

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The founders departed three years later due to strategic differences. Acton even publicly denounced Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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WhatsApp, despite countless ongoing legal battles and reputational issues, remains the world’s most popular messaging platform by a wide margin.

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But how does WhatsApp, which is completely free to use, actually make money?

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In the past, WhatsApp generated revenue by charging an annual fee of $1. In 2016, Facebook decided to ditch the fee.

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BUSINESS API

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transaction fees

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In the future, WhatsApp could introduce more premium tools for business customers or add the ability to acquire other goods and services (for which it would receive a referral fee).

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HOW DOES

WHATSAPP MAKE MONEY?

whatsapp

WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging app with 2 billion users exchanging 100 billion messages – per day.

whatsapp

Jan Koum and Brian Acton launched the app in 2009. Five years later, they sold it to Facebook (now Meta) for $22 billion.

The founders departed three years later due to strategic differences. Acton even publicly denounced Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

WhatsApp, despite countless ongoing legal battles and reputational issues, remains the world’s most popular messaging platform by a wide margin.

But how does WhatsApp, which is completely free to use, actually make money?

READ MORE

In the past, WhatsApp generated revenue by charging an annual fee of $1. In 2016, Facebook decided to ditch the fee.

BUSINESS API

Businesses on WhatsApp pay between $0.0058 and $0.0085 per message to communicate with customers. The fee is only applied 24hrs after the start of the conversation.

transaction fees

In the future, WhatsApp could introduce more premium tools for business customers or add the ability to acquire other goods and services (for which it would receive a referral fee).

SWIPE UP TO READ THE FULL STORY