The Friend Solar System is a Snapchat+ feature that shows where you rank among someone's eight closest Snapchat friends. It uses planets instead of numbers, with Mercury representing the first position and Neptune representing the eighth. When you tap the gold-ringed Best Friends badge on a friend's profile, Snapchat shows your Bitmoji on a planet in their Solar System.
Think of it as a visual way to understand your Snapchat interactions. Your friend appears as the Sun, while your assigned planet represents your place in their Best Friends list. This guide explains how the Friend Solar System works, what each planet means, how to enable it, and what to do when your planet doesn't appear.
Snapchat's Friend Solar System, also known as Snapchat Planets, is an exclusive Snapchat+ feature that turns Best Friends rankings into a space-themed display.
The idea comes from our real solar system, where eight planets orbit the Sun. On Snapchat, each planet represents a different position in someone's Best Friends list. The closer your planet is to the Sun, the higher you rank based on your Snapchat interactions.
For example, if you're someone's Mercury, you're in their first position. If you're their Jupiter, you're fifth. These positions reflect activity on Snapchat, not necessarily how close you are in real life.
Snapchat introduced the feature to give users more context about their friendships. Unlike a public leaderboard, it shows your own position in an individual friend's Solar System rather than revealing their complete friends list.
The Friend Solar System uses Snapchat's existing Best Friends system, which identifies the people you exchange Snaps and Chats with most frequently.
Here's how the concept works:
The Sun: Represents the friend whose Solar System you're viewing.
The Planet: Represents your position in that friend's Best Friends list.
Planet Order: Follows Mercury through Neptune, representing positions one through eight.
Friendmoji: Displays your Bitmoji alongside the assigned planet.
Ranking Changes: Your position may change when Snapchat interactions change.
For example, imagine you open Alex's Friendship Profile and see Venus after tapping the Solar System badge. That means you're in second place in Alex's Best Friends ranking.
However, Alex could be your Mercury, Mars, or another planet in your own system. Your position in their list doesn't automatically match their position in yours.
Snapchat confirms that its Best Friends feature reflects the people you Snap and Chat with most frequently.
Regular photo and video Snaps and conversations can affect who appears among your closest Snapchat contacts. However, Snapchat hasn't publicly disclosed the exact formula or weighting used to determine every Friend Solar System position.
That means claims about specific points for Story replies, Streak lengths, or the number of messages required to reach Mercury shouldn't be treated as confirmed facts.
Your planet is best understood as a reflection of communication patterns, not a permanent friendship score.
The Friend Solar System includes eight planets, each corresponding to a position in someone's Best Friends list.
Planet
Mercury - #1
Venus - #2
Earth - #3
Mars - #4
Jupiter - #5
Saturn - #6
Uranus - #7
Neptune - #8
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and represents the number-one position in someone's Friend Solar System.
Its Snapchat design features a reddish planet with small hearts around it. If you see Mercury when checking a friend's profile, you hold the highest position in their planetary ranking.
Venus represents second place in the Friend Solar System. Its design has a light brown or beige appearance with colorful hearts.
Being Venus means you're among someone's highest-ranked Snapchat contacts, just behind their first-ranked friend.
Earth represents the third position. Its familiar blue-and-green appearance, surrounding hearts, and small moon make it easy to recognize.
If Snapchat shows you as Earth, you're ranked third in that friend's Best Friends list.
Mars represents fourth place. The planet appears reddish and includes decorative hearts and stars.
Seeing Mars means you're still among that person's eight closest Snapchat contacts, occupying the fourth position.
Jupiter represents the fifth position and has a large, striped appearance with surrounding stars.
If you're Jupiter in someone's Solar System, you're fifth in their Snapchat Best Friends ranking.
Saturn represents sixth place. You can recognize it by its prominent ring.
Being assigned Saturn means you're the sixth-ranked contact in that friend's Solar System.
Uranus represents the seventh position and appears in a greenish or blue-green shade.
