LINE Official Account & Messaging API Pricing in Japan (2026)

If you are setting up a LINE Official Account for your business in Japan, three questions come up almost immediately: Is the free plan enough? What exactly do the paid plans add? And which plan do you need if you connect a chatbot? On top of that, the word "Premium" keeps appearing, and it is not obvious whether it is a plan or an option.

This guide walks through the differences between the Communication (Free), Light, and Standard plans, how Premium ID relates to them, the October 2026 price revision, and a practical rule for choosing a plan when a chatbot is part of the picture.

All prices here are for LINE Official Accounts in Japan, in yen excluding tax — accounts in other countries are priced differently, and the source for the current Japanese rates is LINE for Business's official plan page (in Japanese).

The short version

• The only difference between the free and paid plans is how many messages you can send per month. The feature set is identical.
• Chatbot auto-replies (Reply API) are not counted against your quota, so a chatbot can run in production on the free plan.
• "Premium" is not a plan. Premium ID is a ¥1,200/year option that lets you choose your account ID.

The Three LINE Official Account Plans at a Glance

LINE for Business (LY Corporation) offers exactly three subscription tiers for LINE Official Accounts in Japan. Understanding the core structure is the starting point.

Note on message counting: LINE counts one "message" as one send to one friend. If you send a broadcast to 1,000 friends, that consumes 1,000 messages from your monthly quota — regardless of how many chat bubbles are in that single broadcast (up to 3 bubbles per send is standard).

Communication Plan (Free) — What You Actually Get

The Communication Plan is LINE's entry-level tier, priced at ¥0 per month. The 200-message monthly cap sounds extremely limited, and it is — by design. LINE positions this tier for businesses that want to explore the platform before committing budget.

Key constraints:

• Hard cap at 200 messages per month with no option to purchase extras
• Full access to LINE's messaging features within that cap
• Messaging API access is available (you can connect chatbot tools)
• No verified badge on the Free plan alone (badge requires a separate screening process)

For a business with a modest, highly segmented audience — say, a boutique with 150 LINE friends who sends one curated message per month — the Free plan is genuinely usable. Because chatbot auto-replies do not count, the free plan is genuinely enough if all you want is to automate inbound support — the 200-message cap only limits proactive outreach.

Light Plan (¥5,000/month) — The Practical First Upgrade

At ¥5,000 per month (excluding tax), the Light Plan lifts the monthly ceiling to 5,000 messages. This covers a business with up to 5,000 LINE friends sending one broadcast per month, or 1,000 friends receiving five messages per month.

Key constraints:

• 5,000 messages per month — still a hard cap, no add-ons available
• Full feature access including chat labels, rich menus, and LINE VOOM
• Messaging API available for chatbot and automation integrations
• Suitable for local businesses, service shops, and early-stage e-commerce

The Light Plan is the most popular starting point for Japanese SMBs (中小企業) that have already built a meaningful LINE friends list and need reliable monthly outreach. Push-based reminders and follow-ups do consume quota, so estimate monthly volume from your friend count and send cadence before committing.

Standard Plan (¥15,000/month) — Full-Scale Operations

The Standard Plan at ¥15,000 per month includes 30,000 messages and is the only tier that allows you to purchase additional messages beyond the included quota.

Current additional message rates (as of 2026):

• Up to 200,000 messages/month: ¥3 per message
• Beyond 200,000 messages/month: ¥2.50 per message

Important for 2026: LY Corporation has announced a pricing structure change effective October 1, 2026, moving from the previous multi-tier graduated rate to a simplified two-tier rate. If your current strategy relies on sending large volumes and benefiting from the old stepped discounts, review the impact before October.

Standard Plan is best for:

• Businesses with 5,000+ LINE friends
• E-commerce stores running promotional campaigns with broad reach
• Service businesses with automated reminder and follow-up sequences
• Reminder and follow-up pushes from a chatbot running into the thousands per month

What Is Premium ID? How It Differs from the Old "Premium Account"

Most people who search for "LINE Official Account premium" are mixing up two different things. Here is the distinction.

