Bengaluru: Meta has announced that they’re rolling out paid subscriptions for Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. The ‘Plus’ versions of the apps are currently only available in limited locations and for select accounts.
The apps remain free to use, with existing users having access to all features. Paid subscribers will get access to additional perks.
The tech giant announced monthly subscription rates for US-based users—Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus are $3.99 and WhatsApp Plus will cost $2.99.
Instagram Plus in India costs Rs 99 per month. Meta is currently running an inaugural offer—the first six months are half-off, bringing the price down to Rs 49.
All the features revolve around Instagram’s stories feature. Subscribers can extend their story’s expiry, from the standard 24 hours to 48 hours. They can create multiple “story audiences”, know how many people rewatched their stories and how many times, search your story viewer list, preview other people’s stories without appearing on their viewer list, send “super hearts” as story replies and “spotlight” your stories.
Indian pricing for Whatsapp and Facebook is not currently available but both websites have dedicated FAQ pages for the new features.
With a WhatsApp Plus subscription you can share exclusive stickers with special effects, personalise your chats with themes and icons, pin up to 20 chats (the current limit is three),and set “exclusive” ringtones for each contact. All the features are aimed at creating a custom chat experience.
Most of Facebook subscriber experiences mirror those of Instagram. In addition, users can customise the Facebook or Messenger icon on their phones.
The announcement comes a week after Meta laid off around 10 per cent of its workforce.
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What’s happening at Meta?
Meta has planned to spend a capital of up to $145 billion this year, largely to build AI data centers and buy chips to fill them. The layoffs, in which around 8,000 people lost their jobs, are speculated to help pay for the company’s AI ambitions.
Meta is also reportedly moving existing employees to AI-focused teams to work on projects linked to Meta Superintelligence Labs—its AI division.
The Wall Street Journal reported that investors appeared unhappy with Meta allocating such a large chunk of its capital toward AI. When the company announced its first-quarter earnings last month, its stock went down more than 5 per cent in after-hours trading.
But on Wednesday, after it announced the subscription plans, the stock closed up 3.7 per cent, report the WSJ.
Meta AI also gets a subscription package in the recent announcements. There are two subscription tiers—Meta One Plus at $7.99 per month and Meta One Premium at $19.99 per month. While they both have the same base features, the Premium plan unlocks more capacity for higher compute queries and more video and image-generation capabilities across Meta’s apps.
The app will remain free for casual users. The tiered subscriptions are similar to those of other AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Claude.
According to TechCrunch, the AI plans will start testing next month, initially in Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia.
In an announcement on Instagram, Meta’s head of product, Naomi Gleit, said that “more fun features” will be added in the future.
Gleit added that the company aims to bring all the subscriptions under one programme called Meta One.