Meta is currently trialling a premium subscription called WhatsApp Plus. It has been spotted by several users, and Meta has officially confirmed its existence to TechCrunch.
WhatsApp is set to change, although only paying users will be able to benefit from the new additions. At least, that is what the latest details obtained by TechCrunch suggest. Meta has also confirmed that such a plan is on its way.
More specifically, the version of WhatsApp you use today will remain free. However, Meta is considering additional features, particularly personalisation options, that would be available exclusively through a paid package named WhatsApp Plus. A Meta spokesperson says the subscription is intended for users seeking more ways to organise and tailor their experience. In practical terms, subscribers will be able to select the app’s main colour from 18 shades - including purple, orange, green and their variants - replacing the usual green throughout the interface.
The package would also include exclusive icons, new ringtones, stickers with special effects and visual themes. Users would additionally be able to pin up to 20 chats rather than 3, and apply settings to a group of conversations at once instead of changing them individually.
The price is expected to be around €2.49 per month, according to information from WABetaInfo. Meta is likely to revise that price when the final rollout takes place. For now, the trial is being deployed on a small scale and only to Android users.
Making WhatsApp profitable
With WhatsApp, Meta has limited room to manoeuvre in terms of features, largely confined to adding cosmetic elements whose value may struggle to justify a monthly subscription. Meta’s challenge is that WhatsApp already provides an exceptionally comprehensive free experience: encrypted messaging, calls, file sharing, groups and channels. Instagram and Facebook, by contrast, had more features that could be monetised.
Yet, with more than 3 billion active users, the platform remains a largely untapped opportunity for generating revenue. If only a small share of that user base converts to a subscription, the sums involved could rapidly become enormous. The group has also stated that WhatsApp exceeded an annualised revenue run rate of $2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 54% year on year. That growth has been driven primarily by… paid business messaging.
The arrival of WhatsApp Plus fits neatly into Meta’s new strategy. Following the launch of Meta Verified in 2023, the group is taking another step by testing a premium offering across its flagship platforms: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. It remains to be seen how the public responds to this new subscription.
What we think
At present, WhatsApp Plus is a subscription for “green that turns purple”. It is hard to view it as a revolution, and Meta is not claiming that it is one. What matters is less the product itself than the mechanism behind it: by gradually getting its billions of users used to paying for previously free apps, Meta is laying the groundwork for potentially more substantial - and more expensive - offers.
With WhatsApp Plus, Meta is also creating a two-tier WhatsApp. Although the extra features do not change very much, they exist, and that could frustrate some users - especially if the people they talk to have access to features they do not. Frustration, after all, can easily persuade people to pay up. Need we mention that millions of X users were happy to pay simply to display a small blue tick?
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