Snapchat Planets in Order: Meaning & How They Actually Work

Ever opened Snapchat on your iPhone at midnight and watched your best friends orbit you like a tiny solar system? Same here. People brag, “I’m their Mercury,” and if you’re not in on it, the FOMO hits fast. Snapchat’s Friend Solar System, also called Snapchat Planets, is playful and a little mysterious, the kind that sparks curiosity and friendly rivalry. 

But what does it actually mean to be someone’s Mercury, Jupiter, or Neptune? How does Snapchat decide where your friends land in your universe, and can you nudge your own status without spamming streaks? I asked the same questions after a week of late-night snaps. 

In this guide, you’ll see exactly what Snapchat Planets are, how they work, what each planet says about your friendships, and how to check or improve your own ranking on iPhone. Let’s blast off! 

What Do The Planets Mean on Snapchat?

Let’s start with the basics. Snapchat Planets, sometimes called the Friend Solar System, is a premium feature for Snapchat Plus members on iPhone. It’s available in more than 25 countries (including the US, UK, France, Canada, India, and more). I keep it toggled on, because I like peeking at my little orbit after a busy weekend. 

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Here’s how it works: 

• You are the Sun in your own Snapchat universe. 
• Your top 8 friends become planets, from Mercury to Neptune, based on how much you interact with each person. 

The closer a friend’s planet sits to your Sun, the more you snap and chat with them. And yes, this universe is totally private, only you can see where your friends’ “orbit” you. It updates often, so the order can shift as your friendships and activity change. I’ve watched mine shuffle after a streak streaks out, then comes back the next day. 

How Does The Snapchat Planets System Work?

Once Friend Solar System is turned on in Snapchat Plus on iPhone, Snapchat quietly tracks snaps, chats, and streaks in the background. Based on that activity, it assigns each of your top eight friends a planet, from Mercury, closest, to Neptune, farthest. 

• You are always the Sun in your solar system. 
• Mercury goes to your number one bestie; the person you interact with the most. 
• The rest, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, follow in order based on your interactions. 
• The arrangement can shift as your habits change. 

A fun twist, your place in someone else’s solar system might be completely different. You could be their Mercury, while they sit as your Jupiter. That is just how the universe spins.

Snapchat Planets Order and Meanings: In-Depth Breakdown

The planets stay in the same order as our actual solar system, only with a playful digital twist built for Snapchat. Here’s what each planet means, and what that placement says about your friendship rankings in this feature.

What Snapchat Planets in Order Reveals About Your Best Friends?

🌌 Planet	📍 Rank	🌈 Emoji Colors & Symbols	🤝 Friendship Vibe
☿ Mercury	1st	Red planet, red hearts, stars	Ride-or-die best friend, most interactions
♀ Venus	2nd	Golden/light brown, pink/yellow/blue hearts	Strong, regular connection
🌍 Earth	3rd	Blue & green, red hearts, moon	Loyal, stable friendship
♂ Mars	4th	Reddish-orange, purple/blue hearts	Fun, energetic bond
♃ Jupiter	5th	Orange with dark stripes & stars	Big personality, positive vibes
♄ Saturn	6th	Yellow-orange, ring, stars	Reliable and meaningful conversations
♅ Uranus	7th	Green, yellow stars	Unique but infrequent chats
♆ Neptune	8th	Blue, cold visuals, minimal stars	Distant, occasional interaction

Snapchat’s Friend Solar System is more than a label for a list. Think of it as a tiny space map that reflects closeness. Each planet icon in this system carries meaning. It hints at how often you two chat or swap snaps, the strength of the bond, and the general vibe between you. Not just a picture. A signal. 

In your Snapchat world, you are always the Sun. Everything centers on that. The eight closest friends appear as planets orbiting around you, each with its own emoji. The nearer a planet sits, the tighter the connection in daily use, chats, snaps, and streaks. The ranking shifts as habits change, so a burst of late-night chats can pull someone closer, while quiet weeks can nudge them outward. It maps activity, but it also mirrors the feeling of friendship, not only the count. 

Here is what each planet means for your top friends, both in how it looks and what it suggests about your relationship: 

1. Mercury – Your #1 Best Friend

• Meaning: Mercury sits closest to the Sun, so it marks the friend you interact with the most through snaps and chats. The absolute top spot.
• Visual Representation: A red planet with several red hearts, sometimes tiny stars or sparkles.
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Daily snaps, long streaks, quick replies. This is your ride or die on Snapchat, the friend who shows up in stories and DMs all the time.