Seeing Uranus means you're still included in their top eight, even though six other contacts rank ahead of you.
Neptune is the final planet and represents the eighth position. It appears blue with decorative stars.
If you're someone's Neptune, you're eighth in their current Snapchat Best Friends ranking. It doesn't mean that person dislikes you or that your real-life friendship is becoming weaker.
Remember: Each planet represents a ranking position, not a specific personality, relationship type, or emotional connection.
The Friend Solar System is available through Snapchat+, but first-time subscribers won't necessarily see it immediately because the feature is turned off by default.
Follow these steps to enable it:
Open the Snapchat app on your iPhone or Android device.
Tap your Bitmoji or profile icon.
Open your Snapchat+ membership card.
Find Solar System or Friend Solar System in the feature management section.
Switch the feature on.
Once enabled, you can visit eligible Friendship Profiles and check your planetary position.
You can also return to the same settings to turn the feature off whenever you prefer.
Yes. Snapchat identifies Friend Solar System as a premium Snapchat+ feature, meaning you need access to Snapchat+ to view the feature.
Subscription prices depend on your country, device, and available plan. The most reliable way to check the current price is through the Snapchat+ subscription page inside the app.
Snapchat's official instructions describe the viewer as a Snapchat+ subscriber. They do not state that both friends must separately purchase subscriptions to use the planet-viewing feature.
After enabling the feature, you can check your position directly from a friend's profile.
Open Snapchat and go to the Chat screen.
Tap a friend's Bitmoji or profile to open their Friendship Profile.
Look for the gold-ringed Best Friends badge. Some app interfaces may also display a Friends badge.
Tap the available Solar System badge.
Check the planet shown with your Bitmoji.
The planet reveals your position in that person's Solar System.
For example, seeing Earth means you rank third. Seeing Neptune means you're eighth.
You don't need to identify all eight friends or compare multiple profiles to understand your own position.
No. Snapchat's Solar System is designed as a private feature.
It reveals your position in a specific friend's ranking rather than displaying the identities and positions of everyone in their Best Friends list.
You cannot use it to discover exactly who occupies someone's Mercury, Venus, or Earth positions unless the person involved shares that information with you.
You may come across different badge labels when reading about or using Snapchat's Friend Solar System.
The Best Friends badge is the one Snapchat explicitly describes in its official support instructions. It has a gold ring and relates to the Best Friends feature.
Some versions and guides also refer to a Friends badge, which may appear when a friendship ranking isn't mutual in the same way.
The important distinction is that a badge's name and a planet's position aren't interchangeable. A badge indicates a friendship-related status, while the planet reveals your specific place in the other person's Solar System.
If your app displays a badge differently from an online screenshot, check Snapchat's current in-app interface rather than relying only on older guides.
Yes. Friend Solar System positions can change as your Snapchat activity changes.
Snapchat says its Best Friends list updates regularly. Someone who appears as Mercury now might appear as Venus or Earth later if their relative interaction patterns change.
For example, suppose you've been exchanging more Snaps with one friend than anyone else. That friend may hold a high position in your ranking. If you start communicating more often with other contacts, the order may shift.
Snapchat doesn't provide a publicly confirmed daily update schedule for planet positions, so you shouldn't expect your rank to change immediately after sending a few extra Snaps.
You can't directly choose whether you're Mercury, Venus, or another planet in somebody else's Solar System.
Snapchat+ does offer a separate feature that lets subscribers privately pin someone as their number-one Best Friend. However, that feature shouldn't be confused with manually controlling another person's planetary ranking.
Your position in someone else's Solar System depends on their Snapchat Best Friends system, not a planet you select yourself.
If you can't see a planet or the Best Friends badge, the issue may involve your subscription, feature settings, or the available friendship ranking.
This is a common first check. Snapchat disables the feature by default for first-time Snapchat+ subscribers.
Open your Snapchat+ feature management settings and make sure the Solar System toggle is enabled.
