You open a friend’s profile on Snapchat and spot a tiny glowing planet next to their name.
Suddenly you’re wondering: what does that even mean, and why is one friend Mercury while another is stuck out on Neptune?
Let’s clear it all up. Here’s exactly how Snap Planets work, what each one says about your friendship, and how to check where you land in someone’s orbit.
What Are Snap Planets?
Snap Planets are part of Snapchat’s Friend Solar System, a feature you get with a Snapchat+ subscription.
The idea is simple and kind of adorable. You’re the sun, and your eight closest friends orbit around you as planets.
The closer a friend sits to the sun, the higher they rank in your Best Friends list.
So Mercury is your ride-or-die, the person you snap constantly. Neptune, way out in the cold, is your eighth closest friend.
Here’s the part people get wrong, though. The ranking is based on how often you interact, not on how much you love someone.
Your childhood best friend who barely uses Snapchat might sit at Neptune, while a coworker you meme with daily lands at Mercury. It measures activity, not your heart.
Snap Planets Order: Mercury to Neptune
The order follows our actual solar system, which makes it easy to remember.
Closer to the sun means a higher friendship rank. And yes, poor Pluto gets snubbed again — there are only eight planets here.
Here’s the quick-reference version:
| Planet | Rank | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mercury | #1 | Closest friend |
| Venus | #2 | Second closest |
| Earth | #3 | Third closest |
| Mars | #4 | Fourth closest |
| Jupiter | #5 | Fifth closest |
| Saturn | #6 | Sixth closest |
| Uranus | #7 | Seventh closest |
| Neptune | #8 | Eighth closest |
Bookmark this table if you just need a fast answer. Everything below explains what each spot actually feels like.
What Each Snap Planet Means
Each planet comes with its own colors and little visual clues, so you can tell them apart at a glance. Here’s the breakdown.
Mercury (#1) is your number one. Imagine you and your best friend snap each other 20 times a day and keep a streak going strong — that’s your Mercury.
It shows up as a bright red-brown planet with red hearts and sparkles floating around it. Hard to miss.
Venus (#2) is your second closest. Think of the friend you talk to almost as much as your top spot — steady, warm, always in the mix.
Venus is a soft tan planet surrounded by colorful hearts in pink, blue, purple, and yellow.
Earth (#3) is your third closest, and honestly one of the most stable spots. This is the friend who reliably watches your stories and replies without fail.
Earth is the blue-and-green planet with little stars orbiting it.
Mars (#4) is your fourth closest. Picture the friend you send memes and dumb jokes to a few times a week — fun, playful, low pressure.
Mars is a reddish planet with tiny stars around it.
Jupiter (#5) is your fifth. This is your casual-but-solid friend. You don’t chat daily, but they’re firmly in your circle.
Jupiter is a large orange-brown planet, no hearts or stars, just its bands.
Saturn (#6) is your sixth closest, and this is where things start cooling off. Maybe you two were super active a few weeks ago and it’s slowed down.
Look for the classic rings — Saturn is a pale yellow planet with its signature ring.
Uranus (#7) is your seventh. You chat now and then, usually around events or group threads, but not much day to day.
Uranus shows up as a light green planet, plain and quiet.
Neptune (#8) is your eighth and farthest friend. Snaps are rare here, but an occasional reply keeps them clinging to the edge of your orbit.
Neptune is a deep blue planet, alone in the dark with no extras.
One quick reminder before you read too much into it. These rankings reflect your activity patterns, not real-life closeness.
Someone can drop from Venus to Mars just because your chatting slowed down for a week. It’s not personal — it’s just the numbers.
How to Get Snap Planets (Snapchat+ Required)
Here’s the catch: Snap Planets only work if you pay for Snapchat+. Free accounts can’t see them at all.
Snapchat+ usually starts around $3.99 a month, and the yearly plan tends to be cheaper per month. Prices shift by region, so check the exact number inside the app.
Once you’re ready, here’s how to turn it on:
- Open Snapchat and tap your Bitmoji in the top-left corner.
- Tap the Snapchat+ banner.
- Subscribe if you haven’t already.
- Open the feature management page and find “Friend Solar System.”
- Toggle it on — it’s switched off by default for new subscribers.
It works the same on both iPhone and Android, so you’re covered either way.
How to Check Your Snap Planet
Once the feature is on, finding your planet takes just a few taps.
Here’s how to see where you rank in a friend’s solar system:
- Open your friend’s Friendship Profile.
- Look for a badge with a gold ring around it.
- Tap that badge.
- Snapchat reveals which planet you are in their Solar System.