2. Venus – Your Second Closest Friend

• Meaning: Venus goes to the second most active connection in your list. Strong activity, just a step behind Mercury.
• Visual Representation: A light brown or golden planet surrounded by colorful hearts, often pink, yellow, and blue. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Consistent energy. Regular snaps and chats, steady rhythm, only a touch lighter than your top spot. 

3. Earth – Your Third Closest Friend

• Meaning: Earth lands on the third position in your Friend Solar System. 
• Visual Representation: Blue and green planet with a moon, stars, and red hearts orbiting. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Reliable and loyal. You two interact often, and the connection feels balanced and supportive.

4. Mars – Your Fourth Closest Friend

• Meaning: Mars tags the fourth most interactive friend. 
• Visual Representation: A red or reddish orange planet, often with purple and blue hearts plus stars. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Plenty of spark. Maybe not every day, yet the chats feel lively when they happen.

5. Jupiter – Your Fifth Closest Friend

• Meaning: Jupiter marks the fifth friend in your ranking. 
• Visual Representation: A large reddish orange planet with darker bands and stars. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Big presence, upbeat tone. Interactions lean fun, even if the frequency dips here and there. 

6. Saturn – Your Sixth Closest Friend

• Meaning: Saturn represents the sixth spot in your lineup. 
• Visual Representation: An orange planet with a ring and stars. Easy to spot. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Steady and dependable. You may not chat daily, yet conversations tend to be meaningful when they land. rts.

7. Uranus – Your Seventh Closest Friend

• Meaning: Uranus is assigned to the seventh most active friend. 
• Visual Representation: A green planet, usually without hearts. Clean look. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Less frequent pings, but the topics hit different. Always an interesting angle when a chat starts.
• Visual Representation: A green planet, usually without hearts.

8. Neptune – Your Eighth Closest Friend

• Meaning: Neptune anchors the last slot in the set, the eighth closest friend. 
• Visual Representation: A blue planet, often shown as cool or distant, with minimal decoration. 
• What It Says About Your Friendship: Rare activity, still a real link. Think old friend, occasional check ins, or a streak that drifts in and out. 

Key Points to Remember:

• The order can shift as your interactions change over time. 
• The planet art makes it easy to scan and spot who ranks where. 
• It is a lighthearted way to see who orbits closest to your Sun, and who has drifted toward Neptune. 

How to Interpret the Planet Emojis in Your Friendships

• Always moving: Rankings are not fixed. Activity rises and dips, so a friend can slide from Mercury to Mars, then bounce back the next day. That movement is part of the fun, and yes, sometimes the drama. Late replies, weekend trips, or a streak that breaks at midnight can nudge positions fast. 
• Personal and private: Only you can see planet positions inside your solar system, and your spot in someone else’s orbit can look completely different. The view lives in your account, so it stays personal, only if you choose to show it to someone does it become shared. Quiet, a little mysterious, and meant for you. 
• Emotional impact: A tiny thrill, or a tiny sting, when status shifts. Most changes reflect recent activity, not the full history or depth of a friendship. One quiet week can push someone outward. A streak revival can pull them closer. If emotions spike, iOS Focus or a short notification break can help reset the vibe. 
• A playful metaphor: Planets act like a gamified shortcut for interaction volume. It reflects how much you two connect, not the true worth of the relationship. Treat it like a scoreboard you glance at, not a judge of real life. Keep it light and enjoy the visual. 

How to Enable or Disable the Friend Solar System

Here is the key part. Snapchat Planets sits behind Snapchat Plus, the premium subscription with extra insights and cosmetic touches.

To enable:

1. Subscribe to Snapchat Plus.
2. Open Snapchat on iPhone and tap your profile icon in the top left. 
3. Scroll to the Snapchat+ section.
4. Find the “Friend Solar System” option and toggle it ON. The badge appears on profiles when this switch is active. 

To disable:

• Repeat the same steps and toggle the feature OFF. The badges disappear right away.

Note: The feature starts OFF for new subscribers, so you stay in control from the first day. On my iPhone, I see the toggle near other Snapchat+ switches.

