Meta is accelerating a major shift in its business model, weaving paid subscriptions into both its social apps and emerging AI tools as it looks beyond targeted advertising for future growth.

Early rollout of social “Plus” plans

On 27 May, Meta began globally rolling out new consumer subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, branded as Instagram Plus ($3.99/month), Facebook Plus ($3.99/month) and WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/month). These plans promise “extra features, like profile customization, super reactions, and story insights,” with “more fun features” to come, according to Meta’s head of product, Naomi Gleit.¹ The Plus tiers are tailored to each platform: Facebook and Instagram emphasize social expression and analytics, while WhatsApp focuses on personalization and messaging tools.¹

These subscriptions sit alongside, rather than replace, Meta Verified, which remains focused on verification and support.¹ Analysts see the Plus offerings as a way to “diversify its revenue streams beyond advertising” and “extract more value from its existing audience of billions” now that core apps are near global saturation.¹

Meta One: bundling AI and pro features

In parallel, Meta unveiled “Meta One,” an umbrella brand for AI and professional subscriptions.¹ Starting in June tests in Singapore, Guatemala and Bolivia, Meta will sell two AI chatbot tiers, Meta One Plus at $7.99/month and Meta One Premium at $19.99/month, offering expanded image, video and “extended reasoning” capabilities while free users face usage caps.² The Premium price matches ChatGPT Plus and Google AI Pro, while the cheaper Plus tier “undercuts both by more than half,” positioning Meta as a lower-cost entry point for heavy AI use.²

A separate overview of the strategy notes that Meta One Plus and Premium “unlock additional computing power for complex tasks and advanced video and image generation,” with Naomi Gleit saying the AI plans give users “more to work with, more capacity, bigger, more complex requests and more room to create for businesses and creators.”³

Impact on creators and businesses

For professional users, Meta is piloting Meta One Essential at $14.99/month and Meta One Advanced at $49.99/month, with the higher tier including rare access to human customer support for Instagram and Facebook pages.² Meta frames these tools as a way to “enhance presence, supercharge content, automate tasks and protect [their] brand,”³ but critics note the company is now monetizing support that many small businesses long considered a basic need.²

Together, the Plus plans and Meta One mark Meta’s pivot toward a hybrid model: free, ad-supported access for casual users, and subscription-based power features for heavy social and AI users.