Snapchat Planets Order: What Each Planet Means in the Friend Solar System
The Snapchat planets order follows the real solar system: Mercury is the top spot, followed by Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. In a friend's Friend Solar System, that friend is the sun and each planet is one of the eight places on their Best Friends list, so Mercury means you are the person they Snap and chat with most. Only Snapchat+ subscribers can see their planet.
This guide covers the full planet order in one table, how Snapchat decides the ranking, whose list you are actually looking at, how to turn the Solar System on, and what to do if a planet is missing.
Snapchat planets order: the full list from 1 to 8
The Snapchat planets order ranks you from 1 to 8 on a friend's Best Friends list, with the planet closest to the sun as the highest rank. Snapchat's help article on Friend Solar Systems lists the eight planets from Mercury to Neptune and says each one stands for a different position on the friend's Best Friends list.
| Planet | Best Friends rank | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 1 | You are the friend they Snap and chat with most |
| Venus | 2 | You are their second closest contact |
| Earth | 3 | You are third on their list |
| Mars | 4 | You are fourth on their list |
| Jupiter | 5 | You are fifth on their list |
| Saturn | 6 | You are sixth on their list |
| Uranus | 7 | You are seventh on their list |
| Neptune | 8 | You are the last of their eight Best Friends |
An easy way to remember the order is the school mnemonic "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos": the first letter of each word matches Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. If you do not see any planet on a friend's profile, the most common reason is that you are not in their top eight right now; the checklist below covers the others.
How Snapchat ranks your Best Friends planets
The Snapchat Friend Solar System ranks friends by activity: Snapchat says a Best Friend is one of the eight friends you Snap and chat with the most. The ranking is not a setting anyone can edit, and it is not a measure of how long you have been friends. It reflects recent messaging activity, so it shifts as people talk more or less.
Three points clear up most confusion:
- The friend is the sun. When you open a friend's profile, the Solar System shows where you sit in their system, not where they sit in yours.
- It is about their list, not yours. You can be Mercury for a friend while that friend sits lower in your own top eight, because each person's list is based on their own Snaps and chats.
- The order changes. Moving from Venus to Mercury, or dropping out of the system entirely, simply means the friend's messaging pattern has changed.
Snapchat does not publish the exact formula behind Best Friends. Treat the planet as a rough signal of how often someone messages you compared with their other contacts, rather than a precise score, and do not read too much into a drop of one or two places.
How to see your planet on Snapchat
You see your planet on Snapchat by opening a friend's Friendship Profile and tapping the Best Friends badge, which needs an active Snapchat+ subscription and the Solar System feature switched on. Snapchat says the feature is off by default for first-time subscribers.
- Subscribe to Snapchat+ if you have not already: go to your Profile and tap the Snapchat+ banner card at the top.
- Open the Snapchat+ feature management page and toggle Solar System on.
- Restart the app if the new Snapchat+ options do not appear yet.
- Open a chat with a friend and tap their Bitmoji or name to open their Friendship Profile.
- Look for the "Best Friends" badge with a gold ring and tap it to see which planet you occupy in their Solar System.
To stop seeing planets, go back to the Snapchat+ feature management page and toggle Solar System off. This only hides the feature for you; it does not change anyone's Best Friends list.
Who can see the Snapchat planets
Only Snapchat+ subscribers can see the Snapchat planets, and each subscriber only sees their own position in a friend's Solar System. Opening a friend's profile does not reveal the full list of who else is Mercury, Venus or Earth for that person, so the feature cannot be used to see a friend's complete Best Friends ranking.
Friends without Snapchat+ do not see a planet badge at all. That also means a friend cannot check where they rank for you unless they subscribe and you are in each other's top eight. If you would rather keep your closest contacts private in other apps too, see our guide on how to hide your Instagram account from other users.
What Snapchat+ includes besides the planets
Snapchat+ is Snapchat's paid subscription for exclusive, experimental and pre-release features, and the Friend Solar System is only one of them. The official Snapchat+ page highlights these features:
- #1 Best Friend: pin one friend as your top BFF.
- Custom app icon: pick an icon from a library that keeps growing.
- Snapchat+ badge: a badge next to your name on your profile.
- App customization: chat wallpapers, Bitmoji backgrounds and custom notification sounds.
- Story insights: see how often friends watch your Stories, and boost them.
- Early access: try new Snapchat features before other users.
Snapchat's support page says pricing varies by country and device, so the price you pay depends on where you live and whether you subscribe on iPhone, Android or the web. Check the current price in the app under Settings, then Snapchat+, before you subscribe. You cancel through the App Store on iPhone or Google Play on Android, under active subscriptions.
Why you cannot see a planet on Snapchat
You usually cannot see a planet on Snapchat for one of four reasons, and most have a simple fix:
- No Snapchat+ subscription: the Solar System is a subscriber feature only.
- Solar System is switched off: it starts disabled for first-time subscribers, so turn it on in the Snapchat+ feature management page.
- You are not in their top eight: if you are not one of the friend's eight Best Friends, no badge or planet appears.
- The app has not refreshed: Snapchat notes you may need to restart the app before new Snapchat+ options show up.
If none of these apply, update Snapchat from the App Store or Google Play and check again. For other Snapchat labels that confuse people, our explainers cover what the green dot on Snapchat means and what "in a group with me" means on Snapchat.
FAQ
What does Mercury mean on Snapchat?
Mercury means you hold the first spot on that friend's Best Friends list, so you are the person they Snap and chat with most. It is the planet closest to the sun, which represents your friend.
Can I see the planets without Snapchat+?
No. The Friend Solar System is a Snapchat+ feature, and free accounts do not see the planet badge on Friendship Profiles.
Does my friend know which planet they are in my Solar System?
Only if they subscribe to Snapchat+, have the Solar System turned on and are among your eight Best Friends. Each subscriber sees only their own planet, never your full ranking.
How do I turn off the Snapchat Solar System?
Open the Snapchat+ feature management page and toggle Solar System off. You can switch it back on at any time.
Related: Green dot on Snapchat explained, "In a group with me" on Snapchat, Does Facebook notify screenshots?
Wow, I had no idea Snapchat had something about planets! Explaining what it means and how to see it is really helpful. Can’t wait to try it out and explore the planets on Snapchat!