Have you wondered if you pay for calls on WhatsApp? The question is legitimate, there is indeed a lot of confusion on the subject. In a certain sense, in fact, it is true that calls on WhatsApp are free. In another, however, it is not wrong that calls are also paid on WhatsApp.

The key to correctly answering this post’s title question is that WhatsApp needs an Internet connection to work, just like any other instant messaging service. And this (the data connection to the Internet) has to be paid for, and perhaps it will cost more and more.

Therefore, calls on WhatsApp are paid , in the sense that we pay for the Internet connection that is needed to run the application. But there is no additional cost for individual calls which, on the WhatsApp side, are absolutely free. The only price to pay is the connection, both in terms of simple calls and video calls , introduced in November 2016.

Calls on WhatsApp: watch out for scams

However, the network is full of dangers and pitfalls. The latest is a hoax, complete with a scam, which has been circulating in recent days on the WhatsApps of thousands of people around the world. This is a message that invites the user to click on a link that would be used to activate calls on WhatsApp, but which in reality does nothing but activate a paid service that steals users’ confidential information and which can cost up to 40 euros per month.

Usually this scam message looks like this: “ Hi, try the free WhatsApp calls and video calls too! Activate now by clicking here -> Call WhatsApp.com ”, or:“ Congratulations! You have been invited to try WhatsApp Calls, invite 10 friends to activate free WhatsApp calls ”, or in other very similar variants.

If you receive such a message, delete it . WhatsApp will never do anything like this, nor will it ever ask you to click on a link in a message.

How to activate calls on WhatsApp (and who can do it)

Voice calls on WhatsApp are only available for users with Android, iPhone and all other models . To activate them, just download the latest version of WhatsApp and the ability to call with the Voip technology available to the app will be activated (for correct operation, remember to restart the app after installing the update). If you do not want to perform this manual option instead, you will have to wait for the next update on Google Play.

Zero costs, what about consumption?

As we said in the first part of this article, there is no cost directly related to calls on WhatsApp. What we pay is the price of the app and the price of the data connection.
At this point, however, the question arises: how much data do voice calls consume on WhatsApp? According to the authoritative Webnews portal , “calls on WhatsApp consume about 540 kB per minute , or 5.4 MB for ten minutes of phone call. It follows that an hour of conversation “costs” about 30 MB of traffic “.

So let’s try to understand how many hours of phone calls can be made with an average data subscription. If we have two Giga a month, we will be able to make about 70 hours of calls . Obviously, in this way we will use all the traffic to call on WhatsApp, but the consumptions are not so high and if managed they can guarantee a good number of hours of calls, leaving space for Facebook, browsers and other apps that we use from the smartphone.

The comparison: WhatsApp vs Skype, who consumes the most?

WhatsApp calls, therefore, have a price that corresponds to the consumption of the phone’s data traffic. But how much data does it consume? Hard to say in absolute terms. It depends on the type of telephone we use and the type of telephone contract. To get a more precise idea, we rely on the comparison with Skype proposed by the specialized Tecnoxplora website. According to these experts, as seen in the graph (below), WhatsApp consumes more data than Skype.

If you are connected to a WiFi network, they explain on Tecnozplora, no problem. But when using a 3G or 4G connection WHatsApp calls consume more data than the four most popular Voip calling platforms in the world (Skype, Line and Hangouts).

In the tests , which were carried out with a 3G network, WhatsAp p consumed a total of 788 Kb per minute against the 770 Kb of Hangout (with data other than those reported above by Webnews). The difference is much higher than the Skype consumption , which stands at 410 Kb , and even more with Line , which brings data consumption to 261 Kb / minute. So, if you are already making calls via WhatsApp or any of the other platforms using your data connection, keep an eye on the clock to calculate the megabytes you are consuming and avoid any unpleasant surprises.

The conclusions drawn from this study are that Skype and Line are more mature platforms and therefore their services are more optimized in consumption than WhatsApp, which has been offering voice calls for less time.