Check that your subscription is active and the feature is included in your available plan.
If you recently subscribed, restarting the Snapchat app may help the new features appear.
The feature depends on Snapchat's Best Friends ranking. Not every contact will necessarily have an available planet to display.
A missing badge alone doesn't prove that a friend removed you, blocked you, or stopped communicating with you.
An outdated Snapchat version may not display the latest features correctly.
Check the App Store or Google Play Store for updates, install any available version, and reopen the app.
Sometimes an app or connection problem can affect how profile features load.
Try closing and reopening Snapchat, checking your internet connection, and reviewing the feature again.
If the problem continues, use Snapchat's in-app support or bug-reporting options.
Yes. Snapchat describes the Friend Solar System as an optional, private feature.
When you tap someone's Solar System badge, Snapchat displays your own planetary position. It doesn't give you access to a public ranking of that person's entire friend group.
Other contacts cannot browse your complete Best Friends list through the Solar System feature.
This matters because screenshots and explanations online sometimes make the feature look like a shared leaderboard. In actual use, it provides a limited view of individual friendship rankings.
In April 2024, Snap announced that it would make the Solar System feature off by default.
The decision followed concerns that friendship rankings could make some users feel excluded or disappointed about where they appeared in somebody else's list.
Snap kept the feature available for Snapchat+ subscribers who wanted to use it while allowing others to avoid it.
As of 2026, first-time subscribers can choose whether to enable the feature through Snapchat+ settings.
Several online explanations make Snapchat's planet system sound more precise than the company actually describes it.
A higher planet means a better real-life friendship. Not necessarily. Mercury represents a Snapchat ranking, not a measurement of trust, loyalty, or emotional closeness.
A longer Snapstreak guarantees Mercury. Snapchat hasn't confirmed that Streak length alone determines planetary positions. Best Friends rankings relate to Snaps and Chats, and the exact calculation isn't public.
Everyone can view your eight planets. No. The Solar System doesn't expose a complete friends leaderboard to other users.
Your ranking must be the same in both directions. Not necessarily. You could be someone's Mercury while they occupy a different position in your Solar System.
Your planet never changes. Rankings may shift as Snapchat communication patterns change.
Understanding these distinctions helps you interpret the feature without attaching meanings that Snapchat hasn't confirmed.
Friend Solar System is a Snapchat+ feature that uses planets to represent your position in someone's eight-person Best Friends ranking. Mercury represents first place, and Neptune represents eighth.
No. The feature requires Snapchat+ access. Subscription options and any promotional trials depend on the offers available to your account.
Snapchat officially provides the planet-viewing feature through Snapchat+. Regular Snapchat accounts don't have the same subscriber controls for accessing it.
There is no separate ranking system. Snapchat Planets is the common name people use for the planets displayed through Snapchat's Friend Solar System feature.
Mercury represents first place in that person's Snapchat Solar System. It indicates the highest planet ranking, but doesn't independently confirm how that person describes your relationship in real life.
No. Neptune represents eighth place in the Solar System. It means you're at the final position among the eight represented contacts, not necessarily that you're losing a friendship.
Snapchat says its Best Friends list updates regularly but doesn't publish a fixed update interval for planetary rankings.
Yes. Open the Snapchat+ feature management page and switch Solar System off. You can enable it again whenever you want.
No. Snapchat's official explanation says the feature shows the viewer's own planet instead of displaying other people's identities or the complete Best Friends ranking.
The Friend Solar System gives Snapchat+ subscribers a visual look at their position in another person's Best Friends list. Mercury represents the first position, Neptune represents the eighth, and the planets in between follow the same order as our real solar system.
While rankings can change with Snapchat activity, they don't define your real-life friendships. If you enjoy checking your position, you can enable Solar System through Snapchat+. If you prefer not to compare friendship rankings, you can leave it switched off.
For the latest feature rules, visit Snapchat's official Friend Solar System support page.