Instagram now charges $3.99 a month for new features – here's what you get, and what stays free

If you use Instagram, your app is not changing today. But starting now, there is a paid option sitting alongside it.

Instagram has launched Instagram Plus, an optional subscription priced at $3.99 per month, rolling out globally from 4 June 2026. It adds a set of new features on top of the free app, none of which were previously available. Instagram says the experience free users have today is not going anywhere. So what do you actually get? Most of the new features are built around Stories.

Subscribers can spotlight a Story to push it to the front of their friends' feeds, send animated Super Hearts reactions, create unlimited audience lists beyond the single Close Friends group the app currently offers, and keep a Story live for 48 hours instead of the usual 24. They can also preview someone else's Story without appearing as a viewer, see how many times their own Stories have been rewatched, and search their viewer list to check whether a specific person has seen their content.

On top of that, there are profile customisation tools: a choice of custom app icons, the option to change the font in your bio, up to six pinned posts on your profile instead of the current limit, and the ability to post directly to your profile or highlights without it showing up in your followers' feeds. Instagram says more features are coming over the next few months.

What does the free app keep?

Meta has said it is not moving core features behind a paywall. The free versions of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp are staying as they are. Every feature in Instagram Plus is new, meaning nothing that was free before is now locked away in this subscription.

That said, it is not the first time Meta has put Instagram features behind a subscription. In early 2026, Instagram moved its Competitive Insights and Shared Access tools behind the Meta Verified subscription, which starts at around $15 per month. Both had previously been free for business and creator accounts.

Instagram Plus is a separate product from Meta Verified and is aimed at everyday users rather than businesses or creators.

What else is Meta launching?

Instagram Plus is one part of a broader push. Meta is simultaneously launching Facebook Plus at $3.99 per month and WhatsApp Plus at $2.99 per month, and will begin testing professional plans for creators and businesses as well as AI-focused plans, all under a new subscription umbrella called Meta One, according to TechCrunch.

Meta head of product Naomi Gleit announced the plans in a video posted to Instagram. The move is part of a push by the company to build revenue beyond advertising, as it faces investor scrutiny over its significant AI spending. Meta's stock rose nearly three per cent on the news, according to AFP.

Snapchat's comparable subscription, Snapchat+, has topped 25 million subscribers, according to TechCrunch, which indicates there is an established appetite for paid social media tiers built around extra features. Instagram Plus is available to subscribe to now through the app.