Meta plans to begin testing new subscription offerings that provide access to exclusive features across its apps, the company confirmed on Monday. The subscriptions are designed to unlock enhanced productivity and creativity tools, alongside expanded AI-powered capabilities.
Over the coming months, Meta said it will introduce premium experiences on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. These paid tiers will offer users access to special features and greater control over how they share content and connect with others, while core app functionality will remain free. Meta noted that it will experiment with a range of subscription features and bundles, with each app offering its own distinct set of premium tools.
As part of these plans, Meta also intends to scale Manus, an AI agent it recently acquired for a reported $2bn, integrating it into its broader subscription strategy.
The company is pursuing a two-pronged approach for Manus. It will embed the AI agent within Meta’s consumer products while continuing to sell standalone Manus subscriptions to businesses. Meta has already been spotted working on a Manus AI shortcut within Instagram, according to a screenshot shared by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who is known for uncovering unreleased features during development.
In parallel, Meta plans to test subscriptions for AI-driven tools, including Vibes video generation. Vibes is the company’s AI-powered short-form video experience built into the Meta AI app, allowing users to create and remix AI-generated videos. While the feature has been free since its launch last year, Meta now plans to introduce a freemium model, with subscriptions unlocking additional video creation capacity each month.
Although details around paid features for WhatsApp and Facebook remain unclear, Paluzzi reports that Instagram’s subscription may include unlimited audience lists, insights into followers who don’t follow back, and the ability to view Stories anonymously without notifying the creator.
Meta stressed that these new subscriptions will be separate from Meta Verified. The company said it is applying lessons learned from Meta Verified to broaden its subscription business, developing offerings aimed at everyday users, creators and businesses alike.
Meta Verified is primarily targeted at creators and businesses, providing benefits such as a verified badge, 24/7 support, impersonation protection, search optimisation and exclusive stickers. While those tools are not designed for general users, Meta said the upcoming subscriptions will be built for a much wider audience.
