Snapchat Planets Explained: Order, Meaning, and How It Works

Snapchat Planets is a Snapchat+ feature that turns your closest friends into a visual “solar system,” with each planet showing where you rank in someone’s top eight friends. If you’ve seen Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, or another planet next to a friend badge and wondered what it means, this guide breaks down the full order, how the ranking works, and why you may not see it at all.

Quick answer: In Snapchat’s Friend Solar System, you are the Sun, and the planet you see represents your position in that person’s top eight friends. Mercury = #1 closest friend; Neptune = #8.

What are Snapchat Planets?

Snapchat Planets is the nickname for Friend Solar Systems, a Snapchat+ feature that visualizes your top-friend ranking as planets orbiting you (the Sun).

Key facts from Snapchat:

• Friend Solar Systems is a Snapchat+ feature.
• It shows which planet you are in someone’s solar system, with each planet representing a different position in their Best Friends list.
• The feature is optional, private, and off by default for first-time Snapchat+ subscribers.
• Snapchat explicitly says the Solar System is not a public numerical ranking visible to others; it is a personal friendship insight for Snapchat+ users.

Tapping the golden circular Best Friends badge on a friendship profile shows your planet in that person’s solar system.

Snapchat Planets order

The order follows the real solar system, from closest to farthest, matching friend rank from 1 to 8:

Planet	Rank	Meaning
Mercury	#1	Your closest friend on Snapchat
Venus	#2	Second closest friend
Earth	#3	Third closest friend
Mars	#4	Fourth closest friend
Jupiter	#5	Fifth closest friend
Saturn	#6	Sixth closest friend
Uranus	#7	Seventh closest friend
Neptune	#8	Eighth closest friend (still in top eight)

This ranking is based on how often you snap and chat with someone, reflecting a rolling pattern of interaction rather than a fixed, permanent rank.

What each Snapchat planet means

Mercury

Mercury means you are that person’s #1 best friend on Snapchat, with the highest interaction level in that friend’s Friend Solar System.

Venus

Venus means you are their second closest Snapchat friend.

Earth

Earth means you are their third closest friend. Many guides note Earth is easy to recognize visually with its blue-and-green look.

Mars

Mars means you are their fourth closest friend.

Jupiter

Jupiter means you are their fifth closest friend.

Saturn

Saturn means you are their sixth closest friend.

Uranus

Uranus means you are their seventh closest friend.

Neptune

Neptune means you are their eighth closest friend. You are still in their top eight friends, but Neptune is the farthest visible planet in the system.

How Snapchat Friend Solar Systems work

Friend Solar Systems is part of Snapchat+, the platform’s paid subscription. When enabled:

• Your closest friends are shown as planets orbiting you (the Sun).
• Each planet corresponds to a position in their top eight friends list.
• Tapping the Best Friends badge with a gold ring on a profile shows your planet and rank.
• The ranking can change over time as interaction patterns shift.

Snapchat says the feature is not a public scoreboard. It is designed as a personal insight for Snapchat+ users, not a ranking everyone can browse on your profile.

Why Snapchat Planets may not show

You may not see Snapchat Planets for several common reasons:

• You are not a Snapchat+ subscriber.
• The feature is turned off in your Snapchat+ settings, since it is off by default for first-time subscribers.
• You are not in that person’s top eight friends, so the solar system view may not appear for that relationship.
• Snapchat may adjust feature visibility or defaults over time, as Snap has already announced changes to default behavior for the Solar System feature.

How to turn Snapchat Planets on (Friend Solar Systems)

Snapchat says Friend Solar Systems is off by default for first-time subscribers, so you may need to enable it manually in Snapchat+ settings:

1. Open Snapchat and go to your profile.
2. Tap Snapchat+.
3. Find the Solar System or Friend Solar System setting.
4. Turn it on.

If you do not enable it, you may have Snapchat+ and still never see the planets feature on profiles.

Are Snapchat Planets private?

Yes. Snapchat says the Solar System is optional, private, and used by a small share of the community daily on average.

• It is not visible to everyone else as a public ranking on your account.
• It is designed as a personal friendship insight for Snapchat+ users

Questions You Might Have