WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook to Launch Paid Versions Soon

Meta is set to begin testing new subscription offerings across its apps, focusing on exclusive features, productivity tools, and enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities. The company plans to introduce premium experiences on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, while keeping core app functionality free. Subscribers will gain access to special features and greater control over content sharing and connections, with each app offering its own unique set of tools rather than a unified subscription.

As part of its subscription strategy, Meta will scale Manus, an AI agent it recently acquired, integrating it into its products and offering standalone business subscriptions. Meta is also exploring paid access to AI features, including Vibes, an AI-powered short-form video creation tool in the Meta AI app, which will adopt a freemium model allowing limited free use with subscription options for additional capacity.

Instagram’s potential subscription features could include creating unlimited audience lists, viewing which followers do not follow back, and watching Stories anonymously. These new subscriptions will operate separately from Meta Verified, which targets creators and businesses with verified badges, customer support, impersonation protection, search optimization, and exclusive stickers.

Meta aims to leverage insights from Meta Verified to design subscription offerings that appeal to everyday users, creators, and businesses. While subscriptions could generate new revenue, the company faces challenges from user subscription fatigue and competition from other digital services. Meta will collect user feedback as it gradually rolls out these subscriptions over the coming months.