That gold ring is your signal. If it’s there, a planet is assigned and waiting for you to tap.
Not seeing a badge? That usually means one of three things: you don’t have Snapchat+, the feature isn’t turned on, or you’re not in that person’s top eight friends.
Snap Planets Not Showing? Common Fixes
This is one of the most-searched problems, so let’s tackle it fast. If your planets vanished or never appeared, run through this list.
No Snapchat+. The feature only works with an active subscription. No plan, no planets.
Feature turned off. Double-check that Friend Solar System is toggled on in your Snapchat+ settings.
Expired subscription. If your Snapchat+ lapsed, the planets disappear right along with it.
Dropped interaction. You might have simply fallen out of that person’s top eight. It happens when snapping slows down.
App bug or outdated version. Sometimes it’s just a glitch. Update the app or clear the cache.
Still stuck? Try this quick sequence: update Snapchat, log out and back in, then refresh your billing info in the App Store or Google Play.
Snap Planets vs Best Friends List
People mix these two up constantly, so let’s separate them.
Your Best Friends list is the plain, text-based ranking of the people you snap most. Snap Planets are the visual, gamified version of that same idea — and they only exist inside Snapchat+.
There’s also a badge difference worth knowing. A Best Friends badge means you’re both in each other’s top eight. A Friends badge is one-way, meaning they’re in yours but you might not be in theirs.
And here’s the fun twist: rankings aren’t always mutual. You could be someone’s Mercury while they’re only your Jupiter.
That mismatch is normal. Your planet in their system is based on how they interact, and yours is based on how you interact.
| Feature | What it shows | Needs Snapchat+? |
|---|---|---|
| Best Friends list | Your most-active friends | No |
| Snap Planets | Visual friendship rank | Yes |
If you’re curious how activity gets measured overall, it’s worth understanding what your Snap Score means too, since it tracks your general app usage rather than individual friendships.
Who Can See Your Snap Planet? (Privacy & Visibility)
Good news if privacy is on your mind: your rankings are private. Only you, the Snapchat+ subscriber, can see them.
The view is one-way. You can check your place in a friend’s solar system, but they can’t see yours unless they also subscribe and turn the feature on.
It’s also worth saying clearly — the feature only measures interaction frequency. It does not expose your chats, snaps, or any private content.
A quick note for parents: rankings stay private, the feature tracks activity rather than messages, and it can be switched off anytime.
If you or your teen wants it off, just head back to the Snapchat+ feature management page and toggle Friend Solar System off. Done.
Tips to Improve Your Snap Planet Ranking
Want to climb toward someone’s Mercury? The algorithm rewards recent, consistent, two-way activity. Here’s what actually moves the needle.
Send snaps daily. Showing up regularly signals a strong, active connection.
Keep your streaks alive. A long Snapstreak is one of the clearest signs of steady engagement — so keep your Snapstreaks alive.
Reply fast. Quick responses tell Snapchat the friendship is active and real.
React to stories. Even a simple emoji reaction counts as an interaction.
Stick to one-on-one snaps. Personal snaps carry more weight than group blasts, which don’t do much for individual ranking.
Send video snaps and share memories. These tend to register as higher-quality interactions than a plain photo.
One last thing — keep it light. Snap Planets are meant to be fun, not a scoreboard that stresses you out.
FAQs
What do the planets mean on Snapchat?
Each planet shows your ranking in a friend’s Solar System, from Mercury (#1, closest) to Neptune (#8, farthest). The closer to the sun, the more you two interact.
Can I change my planet manually?
No. Snapchat’s algorithm assigns your planet automatically based on how often you interact. The only way to move up is to snap and chat more consistently.
Why is my planet different from theirs?
Because rankings aren’t mutual. Your planet in their system reflects how they interact with you, while their planet in yours reflects your habits. You can easily be someone’s Mercury while they’re your Mars.
Is Snap Planets accurate?
It’s accurate about activity, not emotion. It reflects real interaction data like snaps, chats, and streaks — but it can’t measure how close you actually feel to someone.
Is there a ninth planet?
No. The Friend Solar System only includes the eight real planets, so it caps at your top eight friends. Any “ninth planet” talk is just community speculation.
Does Snap Planets work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. As long as you have an active Snapchat+ subscription and the latest app version, it works the same on both.
At the end of the day, Snap Planets are a playful way to see who you talk to most — nothing more, nothing less.
Enjoy the Mercury bragging rights, don’t sweat the Neptune spots, and remember the whole thing shifts with your activity.
One note before you go: Snapchat updates features and pricing regularly, so always confirm the latest details inside the app itself.
