No, Instagram Plus does not come with verification, and it cannot grant you a blue tick. That badge only comes from Meta’s own verification process, tied to your real account and payment details, not from any third party app. When I tested Instagram Plus, the “verified” look some versions promise is just a cosmetic badge icon placed near your name within the modded app itself. It disappears the moment you open the real Instagram app or website.
Straight answer: there is no official “Instagram Plus” subscription sold by Meta. What people usually mean is either Meta Verified, Meta’s real paid subscription with a blue badge, impersonation protection and human support, or “Instagram+”, a third-party modded app that has nothing to do with Meta and can put your account and your data at risk. I’ll walk you through both so you know exactly what you’d be paying for, or installing.
The confusion starts with the name
I get asked about this a lot, mostly by clients who’ve seen a TikTok or a forum post promising “Instagram Plus features” like hiding your online status, downloading anyone’s stories, or unlocking a dark mode that isn’t in the standard app. There isn’t a product from Meta called Instagram Plus. Meta’s actual paid tier is called Meta Verified, and it launched in the US in February 2023 before rolling out to the UK, Australia and other markets over the following year.
Separately, there’s a modded APK floating around called “Instagram+” (sometimes styled IG+ or Instagram Plus APK) that isn’t built or endorsed by Meta at all. It’s a repackaged version of the real app with extra buttons bolted on, similar to the GBWhatsApp situation you might have heard about. Different name, same idea, same risk profile.
So when someone types “what features come with an Instagram Plus subscription” into Google, they’re usually landing on one of two very different answers depending on which product they’ve bumped into.
What Meta Verified gives you
This is the real, official, billed-monthly subscription. I’ve had it running on one of my own accounts for over a year, partly out of curiosity and partly because a couple of clients wanted to know if it was worth the money before rolling it out across their team accounts. Here’s what you’re paying for:
- A verified blue badge next to your name, after Meta checks a government ID
- Proactive account monitoring for impersonation, meaning Meta actively looks for accounts copying your name and photo
- Access to a real human support agent through in-app chat, rather than the standard automated help centre
- Exclusive stickers for Stories and Reels that non-subscribers can’t use
- Increased reach in some search and recommendation surfaces, though Meta has never published exact numbers on how much this moves the needle
- A subscriber badge in comments if you also subscribe to a creator, which is a separate feature I’ll explain below
Pricing has moved around since launch. In the US it started at 11.99 dollars a month if you subscribed through the website, or 14.99 dollars a month through the iOS or Android app, because Apple and Google both take a cut of in-app purchases. In the UK the web price launched at 9.99 pounds a month with the app price sitting a couple of pounds higher for the same reason. If you’re in Israel, Meta Verified rolled out there later than the US and UK, and pricing has tracked roughly with the shekel equivalent of the US rate. Always check the current price inside your own account settings before you commit, because Meta has adjusted these numbers more than once since launch.
The part nobody tells you about the blue badge
Here’s the bit that gets glossed over in most “what do you get with Meta Verified” articles: the badge does not mean what people think it means anymore. Before 2023, a blue tick was Instagram’s own editorial judgment that you were a notable public figure, journalist, or brand. Now it’s just proof you paid and handed over an ID. I’ve watched small business owners buy the badge assuming it would instantly boost their credibility with customers the way the old organic verification did, and it just doesn’t carry the same weight. Followers have caught on fast. A badge that anyone can buy for the price of a coffee subscription isn’t the trust signal it used to be, and pretending otherwise does your audience a disservice.
That’s not a reason to skip it if impersonation protection or direct support solves a problem for your business. It’s a reason to stop expecting it to do the credibility work that organic verification used to do.
Instagram Subscriptions for creators, which is a different feature entirely
Separately from Meta Verified, Instagram has a creator-facing feature also confusingly called “subscriptions.” This lets a creator charge their followers a monthly fee, commonly somewhere between 0.99 and 99.99 dollars depending on what the creator sets, in exchange for subscriber-only Stories, Lives, and a badge that shows up next to their name in the comments of the creator’s regular posts. This has nothing to do with what a fan gets from Meta itself. It’s closer to what Patreon or a paid newsletter does, just built into the app. If you’re a creator weighing this up against building your own paid community elsewhere, it’s worth comparing the cut Instagram takes against running your own list, because Instagram has adjusted its revenue share more than once and creators rarely see the full subscription price land in their pocket.
Now the other “Instagram Plus”: the modded app
This is where I want to slow down, because it’s the version of this question that has real risk attached. Search “Instagram Plus APK” or “Instagram+ download” and you’ll find sites promising a long list of features the real app supposedly hides from you: downloading anyone’s photos and videos, hiding the “seen” receipt on DMs, disabling the typing indicator, unlimited zoom on profile pictures, and viewing stories without triggering a view notification.
