Meta has officially confirmed that Instagram is currently testing a new premium subscription tier designed to give users more control over their viewing habits and content privacy. A spokesperson for the social media giant told AFP on Monday that the features being piloted include a “discreet viewing” mode, allowing paying subscribers to watch Story posts that typically vanish after 24 hours without leaving a trace.
The proposed paid service also grants users advanced authority over their own shared media, specifically offering more granular control over which accounts are permitted to view the photos and videos they post to their Stories. This move marks a significant shift for the platform, which has traditionally relied on a public-facing engagement model where Story views are always visible to the original uploader.
While Meta declined to provide an exhaustive list of participating regions, the new tier is reportedly being tested in a select number of countries worldwide. According to reports from TechCrunch, the pilot programme includes users in Japan, Mexico, and the Philippines, with subscription fees expected to hover around the US$2 per month mark.
This latest development follows Meta’s previous launch of ad-free, paid versions of Facebook and Instagram in the United Kingdom last year, which was primarily introduced to comply with local digital legislation. By exploring a feature-based subscription model, Instagram appears to be following in the footsteps of competitors like Snapchat and X, both of which have successfully integrated premium tiers into their ecosystems over the last several years.
The financial potential of such a move is underscored by the success of rival platforms, with Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, recently reporting a milestone of over 25 million premium subscribers. With Snap on track to generate US$1 billion in annual revenue from its paid tier alone, Instagram’s latest experiment reflects a broader industry trend toward diversifying revenue streams beyond traditional advertising.
