Snapchat Planets is a Snapchat+ feature that ranks your top 8 friends as planets in a mini solar system. You’re the Sun, and each friend occupies a planet based on how much you interact.
If you’ve seen a gold-ringed badge on someone’s profile and wondered what it means — or tapped it and got confused by a cartoon planet — this guide breaks down exactly how Snapchat Planets work, what each planet represents, and how your ranking gets decided.
What Are Snapchat Planets?
Snapchat Planets — officially called the Friend Solar System — is a visual ranking system exclusive to Snapchat+ subscribers. It takes your top 8 best friends and assigns each one a planet, mirroring the real solar system’s order from Mercury to Neptune.
The concept is straightforward. You are the Sun. The friend you interact with the most becomes Mercury — the closest planet. Your second most-interacted friend becomes Venus. And so on, all the way to Neptune at position #8.
What “interaction” means here is a mix of snaps sent and received, chat messages, story reactions, and streak activity. Snapchat hasn’t published the exact formula, but the ranking clearly reflects how frequently and consistently you engage with each person. It’s not about follower count or Snap Score — it’s about direct, one-on-one communication patterns.
One thing worth noting: the feature is turned off by default. Even if you subscribe to Snapchat+, you need to manually enable it under your Snapchat+ settings before any planets appear. The subscription itself has grown rapidly since launch — data from Statista shows Snapchat+ had around 12 million subscribers by late 2024, and that number has continued climbing.
Snapchat Planets Order and Meanings
The planet order follows the real solar system exactly. Mercury is closest to the Sun (you), and Neptune is farthest. Here’s the full breakdown at a glance.
| Planet | Position | Appearance | Meaning |
| Mercury | #1 Best Friend | Red planet with red hearts and stars | Your closest, most-interacted friend |
| Venus | #2 Best Friend | Beige/light planet with multicolored hearts | Strong, consistent bond |
| Earth | #3 Best Friend | Blue-green planet with moon and stars | Regular, reliable interaction |
| Mars | #4 Best Friend | Red-orange planet with small hearts | Active, somewhat frequent contact |
| Jupiter | #5 Best Friend | Large orange planet with soft tones | Casual but steady connection |
| Saturn | #6 Best Friend | Yellow planet with a visible ring | Occasional interaction |
| Uranus | #7 Best Friend | Light blue/green planet with faint sparkles | Infrequent communication |
| Neptune | #8 Best Friend | Deep blue planet with subtle glow | Minimal recent interaction |
Now let’s look at each planet individually.
Mercury — #1 Best Friend
Mercury is the top spot. This person gets more of your snaps, chats, and overall attention than anyone else on your list. The visual is a bright red planet surrounded by red hearts and small stars. If you’re someone’s Mercury, you’re essentially their most active Snapchat contact. Not just a best friend — the best friend.
Venus — #2 Best Friend
Venus sits right behind Mercury. The planet appears in a lighter, beige tone with hearts in multiple colors — pink, blue, yellow, purple. It represents a strong and steady friendship. You talk often, just not quite as much as the Mercury friend. In practice, the gap between Mercury and Venus is often very small.
Earth — #3 Best Friend
Earth shows up as the familiar blue-green globe, sometimes with a tiny moon visible in the background. Position #3 means you’re a regular presence in this person’s Snapchat activity. Not their absolute top contact, but solidly in the inner circle. Most people would consider an Earth-level friend someone they chat with several times a week.
Mars — #4 Best Friend
Mars appears as a reddish-orange planet with small decorative hearts. At position #4, this is still someone you engage with fairly often. The friendship is active — maybe not daily, but consistent enough to stay in the top half of the ranking. Think of Mars as the friend you snap a few times a week without really thinking about it.
Jupiter — #5 Best Friend
Jupiter marks the midpoint. It shows up as a large orange planet, visually bigger than the others but placed farther from the Sun. This is a casual friendship in Snapchat terms. You interact enough to make the top 8, but the communication is less frequent than your top 4. A lot of real-world close friends end up here simply because you don’t Snapchat each other as much.
Saturn — #6 Best Friend
Saturn is recognisable by its ring and pale yellow colour. At position #6, the interaction level has dropped noticeably. You might send this person snaps occasionally or react to their stories now and then, but the daily back-and-forth isn’t there. Saturn often represents friendships that were once more active but have naturally slowed down.
Uranus — #7 Best Friend
Uranus shows as a light blue-green planet with barely visible sparkles. Position #7 means interaction is infrequent. You’re still in their top 8, which means you do communicate — just not often. Many users are surprised to find out who occupies this slot, since it’s usually someone they’ve drifted from without realising it.
Neptune — #8 Best Friend
Neptune is the farthest planet — a deep blue with a faint glow and no hearts. This is the last position in the Friend Solar System. Being someone’s Neptune doesn’t mean the friendship is bad. It simply means 7 other people interact with that person more than you do right now. You’re still in their top 8, which is worth something.
How to Check Your Snapchat Planet
Checking which planet you are in someone’s solar system takes about 10 seconds.
Open Snapchat and go to your friend’s profile. Look for one of two badges near their name — either a “Best Friends” badge or a “Friends” badge, both with a gold ring outline. Tap the badge, and Snapchat will show you which planet you are in their system.
