WhatsApp Is Testing a Subscription Plan and Names It WhatsApp Plus: Here Is Everything You Need to Know Right Now

The world's most popular messaging app just made a move that nobody saw coming. WhatsApp is officially testing a new subscription tier called WhatsApp Plus, designed for users who want more ways to organize and personalize their experience, and Meta has confirmed the test directly to TechCrunch.

This is a genuinely big deal. WhatsApp is among the most popular chat apps in the world, at least partly because it has been ad- and subscription-free for a very long time. That is now changing. And the question every one of its 3 billion-plus users is asking right now is simple: what exactly do you get, and how much will it cost?

What WhatsApp Plus Actually Offers Subscribers

Let's cut straight to it. If you subscribe, you get access to exclusive premium stickers, the ability to change your app theme by choosing from 18 colors, and the option to choose a custom icon for WhatsApp itself, which will appear on your phone's home screen and in its app drawer.

But that is only the beginning. You can also pin up to 20 chats with WhatsApp Plus, up from the limit of three that free users currently get. Additionally, the plan includes 10 exclusive premium ringtones, and you can apply settings in bulk to multiple chats and groups within a specific custom list.

Here is what makes that list feature genuinely useful. For example, you can set a theme to apply to all conversations within a specific list, and when you add a new conversation to that list, the theme is automatically applied to it too.

WhatsApp Plus also introduces animated sticker packs, new themes, and unique notification sounds, alongside additional settings that allow users to apply personalized configurations across multiple chats simultaneously.

How Much Does WhatsApp Plus Cost?

Pricing is where things get interesting. The interface shows a price of €2.49 per month in Europe, PKR 229.00 per month in Pakistan, and $29.00 per month in Mexico.

Compared to rivals, Telegram Premium charges $4.99 per month for features including doubled limits, 4-gigabyte file uploads, voice note transcription, and ad removal. Snapchat Plus costs $4 per month for more than 40 exclusive features. WhatsApp Plus costs less and offers less, betting that the sheer size of its user base will compensate for the lower price point.

Worth noting too: a one-month free trial is expected to be offered, though pricing details have not yet been officially confirmed by the company. And the plan renews every month unless the user cancels manually, with cancellation required at least 24 hours before the next payment date.

Why WhatsApp Is Testing a Paid Plan Right Now

More than a decade ago, WhatsApp charged a $1 subscription fee in some regions, but after being bought by Facebook, the company ditched the fee in 2016. Since then, it has built its business around allowing companies to reach users on WhatsApp and letting them create click-to-WhatsApp ads.

That model has worked spectacularly well. During its Q4 2025 earnings call, Meta reported that its family of apps' revenue jumped 54% year-on-year to $801 million, significantly driven by paid messaging on WhatsApp. The company also confirmed that WhatsApp revenue crossed a $2 billion annualized run-rate in Q4.

So if the business is already booming, why add a consumer subscription now? Meta is not trying to fix a broken model. It is adding a new one without disrupting what already works.

The current test is deliberately modest. Meta is establishing the subscription infrastructure, testing price elasticity across markets, and gauging whether users will pay for features that have no functional impact on how the app works. If that experiment succeeds, the door opens to something far larger.

WhatsApp Plus Follows Meta's Broader Subscription Push

WhatsApp is testing a subscription after Meta debuted a similar subscription for Instagram earlier this year. Instagram Plus, which launched three weeks earlier, offers more functional upgrades including anonymous Story viewing, unlimited audience lists beyond Close Friends, a weekly Spotlight boost, rewatch count insights, 48-hour Story extension, and animated Superlikes, with regional pricing in markets including Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines.

The pattern here is clear. Meta is methodically rolling a subscription layer across its entire family of apps, testing what users will pay for in each product separately before committing to a broader strategy. Messaging apps used to compete on simplicity and scale. Now, they are inching toward self-expression and personalization, territory once owned by social platforms.

One Important Thing WhatsApp Plus Does NOT Include

Before you reach for your payment details, there is a critical caveat you need to know.

Meta has not mentioned anything about removing ads from the Status feature, which were introduced last year. So even if you pay for WhatsApp Plus, you are not buying your way out of ads on Status.

That distinction matters enormously for users who assumed a paid tier would mean a cleaner, ad-free experience. It does not. You are buying into personalization, not buying out of monetization.

WhatsApp Plus also does not support WhatsApp Business, meaning the subscription is available only on the standard WhatsApp Messenger app.

Who Can Access WhatsApp Plus Right Now?

Not many people, and that is entirely by design. The feature is currently being rolled out in phases as part of a controlled release to gather feedback and assess performance. At this stage, the feature is accessible only to a limited number of beta users, and there is no confirmed timeline for a global release.

As WhatsApp Plus is an early test in limited markets, only a few of WhatsApp's 3 billion-plus user base will get to buy the paid plan, meaning it will not likely move the needle much on the company's balance sheets in the near term.

But do not let that fool you into thinking this is a minor experiment. If one percent of WhatsApp's 3.3 billion users subscribed at the European price, it would generate roughly $1 billion annually. At any scale, the math becomes very interesting very fast.

What This Means for the Future of WhatsApp

Meta acquired the Singapore-based AI agent startup Manus in December 2025 for approximately $2 billion. Future subscription tiers are likely to incorporate AI features powered by that acquisition, moving beyond cosmetic upgrades to functional capabilities such as higher AI generation limits, premium styles for AI-created content, and agentic tools that act on behalf of users.

WhatsApp is currently exploring additional features to include in the premium plan in a future update, aiming to make WhatsApp Plus more valuable over time by refining its offerings based on user feedback.

WhatsApp Plus does not change how the app works today. But it might slowly change what it means. The app you have used for free since 2016 is quietly, carefully, beginning its transformation into something more layered, and more profitable.

Bottom Line: Should You Pay for WhatsApp Plus?

Right now, most users cannot pay even if they wanted to, given the limited rollout. But when the option reaches your region, the value proposition is straightforward: a small monthly fee buys you a more personalized visual experience, more pinned chats, and exclusive ringtones, but zero additional privacy and zero removal of Status ads.

For power users who live inside WhatsApp every day, the expanded pinning limit alone could be worth the entry price. For everyone else, the free version remains exactly as capable as it has always been.

The core messaging features will remain free for all users, and the new plan is intended purely for those who want to enhance their experience with additional features beyond the standard app experience.