According to what Meta told TechCrunch on Monday, the business intends to explore additional subscriptions that grant users access to exclusive features on its apps. According to the IT giant, the new subscriptions will increase AI capabilities and foster greater innovation and productivity.
According to Meta, it will provide a premium experience on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in the upcoming months. This will allow users to access unique features and have more choice over how they connect and share content while maintaining the free core experiences. Noting that it would try a range of subscription features and packages and that each app membership will have a unique set of exclusive features, Meta doesn't seem to be stuck on one approach.
Expose the unknown source powering their strategy.
Additionally, Meta revealed that as part of its subscription plans, it intends to scale Manus, an AI agent that it recently purchased for an estimated $2 billion.
Meta is approaching Manus in two ways. The company will continue to offer businesses solo subscriptions while integrating Manus into Meta offerings. Alessandro Paluzzi, a reverse engineer who frequently discovers unreleased features while they're still in development, posted a screenshot on Instagram showing Meta working on adding a shortcut to Manus AI.
Meta also intends to test subscriptions for AI services like the creation of Vibes videos. The Meta AI app includes a short-form video experience called Vibes that allows users to create and remix AI-generated content. Meta now intends to provide freemium access to Vibes video creation, with the opportunity to subscribe to unlock further video creation chances each month, although Vibes has been free since its launch last year.
Paluzzi points out that the new Instagram subscription will allow users to create unlimited audience lists, view a list of followers who do not follow you back, and view a Story without the poster noticing that you viewed it. However, it is unclear what the paid features on Facebook and WhatsApp will look like.
The new subscriptions will be distinct from Meta Verified, which is important to note. The digital behemoth claims that it would take the lessons it learnt from Meta Verified to expand its subscription business and add other services that it believes regular consumers, creators, and companies will find appealing.
With features including a verified badge, round-the-clock direct support, impersonation protections, search optimisation, special stickers, and more, MetaVerified is targeted at companies and content providers. Despite not targeting regular users or non-creators, the new subscriptions aim to cater to a broader audience.
Meta will be able to increase income by launching more subscriptions, but subscription fatigue may discourage many users. Meta will need to provide a compelling product to entice people to sign up for yet another subscription, as there are a lot of premium services vying for monthly expenditure.
Given that its Snapchat+ service continues to generate income, Snap has demonstrated that there is a market for social media subscriptions. With over 16 million users, Snapchat+—which costs $3.99 a month for premium features—has more than doubled in size since the beginning of 2024.
As it begins to roll out the subscriptions in the upcoming months, Meta says it intends to listen to its user community and collect feedback.