Meta Verified vs the legacy blue badge
Both put a blue tick next to your name on Instagram. One costs fifteen dollars a month and confirms you own a passport. The other says independent publications have written about you. Most of this market makes its money on people not knowing the difference.
What is the difference between Meta Verified and the blue checkmark?
Meta Verified is a paid monthly subscription, $14.99 on web and $19.99 on mobile, available to anyone who confirms their identity with a government ID. The legacy blue badge is granted free on notability — evidence that independent news sources have written about you — and cannot be purchased at any price. Both display a blue tick, but only the legacy badge signals that anyone assessed your significance.
Meta Verified
A subscription. Confirms you are a real, identified person. Available to almost anyone.
Legacy blue badge
Granted on notability. Free to apply for, impossible to buy, and declined far more often than granted.
Side by side
| Meta Verified | Legacy blue badge | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $14.99/month web, $19.99/month mobile, $21.99+ business | Free to apply for. Cannot be bought at any price |
| What it proves | You have a government ID matching your profile name | Independent sources consider you notable |
| Who qualifies | Almost anyone over 18 with ID and a complete profile | Very few. Notability is the whole test |
| Time to get it | Usually within 48 hours | Up to 30 days, and usually declined |
| If you stop paying | The badge disappears | It stays. It was granted, not rented |
| Follower requirement | None | None either — but coverage is required, which is harder |
| Extra features | Impersonation monitoring, direct support, increased reach | None beyond the badge itself |
| What a journalist thinks | That you pay Meta $15 a month | That somebody independent assessed you |
Which one to get
If you need the badge for practical reasons — impersonation protection, support access, the reach weighting — buy Meta Verified today, yourself, in the app. It takes a minute and nobody should charge you for it. If you need the badge to signal that you are someone, Meta Verified does not do that any more, because everybody knows it is bought. Only the legacy badge does, and only if you genuinely have the coverage.
Buy Meta Verified for the features. Apply for the legacy badge for the meaning. Never pay anyone a markup on the first one.
Questions
Last reviewed . Prices and platform policies change; we re-check every page quarterly.