WhatsApp is testing a subscription after Meta debuted a similar subscription for Instagram earlier this year
Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/20/whatsapp-is-testing-a-premium-subscription-put-it-is-mainly-cosmetic/
I always thought WhatsApp’s original business model of charging $1/year was good
Oh, they definitely thought it through… and then realized they could probably get more than a dollar out of us.
Yeah, it was before they sold to Meta though and at that time they had 400 million users. I thought, hey $400 million dollars isn’t bad revenue. Brian Acton could’ve made a good business for himself out of that. He wanted much more though.
Anyway, I don’t use WhatsApp.