The best friend list planets on Snapchat are part of the Friend Solar System, a Snapchat+ feature. You are the Sun. Your top eight friends are ranked as planets, from Mercury for your closest friend to Neptune for your eighth closest, based on how often you Snap, chat, and reply to Stories.
Key Takeaways
- Best friend list planets rank your top eight Snapchat friends from Mercury to Neptune.
- Mercury means the closest friend. Neptune means the eighth closest.
- Only Snapchat+ subscribers can view the Friend Solar System.
- Ranking updates on its own. You cannot edit it by hand.
- A gold ring badge means the friendship is mutual on both sides.
I started checking my own Snapchat+ profile out of curiosity last month, and the planet badges confused me at first glance. A friend showed up as Saturn, another as Mercury, and I had no idea what separated the two. After digging through the settings and testing it across a few different friends’ profiles, the pattern became clear fast. This guide covers exactly what I found, plus the details most articles skip.
What Are Best Friend List Planets on Snapchat
Best friend list planets are Snapchat’s visual take on your Best Friends list. Instead of a plain ranked list, the app turns your top eight friends into planets circling a Sun, which represents you.
The feature sits inside Snapchat+ and is officially called the Friend Solar System. It launched in 2023 alongside other Snapchat+ perks and has kept gaining attention since.
Here is the basic setup in plain terms.
- You are the Sun at the center.
- Your top eight friends become planets around you.
- Mercury sits closest and represents your most-active friend.
- Neptune sits farthest and represents your eighth-most-active friend.
Snapchat’s own support page confirms this directly. A gold-ringed Best Friends badge on a profile means that friend is among the eight people you Snap and Chat with most, and tapping the badge reveals your planet in their solar system.
How Snapchat Ranks Your Best Friend List Planets
Snapchat has not published its exact ranking formula. Based on how the feature behaves, a few factors clearly drive it.
| Factor | What It Measures |
| Snap frequency | How often you send and receive Snaps |
| Chat activity | How regularly you exchange messages |
| Story engagement | Views and replies to each other’s Stories |
| Consistency | Steady interaction over weeks, not a single busy day |
One thing worth stressing: consistency beats bursts of activity. A friend you Snap daily for two months will usually outrank one you messaged nonstop for a single weekend.
Best Friend List Planets Order and Meaning
Here is the full order, from closest to farthest, and what each spot signals about the friendship.
Mercury holds the number one spot. This is your most active Snapchat friend by a clear margin. You exchange the most Snaps and messages with this person out of everyone on your list.
Venus sits second. The activity here runs close to Mercury but not quite at the same pace. Venus friendships are usually strong and frequent.
Earth takes the third spot. You are still deep in daily contact with this friend. Earth reflects a consistent, active connection.
Mars ranks fourth. Interaction stays regular here, just a step below your top three. It often reflects a solid, ongoing friendship.
Jupiter lands at fifth. This is the midpoint of your top eight. The connection is genuine but less frequent than your closer spots.
Saturn takes sixth place. Activity is present but less consistent. Friends here have room to move closer with more regular Snaps.
Uranus sits seventh. This spot reflects a more casual pace. You both show up in each other’s activity, just less often.
Neptune closes the list at eighth. You still made the top eight, which counts for something, but this is the lowest activity level among your closest circle.
Snapchat Best Friend List Planets Comparison Table
| Planet | Rank | What It Signals |
| Mercury | 1 | Highest, most consistent activity |
| Venus | 2 | Very high, close behind Mercury |
| Earth | 3 | Strong, steady daily contact |
| Mars | 4 | Regular, solid interaction |
| Jupiter | 5 | Genuine but moderate activity |
| Saturn | 6 | Present but less consistent |
| Uranus | 7 | Casual, occasional contact |
| Neptune | 8 | Lowest activity in the top eight |
Why Snapchat Added Best Friend List Planets
Snapchat introduced the Friend Solar System in 2023 as part of the Snapchat+ subscription package. The reasoning behind it is straightforward, even if Snapchat has not stated it directly.
Ranking systems drive engagement. Streaks already proved this years earlier, keeping users opening the app daily just to avoid losing a streak with a friend.
The planet system builds on that same idea, wrapped in a space theme that feels playful rather than competitive. Seeing your rank shift based on real activity gives users a reason to Snap more often.
It also works as a reason to subscribe. Since viewing the feature requires Snapchat+, the visual appeal of the solar system becomes part of the pitch for paying users. This mirrors how many social apps gate visual, gamified features behind a subscription tier, turning a simple friends list into something worth paying to see.
How to Move Up in a Friend’s Best Friend List Planets
If you want to climb closer to Mercury in someone’s solar system, the mechanics point to a few clear habits.
- Send Snaps regularly instead of relying only on text chat, since Snaps appear to carry more weight in the ranking.
- Keep streaks active with that friend, since consistent daily contact signals ongoing engagement.
- React to their Stories when they post one, since Story interaction counts toward overall activity.
- Reply to Chats without long delays, since quick back-and-forth conversations reflect active engagement.
- Stay consistent across weeks rather than sending a single burst of Snaps in one day.
None of these guarantee an instant jump to Mercury. Rankings reflect patterns over time, so a sudden spike in activity moves you gradually rather than overnight.
Best Friend List Planets and Privacy Concerns
A few privacy questions come up often, especially among younger users who feel some anxiety about where they rank.
Your complete solar system stays visible only to you. A friend viewing your profile sees only their own single planet position, never your full ranked list or who else made your top eight.
