Categories: Tech

WhatsApp drops US$1 annual subscription fee: Now WhatsApp is 100% free

Popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp has announced that it will drop its US$0.99 (S$1.42) annual subscription fee, and be made available for free from now on.

The Facebook-owned service, which has a user base of 900 million users worldwide, is a messaging service for mobile devices, and can also be used to make voice calls over a phone�s Internet connection. It recently allowed users to access the mobile service on the Google Chrome web browser.

“For many years, we’ve asked some people to pay a fee for using WhatsApp after their first year. As we’ve grown, we’ve found that this approach hasn’t worked well. Many WhatsApp users don’t have a debit or credit card number and they worried they’d lose access to their friends and family after their first year. So over the next several weeks, we’ll remove fees from the different versions of our app and WhatsApp will no longer charge you for our service,” reads the announcement.

Here is the blog post
Nearly a billion people around the world today rely on WhatsApp to stay in touch with their friends and family. From a new dad in Indonesia sharing photos with his family, to a student in Spain checking in with her friends back home, to a doctor in Brazil keeping in touch with her patients, people rely on WhatsApp to be fast, simple and reliable.

That’s why we’re happy to announce that WhatsApp will no longer charge subscription fees. For many years, we’ve asked some people to pay a fee for using WhatsApp after their first year. As we’ve grown, we’ve found that this approach hasn’t worked well. Many WhatsApp users don’t have a debit or credit card number and they worried they’d lose access to their friends and family after their first year. So over the next several weeks, we’ll remove fees from the different versions of our app and WhatsApp will no longer charge you for our service.

Naturally, people might wonder how we plan to keep WhatsApp running without subscription fees and if today’s announcement means we’re introducing third-party ads. The answer is no. Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organizations that you want to hear from. That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight. We all get these messages elsewhere today – through text messages and phone calls – so we want to test new tools to make this easier to do on WhatsApp, while still giving you an experience without third-party ads and spam.

Alex

Recent Posts

Kweichow Zhenjiu Sweeps Double Silver Accolades at the Prestigious Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition 2024

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire - 8 November 2024 - ZJLD Group Inc.…

6 mins ago

First Early Childhood Exhibition Atelier and Conference in Singapore

REACH, Singapore and Reggio Children, Italy present Mosaic of Marks, Words, Material SINGAPORE - Media…

35 mins ago

Trading fears demystified: expert strategies for overcoming barriers from global broker Octa

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 8 November 2024 - Trading offers a…

1 hour ago

Home Action Party (HAP) Celebrates 10 Years of Innovation Transforming Over 500 Homes

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 8 November 2024 - Home Action Party (HAP) is…

1 hour ago

The Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards 2024 Regional Edition Recognizes Ariescope EL Mejor Trading Pte Ltd for its Achievements under its Fast Enterprise Category

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 8 November 2024 - The Asia Pacific Enterprise Awards…

1 hour ago

Application for clinical trial of AIM Vaccine’s human diploid rabies vaccine

An iterative process is highly effective in increasing the value of large items HONG KONG…

3 hours ago