Meta Locks Advanced AI Behind New Subscription Tiers
The social media giant is introducing 'Meta One' and business-centric plans to monetize its Muse AI models, creating a tiered system of access for users and creators.
Meta has expanded its push into subscription services with the launch of Meta One, a new offering that places expanded AI capabilities and premium features behind a paywall across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, as TechCrunch first reported. The move is designed to monetize Meta's Muse AI models, following a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI in 2025 and the recruitment of Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead the company's AI efforts.
The new subscription structure introduces two primary tiers for general users: a Core plan priced at $7.99 per month and a Premium plan at $19.99 per month. Both tiers include features from previously launched subscriptions—Instagram Plus ($3.99/mo), Facebook Plus ($3.99/mo), and WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/mo)—but the primary draw is expanded access to AI tools. Subscribers can use Muse Image and Muse Video for generation, as well as the AI-powered Restyle tool for editing Instagram Stories. While Meta declined to specify exact usage limits, citing variations based on system conditions, country, and surface, TechCrunch reports that the Premium plan offers more usage than the Core plan.
Beyond general users, Meta is targeting businesses and creators with four distinct tiers. The Essential plan starts at $14.99 per month and provides impersonation detection, a verified badge on the WhatsApp Business App, and expanded access to the Meta Business Agent. The Advanced plan, starting at $49.99 per month, adds the ability to schedule stories 30 days in advance, exportable analytics, and support for links in reels and organic posts. Higher-tier options include the Expert plan (starting at $149 per month) and the Max plan (starting at $499 per month), which provide the highest levels of Meta Business Agent capacity and feature access.
Meta also intends to introduce Edits Plus to the Meta One ecosystem for its Edits content-creation app, which will offer additional AI assistant usage and increased cloud storage.
Financial data suggests these monetization efforts are already yielding results. Market intelligence provider Appfigures reported that for the week of September 9, Instagram's daily worldwide revenue averaged $1.2 million, while Facebook's averaged $528,000—increases of 475% and 143%, respectively, over the previous week. Appfigures further noted that U.S. users accounted for 39% of Facebook's and 32% of Instagram's revenue during that period. Looking forward, BNP Paribas forecasts that Meta's subscription strategy will generate $13.5 billion in revenue by 2028, while Truist estimates the total could reach $20 billion by 2030.