WhatsApp is working on a new subscription option for the platform that will allow users to use the social network without viewing integrated advertising in States and Channels, given the arrival of advertisements scheduled for this year in Europe.
The instant messaging platform owned by Meta announced in June of last year that it would begin introducing ads in statuses and channels, with the aim of promoting conversations between users and companies in a simple way about their products or services.
At that time, it informed the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) that such advertising would not be deployed to European users until this year 2026, in order to address concerns regarding user data protection before its implementation.
Now, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg is working on a new subscription option for WhatsApp that will allow you to use the ‘app’ without ads in states and channels, in exchange for a commission.
This has been confirmed by Android Authority and the specialized media WaBetaInfo, which, after analyzing beta version 2.26.3.9 of WhatsApp for Android, have found lines of code that refer to this subscription option on the social network.
From WaBetaInfo they have clarified that the subscription plan is expected to only be available for users in Europe and the United Kingdom, in order to comply with their regulations and allow them to opt for an ad-free experience.
Therefore, it is a completely optional subscription, which can be managed from the Updates tab. After activating the subscription, a WhatsApp notification will be displayed detailing that it can be canceled from the Play Store and that it may take 15 minutes before the change is reflected in the statuses and channels.
Regarding the price, the aforementioned media has had access to another notification in which it is specified that the subscription starts at 4 euros per month.
For its part, Android Authority has shared parts of code indicating that the price of the subscription without ads could start at $1 per month (0.84 euros per month at the exchange rate). “Since you recently deleted your WhatsApp account from Account Center, the price of your ad-free subscription to Status and Channels has decreased. Please review your subscription to accept the new price of %$1/month; or choose to use Status and Channels for free with ads,” it reads.
Likewise, in a notification about this advertising-free subscription option that the same media has accessed, it is clarified that, by changing the age configuration, the subscription is no longer necessary.
At the moment the implementation of these announcements has not been observed in the states and channels of the platform, at least in Spain, and the final price for this subscription is unknown, as well as what its operation will be. However, it is expected to be a new option available soon.
