ARE META’S NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS WORTH IT?

July 27, 2026 17 6 5

James Klusener

@jamesklusener

A month ago, Meta launched a suite of new subscription services for several of its social media apps. These included Instagram and WhatsApp. These new subscriptions, known as Instagram Plus and WhatsApp Plus, offer users added benefits on top of the product itself. Instagram Plus will cost R37.99 per month, while WhatsApp Plus costs less at R28.99 per month, and both services offer a month-long free trial. However, for those prices, are the additional features worth it?

After subscribing to both services for a month, it does not seem to be worth it, unless there are certain features you require, depending on how you use these services. Starting with the cheaper of the two offerings and arguably more simple: WhatsApp Plus. There is a reason this subscription is cheaper, as it offers fewer features. These features include exclusive stickers, custom app icons, the option to change the app’s theme, exclusive ringtones, the ability to pin extra chats, and the option to better organise your chats.

Some of the features that stuck out to me personally, initially, included the custom app themes, which I changed to purple, and the custom app icons – I love a good app icon. Ultimately, these features alone did not prove valuable enough for me to fork over what amounts to nearly R30 a month.

The other added features, like pinning extra chats, did not appeal to me, as I prefer a clean, chronological experience, however how this feature is used may vary. The extra sticker packs sound interesting, but they come across as ‘corporate’, and it’s unlikely that anyone will use them unironically. And the custom ringtones? There are a lot fewer people that have their phones’ sound turned on and do not just use it on vibrate or do not disturb. It hardly seems useful or appealing, let alone with custom ringtones.

Overall, WhatsApp Plus with its current features does not seem worth it, especially once you consider that over 12 months, it will cost you R347.88, which only makes these features seem even less valuable. Instagram Plus, on the other hand, has some merit to it at a more expensive monthly cost of R37.99 – it also includes more fleshed-out features with some individual features you may want, especially if you’re a heavy Instagram user.

While there are too many features to list, the most notable include custom fonts across bios, chats and stories, extending your story’s expiry time beyond 24 hours, custom app icons, super hearts for stories, and most interesting, previewing stories and story rewatch insights. The custom app icons for Instagram Plus are much more delightful than those offered by WhatsApp Plus. A favourite is the icon titled “Together” by the user @iscreamcolour. The other feature which I suspect many users will be willing to pay for specifically is the ability to preview stories. This feature is pretty self-explanatory as it allows the user to view someone else’s story without them knowing.

This feature isn’t a fan favourite because it feels like it’s breaking a certain social contract between users. It is important to know who has viewed your stories, just as it is important to know who follows you and who likes your posts. Instagram is a platform founded on visibility and social webs that connect users. If we take aspects of that away, something changes. It becomes less fun and more creepy. This is a much more comprehensive offering than WhatsApp Plus. However, if we look at the yearly costs, it comes to R455.88 – that’s a steep price to view stories anonymously. Ultimately those that subscribe will likely use Instagram’s features more than WhatsApp’s.

What these subscriptions don’t offer is the removal or reduction of ads. Instagram is free because it has ads that subsidise the costs of running the platform. However, other platforms that have subscriptions, such as YouTube Premium, Spotify, or Disney Plus, have no ads once you pay. This is something to consider when assessing the value proposition of these subscriptions.

Overall, Instagram Plus is definitely a compelling option for a certain kind of user, while WhatsApp Plus seems hardly worth it. Some better subscriptions for you to spend your money on are Spotify Premium, which has a variety of pricing options, especially for students. YouTube Premium, which at R81.99 is a steal, even at the higher price, includes ad-free YouTube Music and a full YouTube experience. I’ve been subscribed since 2022, and it has been absolutely worth it.