Do you believe your carrier is charging you for international calls you made using WhatsApp? If that’s the case, you might have some confusion about how WhatsApp (or VoIP) works in general. Should have you been charged for an international call made through WhatsApp? No, under no circumstance you should be charged for any calls made using WhatsApp. WhatsApp is totally free for the person making the call and the person who’s receiving the call. This also applies to other VoIP apps such as iMessage or Facebook Messenger, as they work using the same protocol.
Why WhatsApp DOES NOT charge for international calls
The owner of WhatsApp, Meta, does not charge users for the WhatsApp service. Instead, they provide the app completely free of charge to all non-business users. They do not charge for long-distance calls or messages transmitted through their app.
Can your carrier charge for WhatsApp calls?
The second party who might have some interest in charging you for your WhatsApp activities is your cellular carrier. This is, however, impossible for them to do so.
Due to the way WhatsApp works, your carrier cannot charge you for any activities done through the WhatsApp app. This includes long-distance international calls. WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption for all of your communication. This means that your carriers do not know whether you’re making a video call, sending a text, or making a voice call. All they know is that you’re transmitting data but they do not know the content of said data.
WhatsApp international call charges
If for any reason you believe that your carrier is charging you for international calls made using WhatsApp, this is likely to be a misunderstanding between you and your carrier or a mistake you made during the call. Here are a few ways to avoid being charged when using WhatsApp…
- Turn off roaming: If you’re outside of the country, or your cellular signal is weak, your phone will fall back to roaming. While roaming, if you use WhatsApp or any data in general, you will be paying some hefty data roaming fees. Although rare, some plans do include free roaming, so check with your carrier and clarify if your plan includes roaming.
- Make the call through the WhatsApp app: This is a mistake many people make. When calling internationally, make sure you dial through the WhatsApp app and not the regular phone dialer.
How to call WhatsApp international
To make a WhatsApp call the right way, your recipient needs to have WhatsApp installed on his/her phone. The person also needs to have an active internet connection, this can be either WiFi or cellular data. Once all of this is done, make sure both of you are communicating through the WhatsApp app and not the regular phone app.