Premium ID is an option, not a plan

Every LINE Official Account gets a Basic ID at creation (an "@" followed by random letters and digits). Premium ID lets you replace it with a string of your choice (for example @onebot) for ¥1,200 per year (excl. tax). For purchases and renewals from December 1, 2026, the Premium ID fee rises to ¥400 per month or ¥4,800 per year (excl. tax) (announced by LINE Yahoo for Business in September 2026). Premium ID can be added on any plan and has no effect on message quota or features. Think of it as tidying up your business card — useful for shops and companies that want to be found by ID search.

The old "Premium Account" tier no longer exists

There used to be a "Premium Account" category above "Verified Account". The current three-plan structure does not use that name. When an older article says "Premium Account", it usually means what is now the Verified Account or the Standard Plan.

Relationship to chatbot integration

Premium ID has no bearing on Messaging API eligibility. You do not need it to deploy a chatbot. If you tend to promote friend-adds by ID search rather than QR code, a memorable ID can lift your friend-add rate, but that is a marketing decision, not a technical one.

The Verified Badge: What It Is and Which Plans Can Get It

The LINE verified badge is a blue checkmark displayed next to an account name, signaling to users that LINE has confirmed the account belongs to a legitimate business. There is also a gray badge for accounts that have applied but not yet been verified.

The badge is not tied to a specific pricing plan — it is the result of a separate screening process conducted by LY Corporation. Requirements include:

• Submitting a company profile, website URL, and business license documentation
• Passing LY Corporation's review (typically 5–10 business days)
• Having a valid LINE Official Account on any plan

However, invoice payment (rather than credit card) is only available to verified accounts. For larger businesses that require invoice-based billing, verification is a practical prerequisite.

Practical impact on chatbot use: The verified badge does not unlock additional API features. Chatbot integration works identically on verified and unverified accounts.

Chatbot Integration: How Messages Are Actually Counted

The Messaging API is available on every plan

The Messaging API is free on Communication, Light, and Standard alike. No API capability is gated behind a paid tier.

This means:

• You can run a chatbot on the free plan — inbound auto-replies are not metered
• Light and Standard change only how much proactive messaging you can do
• Standard is the only tier that can buy additional messages

Auto-replies (Reply API) are not counted

This is the single most misunderstood point. LINE only counts messages your business sends proactively — push, broadcast, and segmented delivery.

Not counted toward your quota

• Auto-response messages (keyword replies configured in the console)
• Greeting messages (sent on friend-add)
• LINE Chat (manual 1:1 replies)
• Messaging API Reply API — the automated answer to a user's message

So a RAG-based AI chatbot can answer hundreds of questions a month and consume zero messages, as long as it answers through the Reply API. The free plan's 200-message cap does not constrain inbound support at all.

Counted toward your quota

• Broadcasts and segmented delivery
• Messaging API Push / Multicast / Broadcast — booking reminders, campaign notifications, post-resolution follow-ups

Your plan is decided by outbound volume, not by the chatbot

Pick a plan from "how many people do we message, how often", not from "are we running a chatbot".

Worked examples

Messages are counted per recipient; the number of bubbles in one send (up to 3) does not change the count (per the LINE Developers documentation).

Which plan does your send volume land in?

Tell us your friend count and monthly broadcast cadence and we will size the plan and the post-chatbot cost for you, alongside a free demo.

Request a free demo and a cost estimate

When to Upgrade: A Practical Decision Framework

Upgrade from Free to Light when:

• Your LINE friends list exceeds 150–200 people
• You want to send at least one monthly broadcast
• You want to send push notifications (reminders and similar) from your chatbot

Upgrade from Light to Standard when:

• Your LINE friends list exceeds 3,000–4,000 people (approaching the cap with regular broadcasts)
• Chatbot-triggered push delivery is reaching thousands of messages per month
• You are running promotional campaigns requiring multiple touch points per customer
• You need invoice payment (requires verified account, which aligns well with Standard plan operations)

Stay on Light if:

• You have a tightly managed audience under 5,000 friends
• Your chatbot mainly answers inbound questions and sends few pushes
• You are not yet running frequent broadcast campaigns

Chatbot Integration with LINE Official Account: What to Know Before You Build

Connecting a chatbot to LINE OA requires going through the Messaging API. Here is what that integration path looks like in practical terms.

