Instagram Plus rolling out with rewatch insights, viewer search, and more Story tools [Updated]

Update 31/03/26 – 06:14 pm (IST): Meta has now officially confirmed that Instagram Plus is being tested in a few countries, validating the earlier user reports and screenshots that had started circulating online. The company told TechCrunch the test is part of the subscription work it first discussed back in February, when it said it would explore new paid offerings while keeping the core experience free.

It also confirmed that Instagram Plus is focused on Story extras, including invisible Story previews, rewatch insights, viewer list search, more audience lists beyond Close Friends, Story spotlighting, animated Superlikes, and the option to extend a Story for another 24 hours. For now, Meta says it is still testing the offering to see which premium features users value most.

Original article published on March 29, 2026, follows:

Instagram has started rolling out a paid subscription called Instagram Plus. It offers several new features, such as rewatch insights, viewer search, story previews, “super hearts,” and more. For now, the rollout is limited to a few countries and is still in the testing phase.

Instagram displays the offer as a free one-month trial, with pricing varying by market. Screenshots show it priced at PHP 65/month (~$1.16 USD) in the Philippines and roughly ¥319/month (~$2.13 USD) in Japan.

The highlight of the subscription is seven new main features that creators will obtain.

“Multiple story audiences” likely refers to creating different groups for stories, instead of just Close Friends and everybody. Rewatch insights will probably give you information on who rewatched your story and how many times. In the past, we’ve seen spotty appearances of a Story Rewatch feature, but it never went live for a wider audience.

Additionally, this paid tier will let you search your story viewer list, preview stories, send super hearts, as well as spotlight your stories (presumably within the story feed for others; your story might get a different theme that highlights it). Another good feature is “Extend story expiration,” and for those who want to display their story for 48h, this could come in handy.

While several official pages regarding Instagram Plus exist on the internet, none of them show any information in our checks, even with a VPN.

I was able to find proof of the availability of this feature in the Philippines, Mexico, and Japan. There could be more countries where this feature is available, but we’ll have to wait for an official list to know. It likely depends on several factors, such as account location, app version, or A/B testing groups.

On one hand, some people are annoyed that Instagram is locking quality-of-life improvements and new features behind a paywall. The app already runs on ads, and this paid subscription does not get rid of ads. On the other hand, Instagram is offering new tools that are helpful for creators. The company also has to navigate through several bugs and fix its issues with random banwaves.

We stand out from the tech-media crowd because we break news stories; we mainly bring you stuff that you won’t find anywhere in the mainstream tech media. Our stories have been picked up by some of the world’s most popular websites and media outlets—more info is available here.