Instagram Plus: what the subscription actually includes

Instagram Plus is a paid subscription that adds features on top of the app everyone already has. It groups into three kinds of thing: ways to interact, more detail about who saw your stories, and ways to change how your account looks.

It is rolling out globally, and the benefits included can vary, so the version you are offered may not match a screenshot you saw from somewhere else. Here is what is in it, and the part worth being clear-eyed about before anyone subscribes.

What do you get for the money?

Three groups, and they are quite different from each other.

• Interaction. Story Spotlight and Super Hearts, which are new ways for people to respond to what you post rather than new ways for you to post.
• Story insight. Story Preview and Story Rewatch insights, which tell you more about how your stories were actually watched.
• Appearance. A custom app icon and a custom bio font, which change how your account and your phone look.

More is promised over the coming months, so the list you see now is a starting point rather than the finished product. That is worth holding on to: we would judge a tier like this on what it carries in three months, not on the day it arrives.

Worth saying plainly before any of it: none of this changes what you post. Every feature here sits around the content rather than inside it, which is why we read it as a tier for people who are already posting rather than a way to start.

Which part matters most for a creator?

The story insight, comfortably. A rewatch figure tells you something the view count cannot: that somebody went back. We would treat a story people rewatch the way we treat a saved post, as a signal that what you made was worth a second look.

Story Preview matters in a quieter way. Most creators post a story, notice a mistake, and decide it is not worth deleting. Seeing it first is a small thing that saves that particular irritation.

Does any of this get you more reach?

Nothing published about it claims so, and we would be careful with anyone who tells you otherwise. It is described as an optional upgrade for people who want more control, deeper insights and premium features, and control is not the same thing as distribution.

That matters because paid tiers attract a particular kind of hope. If your reach is the problem, the things that move it are the same as last month: a first frame that stops a scroll, a topic your viewers recognise, and posting often enough to learn something.

We would also keep the two apart in your own head. A feature that tells you something you can act on is worth money; a feature that makes your phone look nicer is worth whatever it is worth to you, and we would not confuse the second for an investment in the account.

What does it cost?

No price is published alongside the feature list, and the benefits included may vary, which usually means both the price and the contents differ by country. Open the subscription in your own app and read what you are offered rather than what someone in another market was offered.

We would also wait a week before deciding. A tier that keeps adding features is worth judging on what it holds when you are actually paying, not on the launch list.

Should a small seller buy it?

Our honest answer is that it depends on whether you use stories as a selling surface or as a habit. If stories are where your buyers ask questions, the extra insight is worth something, because it tells you which ones held attention and which lost it.

• If you post stories daily and sell from them, the rewatch data has a use tomorrow.
• If you post stories rarely, nothing here will change that, and the subscription becomes a monthly fee for a different app icon.
• If you want reach, spend the same attention on your first frame instead. It is free and it moves more.

Insight is only worth paying for when you have the habit it measures.

Whatever the subscription tells you about who watched, the people who reply are the ones worth answering, and Instoly can send each of them the link they asked for.