Meta is selling $3.99 monthly subscriptions for Instagram Plus

Meta is rolling out an Instagram subscription service for $3.99 a month, called Instagram Plus, which adds features such as “stories” that last for 48 hours, double the amount of time for nonpaying users. 

The new service is aimed at helping Meta diversify its revenue base, which is heavily dependent on advertising. The photo-sharing app will continue to be available for free, and nothing will change for nonpaying users, Instagram said in a Thursday post.

“The Instagram you know and love today isn’t changing — this subscription is simply an optional upgrade for people who want more,” the company said.

What do you get for $3.99 a month?  

Paid subscribers who post stories — images or videos that aren’t permanent and can be seen for just 24 hours — can make them last for 48 hours. 

Subscribers to Instagram Plus can also create multiple audience lists to share certain content with specific groups of people. Meta says such upgrades help social media users maintain closer contact with followers.

The paid service also includes new audience metrics for paid users. For example, they can see how many times their stories were rewatched, which could indicate how compelling the content was to their followers. 

Paid users can also quickly search to see if a specific viewer watched their story. 

Custom app icon, fonts

Instagram Plus gives the app’s users the ability to choose a custom app icon, versus just the standard tile. The paid tier also lets users choose different fonts when writing their bios, and post content to their profiles without it automatically appearing in friends’ feeds, Meta said. 

Instagram’s parent company added that it will be bringing new features to Instagram Plus in the coming months.

Meta’s AI agents for businesses

Meta on Wednesday also launched AI agents for businesses, called the Meta Business Agent, which work across its apps, including WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, to recommend products, answer customers’ questions, and carry out other tasks autonomously. 

The move comes as agentic AI, the successor to generative AI, becomes more attractive to businesses, which see it as a potential replacement for labor costs. Consumers are also adopting the tech to outsource administrative tasks. 

The new products are being rolled at as Meta continues to overhaul its business to focus on AI. Meta in April disclosed plans to lay off roughly 8,000 employees, or 10% of its workforce, to cut costs as it invests more money in artificial intelligence.