None of that comes from an official Meta subscription. It comes from installing a modified version of the Instagram app, usually downloaded as an APK file from outside the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store, built by a third party with no accountability to Meta or to you.
A client of mine, a small ecommerce founder I’ll call Nadia because she’d rather not have her name attached to this story, installed one of these apps in early 2025 after a competitor’s social media manager mentioned “the plus version” in passing during a networking call. Nadia wanted the ability to check whether certain accounts were viewing her Stories without those accounts knowing she’d checked. Within about three weeks her account was flagged and briefly locked for “unusual activity,” and she had to go through Instagram’s identity verification process, uploading a video selfie and waiting several days, to get it back. Meta’s own terms explicitly prohibit third-party apps that access your account outside the official API, and enforcement has tightened since 2023. It wasn’t a coincidence.
If you’re curious about the safer, boring version of what she was trying to do, there are legitimate ways to check who’s viewed a story without an account of your own, and I’ve written a full walkthrough of how to view Instagram Stories anonymously without an account that doesn’t involve installing anything on your phone.
How to tell what you’re looking at
Before you hand over a card number or download an APK because a site calls it “Instagram Plus,” run through this quick check:
- Open the real Instagram app on your phone, tap your profile, then Settings, then look for “Subscription” or “Meta Verified.” If it’s a genuine Meta product, it will be listed there and billed through Apple, Google, or Meta’s own website directly. There’s no other legitimate channel.
- If you found the offer through a link that took you to a website with a download button rather than the App Store or Google Play, stop. That’s the modded app route, not a subscription.
- Check whether the site asks for your Instagram username and password on a page that isn’t instagram.com. That’s a credential-harvesting red flag, full stop.
- Search the exact app name plus the word “reviews” before installing anything. A cluster of five-star reviews posted within days of each other, with no detail, is a manufactured trust signal.
- If in doubt, close the tab. The real feature list of Meta Verified is short, public, and sits inside Instagram’s own Help Centre, not on a third-party blog promising more than Meta itself advertises.
If you regularly deal with third-party Instagram tools for work, whether that’s checking follower activity, saving content, or managing multiple client accounts, it’s worth building the habit of vetting anything before it touches your login. I’ve covered how to choose a reliable app to save Instagram Stories and how to tell if an Instagram story viewer app is safe to use in more depth, because the same checks apply whether the app is calling itself a viewer, a downloader, or a “plus” edition.
What I’d recommend
If what drew you to “Instagram Plus” was the promise of hiding read receipts or downloading someone’s photos in bulk, be honest with yourself about why. Most of the demand for these features comes from wanting to snoop without being seen, and that’s precisely the gap that scam developers exploit, because people asking for that don’t tend to report the app afterward even when it steals their data. I’ve written about how to spot a fake Instagram story viewer tool before it steals your data because the pattern repeats constantly: an app promises a forbidden feature, asks for permissions or a login it doesn’t need, and the person who wanted the shortcut is the one left explaining a locked account to Instagram support two weeks later.
If what you want is credibility, support, or account protection for a business page, Meta Verified is the real product and it does what it says on the tin, even if the badge itself doesn’t carry the weight it used to. If you’re managing this across a team and want a second opinion on whether it’s worth the monthly spend for your specific account size and goals, that’s a conversation worth having rather than guessing, and it’s the kind of thing I cover with clients through hands-on social and AI strategy support.
And if the appeal of “Instagram Plus” was really just wanting more tools without paying for another subscription on top of everything else you’re already juggling, you’re not alone, and there’s a whole category of useful software that doesn’t ask for a monthly fee at all. I keep an updated list of the best free AI tools that do not need a subscription for exactly that reason, and it’s worth a look before you add one more line item to your card statement.
This is one of 81 Instagram guides; the full index is Instagram: every guide in one place.
Frequently asked questions
Is Instagram Plus a real subscription from Meta?
No. Meta’s real paid subscription is called Meta Verified, and it costs roughly 11.99 to 14.99 dollars a month in the US depending on whether you buy it through the website or the app, with the UK priced similarly in pounds. “Instagram Plus” or “Instagram+” usually refers to an unofficial modded app with no connection to Meta.
What do you get with Meta Verified?
A verified blue badge after ID checks, proactive impersonation monitoring, access to human customer support instead of automated help, exclusive Stories and Reels stickers, and a modest boost in some recommendation surfaces that Meta hasn’t quantified publicly.
Is it safe to download an Instagram Plus APK?
No, it isn’t recommended. Installing a modded APK outside the official App Store or Google Play breaks Instagram’s terms of service and has led to account locks requiring identity re-verification, and these apps have been linked to credential theft in reported cases.
Are Meta Verified and Instagram Subscriptions the same thing?
No. Meta Verified is a subscription that any user or business pays Meta directly for account features. Instagram Subscriptions is a separate feature where a creator charges their own followers a monthly fee for exclusive content, and Meta takes a cut of that revenue.