You can also block or remove a friend if you would rather not appear in their solar system. Doing so removes you from their ranking the same way it would remove you from any other friend-based feature.
For parents monitoring a teen’s Snapchat use, it is worth remembering that a planet ranking reflects app activity, not the depth of a friendship. A conversation about that distinction can help put the feature in context, especially since rankings shift without any explanation or notification.
How to Check Your Planet on a Friend’s Best Friend List
You need Snapchat+ active on your own account before this works. Without it, you cannot view anyone’s Friend Solar System, including your own.
- Open Snapchat and go to your profile.
- Tap your Snapchat+ card or banner.
- Open feature management and find Friend Solar System.
- Toggle it on, since it stays off by default for new subscribers.
- Visit a friend’s profile and look for the Best Friends or Friends badge.
- Tap the badge to reveal your planet in their solar system.
A gold-ringed badge means you both sit in each other’s top eight. A plain Friends badge means only one side made the other’s list.
Best Friends Badge vs Friends Badge
These two badges get mixed up often, so a direct comparison helps.
A Best Friends badge with a gold ring means the connection runs both ways. You appear in their top eight, and they appear in yours.
A Friends badge without the gold ring means the connection is one-sided. You might be in their top eight while they are not in yours, or the reverse.
Neither badge tells you which planet a friend holds unless you tap it directly.
What Most Guides Get Wrong About Best Friend List Planets
Several common claims circulating online do not hold up well.
One frequent claim is that your own planet ranking is visible on your own profile in a fixed, permanent way. In reality, it shifts constantly based on recent activity, and a quiet week can move a friend down without warning.
Another common gap is treating planet rank as a measure of real-world closeness. Snapchat only tracks in-app behavior. Someone you call every weekend for hours might rank as Neptune simply because you rarely Snap them.
A third overlooked point is privacy. Your full solar system is visible only to you. Friends only ever see the single planet they occupy in your list, never the full ranking or who else made your top eight.
A fourth point worth correcting: some guides suggest you can manually assign or edit a friend’s planet. This is not possible. The entire system runs on Snapchat’s activity tracking, and no in-app setting lets you override it.
Friend Solar System vs Traditional Best Friends List
Snapchat’s original Best Friends list has existed for years, long before Snapchat+ or the planet visuals arrived. It works as a simple text-based ranking of your most-contacted friends.
The Friend Solar System does not replace this list. It sits on top of the same underlying data and turns it into a visual, planet-based display exclusive to Snapchat+ subscribers.
Free users still have a Best Friends list working in the background, even without the visual layer. They simply cannot see the planet version unless they subscribe.
Troubleshooting: Best Friend List Planets Not Showing
If the feature is not displaying properly, a few common causes usually explain it.
Check that Snapchat+ is active and has not expired or lapsed on payment. An inactive subscription hides the entire Friend Solar System, even if you subscribed recently.
Confirm that Friend Solar System is toggled on inside your Snapchat+ feature management page. It stays off by default when you first subscribe, so a fresh subscription without manual setup will not show anything.
Update the Snapchat app if you are running an older version. Feature rollouts for Snapchat+ sometimes require the latest build to display correctly.
Restart the app if a badge still fails to appear after confirming the settings above. A simple close-and-reopen resolves many temporary display issues.
If none of this works, the friend in question may simply not have Snapchat+ themselves, or you may not currently be in their top eight, which means no badge will show regardless of your own settings.
FAQs
Do I need Snapchat+ to appear as someone’s planet?
No. You can appear in a Snapchat+ subscriber’s solar system without a subscription yourself. You just cannot view the feature on your own account without one.
Can my best friend list planet change over time?
Yes. Nothing about the ranking is fixed. More frequent interaction moves a friend closer to Mercury, while reduced activity pushes them toward Neptune.
Does Snapchat notify anyone when a planet changes?
No. There is no alert for ranking shifts. You would only notice by checking the badge on a friend’s profile directly.
Why is there no planet showing on a friend’s profile?
This usually means one of two things. Either that friend has not subscribed to Snapchat+, or you are not currently in their top eight.
Is the Friend Solar System the same as the regular Best Friends list?
They are related but not identical. The Best Friends list has existed for years as a simple ranking. The Friend Solar System adds a visual planet layer on top of that same ranking data, available only through Snapchat+.
Can I turn off the Friend Solar System in 2026?
There is currently no setting to disable the feature entirely once Snapchat+ is active. You can control it by managing your Snapchat+ feature toggles in your profile settings.
Can I see my own planet ranking without checking a friend’s profile?
No. Your planet position only shows up when viewed from inside someone else’s solar system, since it reflects your rank in their list, not a self-view.
Does unsubscribing from Snapchat+ remove my planet from friends’ lists?
Unsubscribing removes your ability to view the feature, but your underlying Best Friends ranking with each friend continues to update based on activity, since that tracking is not tied to the subscription itself.
Final Thoughts
Best friend list planets turn a simple ranking into something visual and, honestly, a bit addictive to check. Mercury tells you who you interact with most. Neptune still counts, just at the lower end of your closest circle.
Treat the ranking as a read on app activity, not a scorecard for how much someone actually means to you. The friend who calls you every Sunday might never crack Mercury, and that says nothing about the friendship itself.
For the most current feature details, Snapchat’s own support article on how Friend Solar Systems work is worth a direct look, since in-app features can shift between updates.
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