WhatsApp launches R29 subscription in South Africa
Meta Platforms has launched its WhatsApp Plus subscription in South Africa, giving users of the popular chat app several additional features for a monthly fee of R28.99.
The US social media giant began testing the subscription in April 2026, explaining that it was designed for users seeking more ways to organise and personalise their experience.
The WhatsApp Plus subscription is part of a broader effort from Meta Platforms to diversify its revenue streams beyond its main advertising business.
Meta Platforms said it did not plan to start charging for private messaging or other core features on WhatsApp.
The WhatsApp Plus membership is free for the first month, although users are required to add a payment method to test it out. At launch, it adds six features to WhatsApp.
In terms of customisation, WhatsApp Plus users can choose a custom app icon and new themes with more colour options for messages, icons, and backgrounds.
The subscription also adds enhanced chat lists, each of which can have its own settings for alerts, ringtones, and themes.
WhatsApp Plus subscribers can also pin up to 20 chats to the top of their home screen, compared to just three for non-paying users.
Other extra features include “exclusive” sticker packs and a variety of ringtones for WhatsApp notifications.
To sign up for WhatsApp Plus, Android users must tap the three-dot button at the top right of their WhatsApp home screen, then select “Settings,” then “Subscriptions.”
On iPhone, the Subscription section is also available under the settings page, which can be accessed by tapping on their profile icon in the bottom-right corner.
The subscription price of R28.99 is substantially lower than in the US, where WhatsApp Plus costs $2.99 (R49.33).
The screenshots below show some of the features available to WhatsApp Plus subscribers in South Africa at the time of the subscription’s launch.
Plethora of subscriptions
Meta Platforms recently began selling consumer subscriptions to its Meta AI chatbot in late May 2026, although these are not yet available in South Africa.
The first countries to get the subscription are Bolivia, Guatemala, and Singapore. The subscriptions come in two tiers — Meta One Plus and Meta One Premium.
The more affordable Plus plan is intended for people who frequently use Meta AI to generate images and videos or require extended reasoning capabilities from the platform.
The Premium plan offers the same capabilities but with more tokens. While the Meta AI chatbot remains free, it has stricter limits on image and video generation.
It is unclear exactly what the difference in limits is between free, Plus, and Premium, as Meta has declined to share this information.
For Facebook and Messenger users, the company’s Facebook Plus subscription is priced at R37.99 per month and adds five features:
- Preview stories
- Get story reach insights
- Search your story viewer list
- Choose a custom app icon
- Extend your story’s expiration
Meta Platforms also began rolling out a subscription service on its photo- and video-sharing platform Instagram in early June 2026.
Also priced at R37.99 per month, Instagram Plus adds capabilities similar to Facebook Plus, as well as custom app icons and a custom font for bios.
These consumers’ subscriptions are in addition to several Meta AI One business subscriptions, including Meta Verified, priced from R209.99 per month.
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