Meta announced in May 2026 that it will launch paid subscription tiers for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, offering users extra features for a monthly fee. Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus will each cost $4 per month, while WhatsApp Plus will be priced at $3 per month. All three plans are set to roll out globally sometime in the summer of 2026.
Instagram Plus will offer the most features at launch, including additional profile pins, unique bio fonts, siloed Story audiences, and “Super Heart” reaction buttons. Facebook Plus will focus on Story customization and rewatch insights. WhatsApp Plus will include more pinned chats, visual customizations, and premium stickers. Meta spokesperson Maria Cubeta described the plans as part of a broader “Meta One” subscription umbrella, which will eventually expand to include higher-priced tiers for businesses, creators, and users seeking additional access to Meta AI.
The move closely mirrors Snapchat’s approach. Snap launched its own $4-per-month Snapchat+ subscription in 2022, and in February 2026 announced the plan had reached a “$1 billion annualized revenue run rate” in direct payments, with over 25 million subscribers worldwide. Meta’s new plans replicate not only the pricing and feature structure of Snapchat+, but also the “Plus” naming convention itself.
This is not the first time Meta has drawn from Snapchat’s product decisions. After Instagram launched Stories in 2016, then-CEO Kevin Systrom acknowledged to TechCrunch that Snapchat deserved credit for the format. Instagram also launched a location-sharing Maps feature last year, years after Snap introduced a similar tool in 2017.
For Meta, the subscriptions represent an effort to diversify revenue beyond advertising. For users, the plans are optional — Instagram and Facebook are not moving behind a paywall. Whether the approach generates comparable results to Snapchat’s subscription business remains to be seen.
Source: WIRED