Meta is rolling out paid subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, in a major shift for a business long built around free apps and advertising revenue.

The new services, branded Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus and WhatsApp Plus, will give users access to extra features for a monthly fee. Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus are priced at about A$5.60 a month, while WhatsApp Plus will cost about A$4.20 a month, based on current exchange rates.

Meta says the subscriptions are aimed at users who want more personalisation, better insights and additional tools across its major platforms. The company has also flagged more paid features to come, including plans aimed at businesses, creators and heavy users of Meta AI.

Instagram Plus will offer features including Story rewatch statistics, the ability to search Story viewer lists, extended Story visibility beyond 24 hours, weekly Story “spotlight” boosts, profile customisation, custom fonts, app icons and additional reactions.

Facebook Plus will include a similar set of social and profile-focused tools, while WhatsApp Plus is more focused on messaging customisation, including premium stickers, custom ringtones, app themes, extra pinned chats and other personalisation options.

The rollout follows several months of testing and comes as Meta looks to broaden its revenue base beyond advertising. The company is also under pressure from investors over the cost of its AI infrastructure buildout.

Meta head of product Naomi Gleit (pictured) said the company plans to add “more fun features” over time and is testing additional subscription products under a broader Meta One brand.

Internal Memo Reveals Meta's Plan to Kickstart Its Enterprise AI Business — The Information

These include planned paid tiers for Meta AI, with higher-cost plans expected to offer more access to compute-heavy features such as advanced reasoning, image generation and video generation.

The new Plus subscriptions will not replace Meta Verified, Meta’s existing paid identity and protection service, which offers account verification, impersonation protection and additional support.

For now, users who want paid upgrades across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp will need to subscribe to each service separately.