WhatsApp is no longer 100% free. Meta, its parent company, is testing a paid subscription version. It’s called WhatsApp Plus Sticker.
However, there’s no need to panic. The core features remain unlocked. Messaging, calling, and end-to-end encryption security remain free. This paid service is purely cosmetic.
WhatsApp Plus users can change the app icon. They can change the theme. Choose custom ringtones. And get exclusive sticker with special effects.
The only truly functional feature is the chat pin limit. Paid users can pin up to 20 chats.
Compare that to the free limit of just 3 chats. There’s also no promise to remove ads from the Status feature. How much does it cost? There hasn’t been an official global release yet. But WABetaInfo notes that prices vary. In Europe, it’s set at €2.49 per month. In Pakistan, it costs 229 PKR, or about $0.82 per month. Meta is also enticing users with a free trial for the first month. “WhatsApp Plus is designed for users who want more ways to organize and personalize their experience,” said a Meta spokesperson. They intentionally launched this small test to see if the market truly considers this feature valuable.
This move brings back old memories. A decade ago, WhatsApp once charged a subscription fee of USD 1 per year. That policy was officially scrapped in 2016.
From a business analysis perspective, Meta is now increasingly savvy at monetizing its services. Currently, they are reaping significant profits from business messaging features and “click-to-WhatsApp” ads. In the fourth quarter of 2025, revenue from Meta’s family of apps surged 54 percent year-over-year, reaching USD 801 million. In fact, WhatsApp’s annual revenue has surpassed the USD 2 billion mark.
However, since this WhatsApp Plus trial is still very limited, it is unlikely to significantly impact Meta’s financials in the near future. Given that its total user base exceeds 3 billion people.
This trend toward premium services is also spreading to other apps. Instagram Plus is currently being tested to allow Stories to last longer than 24 hours. Meanwhile, the professional platform LinkedIn has also launched an exclusive service called Crosscheck. This feature is being tested for free with unlimited tokens for LinkedIn Premium subscribers in the United States.
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The options come from giants like Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, Mistral, Amazon, and MoonshotAI.