Meta is exploring a range of new paid subscriptions plans for its flagship social media platforms in order to bring in additional revenue.
The tech giant announced on Wednesday, May 28, that it is rolling out a new consumer-focused subscription tier called ‘Plus’ for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp users globally. Plus subscribers will gain access to extra features on the respective platform, such as profile customisation, super reactions, and story insights, among others.
Meta is also testing out new subscription packages for businesses, creators, and Meta AI users. The India-specific pricing details of Meta’s Plus subscriptions is still unclear. However, consumers subscribing to Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus elsewhere would have to pay $3.99 (Rs 383 approx.) every month while a monthly WhatsApp Plus subscription costs $2.99 (Rs 287 approx.).
Meta’s new Plus tier seems to be catered to power users who want more from its social media platforms by way of extra features that enhance overall engagement and platform use.
These features could help creators grow their following and understand their audience better. For Meta, doubling down on subscriptions potentially allows it to further diversify its revenue streams and generate more value from its massive user bases even as growth across its core apps reaches global saturation.
Meta is also ramping up efforts to release more apps. Last month, Meta-owned Instagram launched a new app as well as an integrated feature called Instants for casual photo sharing without edits or filters. A few weeks later, the company quietly released another stand-alone app called ‘Forum’ that is built around Facebook Groups, and offers users a Reddit-like experience with built-in AI features.
“These subscription plans offer users richer ways to express and connect across our apps with more fun features to be added,” Meta’s head of product, Naomi Gleit, said in an announcement post on Instagram.
The features offered under are focused on enabling creative expression. For instance, the new Instagram Plus plan gives subscribers access to features such as the ability to see how many people have rewatched their Story in aggregate, as well as the ability to create unlimited audience lists for Stories, beyond the ‘Close Friends’ option.
Facebook Plus also offers a similar set of features to Instagram Plus. Under these plans, users can spotlight a story once a week for additional views, extend a story beyond 24 hours, preview a story without showing up as a viewer, search their story viewer list to see who is watching, and more.
Users will also be able to post directly from their profile and highlight it without showing up on their followers’ feeds. Other features such as Super Heart animated reactions for Stories, custom app icons, customisable fonts for profile bios, and additional pins for user profiles are also part of the package.
WhatsApp Plus, on the other hand, offers features such as app themes, custom ringtones, additional pinned chats, list customisation, premium stickers, etc, that are focused on personalisation and messaging.
Meta has reportedly clarified that the new Plus plans are not a replacement of its existing subscription offerings such as Meta Verified that are focused on verification, impersonation protection, and extra support.
Beyond the Plus plans, Meta said it will begin testing professional plans for creators and businesses as well as AI-focused plans for all users. These plans that are undergoing testing will be collectively branded as ‘Meta One’, which will serve as a one-stop shop for all its subscription products moving forward.
Meta is testing two new plans specifically designed for Meta AI users. Meta One Plus, costs $7.99 (Rs 767 approx.) per month and Meta One Premium costs $19.99 (Rs 1920 approx.) per month.
Both plans offer similar features, however, Premium subscribers will have access to more capacity for higher compute queries, meaning deeper reasoning for complex tasks. It would also offer more video and image-generation capabilities across Meta’s apps. The two plans will also offer benefits for those who use Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses.
The AI-focused plans will be rolled out for testing next month in select regions such as Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia. Plans for creators and businesses will also be tested out in Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Thailand, and Bangladesh later this week. To be sure, Meta AI will remain free for more casual users.
