Announced on Wednesday (27 May), the new consumer subscriptions include Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus at $3.99 per month, and WhatsApp Plus at $2.99 per month. Subscribers will gain access to a range of exclusive features, including profile customisation tools, enhanced reactions, audience insights and other premium functions.

According to Naomi Gleit, Meta’s Head of Product, additional features will be added to these subscriptions in the future.

At the same time, Meta is beginning trials of a broader subscription ecosystem under the brand name “Meta One”, which will eventually serve as the umbrella for the company’s growing portfolio of paid services.

The move reflects Meta’s efforts to diversify its revenue sources beyond advertising. With Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp already reaching billions of users worldwide and growth slowing in mature markets, subscriptions offer a new avenue for generating revenue from highly engaged users.

The newly launched Plus subscriptions have been designed to suit each platform’s primary use. Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus focus on social engagement and self-expression, while WhatsApp Plus centres on messaging and personalisation.

Meta stressed that these new subscriptions are separate from its existing Meta Verified service, which provides account verification, protection against impersonation and access to customer support. For now, the company has no plans to discontinue Meta Verified.

Instagram Plus subscribers will gain access to several creator-focused tools. These include the ability to see how many times Stories have been rewatched in aggregate, create unlimited audience lists beyond the current Close Friends feature, and spotlight one Story per week for greater visibility. Users will also be able to extend the lifespan of Stories beyond 24 hours, preview Stories anonymously, search Story viewer lists and publish content directly to their profile or highlights without appearing in followers’ feeds.

Additional features include animated Super Heart reactions for Stories, custom application icons, personalised profile fonts and extra profile pins.

Meta believes these tools will particularly appeal to creators and users seeking deeper audience insights and greater control over their content.

Alongside the consumer plans, Meta is preparing to test premium AI subscriptions. The company will introduce Meta One Plus at $7.99 per month and Meta One Premium at $19.99 per month. Both plans will provide access to enhanced AI capabilities, though the Premium tier will offer greater computing capacity for complex requests.

This means Premium subscribers will benefit from deeper reasoning capabilities, expanded image and video generation tools and more advanced AI functionality across Meta’s platforms. Meta AI will continue to remain free for casual users.

The AI subscriptions will begin testing next month in Singapore, Guatemala and Bolivia. Meta has also indicated that additional benefits for users of its AI-powered smart glasses will be introduced later.

Meanwhile, new creator and business subscriptions will begin testing in Bangladesh, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Morocco later this week.

The Meta One Essential plan, priced at $14.99 per month, includes a verified badge, impersonation protection and an enhanced linksheet that allows users to showcase their presence across websites and social media platforms.

For professional users seeking greater visibility, Meta will offer the Meta One Advanced plan at $49.99 per month. In addition to all Essential features, subscribers will receive preferential placement in Facebook feeds and search results on both Facebook and Instagram. The package also includes a more prominent “Follow” button on Reels and automated follow invitations for users who interact with content.

Advanced subscribers will also be able to add links directly to Instagram posts and Reels, helping drive traffic to websites, online shops and other digital destinations. Enhanced analytics, competitive performance insights, audience data, scheduling tools and team management features will also be included.

The plan further offers copyright-related tools that notify creators when others reuse their content, enabling them to request attribution for original Reels.

While acknowledging that the AI and professional subscription tiers remain experimental, Gleit said Meta intends to gradually integrate these services under the Meta One brand and continue expanding their capabilities over time.