How to View Your Snapchat Planets

Ready to check your cosmic status? Here is the quick path to see your planet in a friend’s universe: 

1. Open a friend’s profile: Go to your friend list and select the friend you want to check. You can also tap the chat header to jump into their profile card. 
2. Find the “Best Friends” or “Friends” badge: 
   • Best Friends badge, you both sit in each other’s top 8. 
   • Friends badge, you are in their top 8, but they are not in yours. 
3. Tap the badge: The screen reveals which planet you represent in their solar system, from Mercury through Neptune. 

Note: Only you can see the planets in your own universe. They can see their view of you by checking your profile, and only if both of you use Snapchat Plus. If either account is not on Plus, the planet view stays hidden. 

How to Improve Your Planet Position

Aiming for Mercury, or just trying to climb a notch, focus on interaction patterns that feel natural: 

• Send snaps and chats more often, photo or video, short and casual works fine. 
• Keep streaks alive with daily pings that actually fit your routine. 
• Reply promptly when it makes sense, even a quick emoji can keep momentum. 
• React to stories and posts and follow up with a chat when something sparks. 
• Avoid long gaps if the goal is movement toward the inner planets. 

Snapchat refreshes rankings on a regular basis, so steady engagement helps hold a top spot. No single burst guarantees a jump, consistency matters more than a one day blitz.

Why Did Snapchat Introduce Planets?

Snapchat has a long habit of playful features that make friendships feel active. Friend emojis. Fire streaks. Bitmoji touches. Planets carry that idea forward by turning your top eight into a mini solar system, which makes connections feel more interactive and fun to peek at during the day. 

This feature opted in and off by default, especially after worries about visible rankings affecting feelings. You stay in charge, turn it on or off whenever you want, and nothing else in Plus depends on it. 

Privacy and User Concerns About Snapchat Planets

The feature adds a fun, competitive edge to social time. It also raises a few things worth thinking through: 

• Personal rankings are private: Only you can view planet positions in your solar system. You can only see your own place in someone else’s system by checking their profile, and only if both of you have Snapchat Plus. 
• Opt in and control: Friend Solar System starts off. You enable it in settings, and you can turn it off at any moment if visible rankings feel uncomfortable. The choice stays with you. 
• Emotional impact: Some people feel anxious or competitive around rankings. If it starts to affect mood or relationships, switch it off or shift attention back to real world chats and plans. 
• No manual adjustment: You cannot set or move planets yourself. Rankings come from Snapchat’s algorithm and your interaction patterns, which means the system moves with your behavior. 
• Data use: Snap and chat activity informs rankings, but details are not shared publicly outside your private solar view. The screenshots you share are your call, not the app’s. 

Pro tip: If Friend Solar System ever feels stressful, disable it. You keep the rest of your Snapchat Plus perks. If you want to step back without turning it off, iOS Focus can pause Snapchat notifications for a while.

Snapchat Plus Pricing and Subscription Guide

Snapchat Planets are exclusive to Snapchat Plus subscribers.

Pricing (2025):

Country	1 Month	6 Months	1 Year
United States	$3.99	$21.99	$39.99
United Kingdom	£3.99	£21.99	£39.99
India	₹49	—	—

• A free trial (usually 7 days) is often available.
• Prices may vary by region and are subject to change.

How to Subscribe:

1. Download and install Snapchat.
2. Sign up or log in.
3. Go to your profile.
4. Tap the settings icon, then Snapchat+.
5. Choose your plan and activate your free trial if available.
6. Add your payment method and confirm.

Final Thoughts

Snapchat Planets turns your friend list into a playful little universe, a view that makes close connections feel visible and just a bit competitive. If you use Snapchat Plus, explore your own system and see who is nearest. Just remember, real friendships are bigger than snaps, streaks, or rankings. 

Whether you are aiming for Mercury or just curious about your orbit, enjoy the ride and keep your circle in the loop with snaps. React to stories, send a quick note, share moments that matter. Check the planets, smile, then live your day. Your universe is yours to shape. 

Related articles worth reading:

• Snapchat Spotlight: How to Post, Go Viral, and Get Paid
• How to add music to your Snapchat story
• What is “My Eyes Only” in Snapchat and how to use it!
• How to use Friendship Profiles in Snapchat on iPhone