Technical Prerequisites

1. A LINE Official Account on any plan
2. A Messaging API channel linked to your account (set up via LINE Developers Console — free)
3. A chatbot platform or development resource to handle webhook events

Build vs. Buy

Most Japanese businesses — especially 中小企業 without dedicated IT teams — choose a third-party chatbot platform rather than building from scratch. Native LINE chatbot tools offer basic keyword-response functionality, but for AI-powered, context-aware conversation, a dedicated platform is necessary.

For a comprehensive overview of what chatbot integration on LINE actually involves, see our guide: LINE Official Account Chatbot Complete Guide 2026.

RAG-Based AI Chatbots and LINE OA

Standard keyword-based chatbots handle scripted flows well but break down when customers ask questions outside the script. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) chatbots — like OneBot — pull answers from your actual business documents (product manuals, FAQ databases, policy pages) in real time, which keeps hallucinations to a minimum without sacrificing answer breadth.

This matters for LINE OA deployments because:

• Japanese customers expect precise, accurate answers — approximate responses damage trust
• A chatbot that fails to answer correctly escalates to human agents, defeating the cost-reduction goal
• RAG architecture makes the chatbot genuinely useful on day one, without months of manual training

For a deeper look at why RAG matters for business chatbots, see: LINE Chatbot Business Guide 2026.

OneBot + LINE Official Account: Compatible with All Plans

OneBot integrates natively with LINE Official Account through the Messaging API and works on all three plan tiers. Because OneBot manages the conversation logic, your LINE OA plan selection comes down purely to your message volume requirements — the chatbot functionality itself is not plan-dependent.

Key things to know about OneBot's LINE integration:

• Native LINE OA integration — no middleware or manual webhook setup required
• RAG technology keeps hallucinations to a minimum by grounding responses in your actual business data
• Data residency — all data processed on domestic infrastructure in Japan (日本国内サーバー), fully APPI-compliant
• 2-week deployment — no IT team required on your side
• Automates up to 60% of CS inquiries — measurable load reduction from the first month

OneBot answers through the Reply API, so it consumes no messages on any plan. Deploy it on the plan you are on today, watch your actual send volume, and change plans only if outbound demand grows — that is the cheapest possible path.

Summary: Which Plan Should You Choose?

Because chatbot auto-replies consume no quota, plan selection comes down to outbound volume alone. Deploy the chatbot on your current plan, measure the CS cost reduction, and revisit the plan when your send volume — not your inquiry volume — grows.

FAQ

Can I use a chatbot on the free plan?

Yes. The Messaging API is available on every plan, and automated answers to user messages (Reply API) are not counted toward your quota. You can automate inbound support on the free plan.

Is there a "Premium" plan?

No. The current plans are Communication, Light, and Standard only. "Premium ID" is an option that lets you choose your account ID (¥1,200/year excl. tax; rising to ¥400/month or ¥4,800/year excl. tax for purchases and renewals from December 1, 2026). It is not a plan.

Do the free and paid plans differ in features?

No. The only differences are the number of messages you can send per month (200 / 5,000 / 30,000) and whether you can buy additional messages (Standard only).

What changes with the October 2026 price revision?

The additional-message rate on the Standard plan is simplified to two tiers (¥3 per message up to 200,000, ¥2.50 beyond). If you send 50,000 or fewer additional messages per month, the impact is negligible. Check the LINE Yahoo for Business site for the latest details.

Can I change plans mid-way?

Yes. Go to Settings > Usage and Billing > Monthly Plan in LINE Official Account Manager. Upgrades apply immediately; downgrades apply from the following month.

Is a verified account required?

No. It does not affect chatbot integration or any feature. It is recommended if you need invoice payment or want the blue badge to signal trust. Screening usually takes 5 to 10 business days.

How many of your LINE inquiries could be automated?

OneBot integrates natively with LINE Official Account and runs on the free, Light, and Standard plans alike. Auto-replies go through the Reply API, so they consume no messages and you do not need to change plans to deploy. Our RAG-based AI resolves up to 60% of inbound inquiries, and all data is processed on servers in Japan for APPI compliance.

We will build a free demo on your own website or FAQ content in 30 minutes. No setup work on your side.

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