The difference between those two badges matters. A Best Friends badge means you’re both in each other’s top 8. A Friends badge means you’re in their top 8, but they’re not in yours. Either way, tapping it reveals your planet position.
Here’s something that catches people off guard: your planet in their system might be completely different from their planet in yours. You could be someone’s Mercury while they’re your Jupiter. It depends entirely on each person’s individual interaction data, and those don’t always match.
How Snapchat Decides Your Planet Ranking
Snapchat hasn’t released a detailed breakdown of the algorithm, but based on what the platform has confirmed and what users consistently observe, several factors clearly matter.
Snap frequency is the most obvious one. How many snaps you send and receive from a specific friend directly affects your ranking. Chat messages count too — regular text conversations contribute to your closeness score. Snapstreaks play a role, though a long streak alone won’t guarantee a top position if your other interactions are low. Story reactions — replying to or reacting to someone’s stories — also register as engagement.
What’s often overlooked is that the ranking is relative, not absolute. You could snap someone 10 times a day, but if 7 other people snap them 15 times a day, you’ll still end up at Neptune. Your position always depends on what other people are doing too.
Rankings update dynamically. Most users report changes appearing within 24 to 48 hours of increased or decreased activity. It’s not instant, but it’s not slow either.
One more thing teams of Snapchat enthusiasts commonly report: private, one-on-one snaps carry more weight than group snaps. Sending a snap to 20 people at once doesn’t seem to boost your ranking the way a direct snap to one person does.
How to Improve Your Snapchat Planet Ranking
If you want to move closer to someone’s Sun, the strategy is simple but requires consistency.
Send direct snaps daily. Not group blasts — personal snaps to that specific friend. Keep your Snapstreaks alive, since they signal ongoing engagement. Reply to their stories with reactions or messages rather than just viewing them. Chat regularly, even if it’s just short conversations.
But here’s the realistic part: you can only control your own behaviour, not theirs. If your friend has 7 other people who snap them more actively, your efforts might keep you at Jupiter even if you’re doing everything right. That’s just how relative ranking works.
The best approach is to interact naturally rather than gaming the system. Snapchat’s ranking reflects genuine communication patterns, and forced interactions tend to feel exactly like what they are.
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Who Can See Your Snapchat Planets?
Privacy is built into the feature. Only you can see which planet you are in someone else’s solar system. Your friend has no idea whether you’re their Mercury or their Neptune — unless they have Snapchat+ themselves and check your profile in return.
It’s a one-way view. Enabling the feature on your end lets you see your position in other people’s systems, but it doesn’t expose your system to them. If they also subscribe to Snapchat+ and enable the feature, they can see their position in your system — but again, only their own position, not your full planet lineup.
You can disable the feature anytime under Snapchat+ settings. Once turned off, planets disappear and nothing is visible to anyone.
Snapchat has also clarified that the feature only measures interaction frequency. It doesn’t expose message content, snap details, or anything private. It’s purely a frequency-based ranking visual. For users who value quality and reliability in app features, the privacy design here is solid.
What Is Snapchat+ and How Much Does It Cost?
Snapchat+ is the paid subscription tier of Snapchat. It unlocks premium features including the Friend Solar System (planets), custom app icons, story rewatch counts, Snap Map Ghost Trails, and priority access to new features.
Pricing sits at roughly $3.99 per month, with annual plans offering a discount of around 20–30%, as reported by TechCrunch when the service first launched. The exact price can vary slightly by country due to regional pricing and app store policies.
To subscribe, open Snapchat, tap your profile icon, go to Settings, and look for the Snapchat+ option. Pick a plan, confirm payment through the App Store or Google Play, and the features activate immediately.
To enable the planets feature specifically, navigate to Snapchat+ settings and toggle on “Friend Solar System.” It’s off by default, so this step is easy to miss. Snapchat+ has grown significantly since its 2022 debut, and understanding how digital platforms generate revenue through subscriptions and engagement tools has become increasingly relevant.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can you see Snapchat Planets without Snapchat+?
No. The Friend Solar System is exclusive to Snapchat+ subscribers. Free users cannot see or access planet rankings.
Do Snapchat Planets change over time?
Yes. Rankings update dynamically based on recent interaction activity, typically within a day or two of changed behaviour.
Does your friend know which planet they are in your system?
No. Planet positions are private. Your friend cannot see their rank in your solar system unless they also have Snapchat+ and check your profile.
Why is my planet different from what my friend sees?
Because the ranking is calculated separately for each person. Your position in their system is based on their interaction data, not yours.
Is there a 9th planet on Snapchat?
No. Snapchat’s solar system includes only 8 planets, matching the real solar system. Rumours about a hidden 9th planet for blocked or hidden friends are unconfirmed community speculation. Much like viral claims about Sam Thompson’s dad’s net worth, these are internet theories rather than confirmed facts.
Snapchat Planets offer a fun, visual way to see where you stand in a friend’s circle. The system rewards genuine interaction, updates regularly, and stays completely private — making it one of the more thoughtful features in the Snapchat+ package.