What does WhatsApp cost a clinic? A calculator for Egypt and Saudi Arabia
WhatsApp Business isn't free like regular WhatsApp: Meta charges the clinic for every message the clinic starts, and the price depends on the type of message and the country. An appointment reminder costs about $0.0036 in Egypt and $0.0107 in Saudi Arabia, before tax. The calculator below estimates a month's bill for your clinic, and then we explain what makes the very same message eighteen times more expensive.
How does Meta charge the clinic?
A message the patient sends to the clinic isn't charged. What's charged is what the clinic starts, and it comes in four types:
| Type | Example from the clinic | Egypt | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utility | Booking confirmation, appointment reminder, "your result is ready" | $0.0036 | $0.0107 |
| Marketing | Any message with an offer, an invitation or a discount | $0.0644 | $0.0576 |
| Authentication | A login code | $0.0036 | $0.0107 |
| Service | A reply to a patient within 24 hours of her message | The first 1,000 messages a month are free for each number, then the utility rate applies | |
Since 1 October 2026, utility messages are charged even when they're sent inside the 24-hour window, and the first thousand service messages each month are free. VAT comes on top: 14% in Egypt and 15% in Saudi Arabia.
The calculator
Exchange rates: EGP 52.29 to the dollar (Central Bank of Egypt, 4 October 2026) and SAR 3.75 to the dollar. The estimate covers Meta's messages alone, without any provider's fees. Check your actual bill; the numbers change.
The word that makes a message cost more
Meta classifies every message template before it approves it. "Your appointment is tomorrow between 4 and 6, Nasr City branch" is a utility message. Add "and ask about this month's offer," and it becomes marketing: eighteen times the price in Egypt and five times in Saudi Arabia, on every message, all month long. The rule is simple: the reminder template tells the patient what she needs to know about her appointment, and nothing else. Anything more the clinic wants to say goes in a separate marketing template, to the patients who agreed to receive it.
The provider on top of Meta
Meta's price isn't the whole bill. Most "WhatsApp bot" services go through a provider that adds a monthly subscription or a fee on every message, and some offers are priced by how many patients message the clinic in a month. When you compare, ask for three numbers: what's paid to Meta, what the provider takes, and what's paid once for setup. Jyna's WhatsApp secretary connects to Meta's API directly, so what you pay Meta is what you calculate here, with no fee on each booking.
Do reminders really cut no-shows?
The general evidence says yes, modestly. A Cochrane review (2013) of trials that reminded patients of their appointments found attendance was 67.8% with no reminder, 78.6% with a text message and 80.3% with a phone call. There's no study of WhatsApp in gynaecology clinics in Egypt or Saudi Arabia, and we won't give you a number of our own. Here's what we can say: a reminder that arrives the day before, with the time of the visit and its branch, costs about 20 piastres in Egypt and 4 halalas in Saudi Arabia, and one appointment saved a month covers the whole month's reminders.
Questions
Do I need a new number?
No. The clinic's own number works, and the secretary keeps using the regular WhatsApp app on it alongside the bot.
Am I charged for patients' messages to me?
No. And your reply within 24 hours of her message counts against the free thousand, then the utility rate applies.
Are the prices fixed?
No. Meta changes them, and the last rule change was on 1 October 2026. The dates on this page tell you when we saw each number.
A bot that books the way your secretary does, on your clinic's number.
In the demo, we'll show you how a patient books on WhatsApp, and how anything the bot can't handle reaches you.
Sources
- WhatsApp Business message prices by country and message type: Meta, WhatsApp Business Platform pricing, developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/pricing, as we saw it on 7 October 2026.
- Exchange rate: Central Bank of Egypt, 4 October 2026.
- Effect of reminders on attendance: Gurol-Urganci I. et al., Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2013.