By Tihan van der Walt | 2 November 2026 · Social media update
If your business Facebook Page has recently warned you that you’ve run out of link posts for the month, you’re not imagining things. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is now limiting how many outside links some Pages may share for free, and it’s pointing them to a paid subscription called Meta One if they want more.
Key facts at a glance
For any South African business that uses Facebook to send people to its website, online shop or booking page, this is a big change. Here’s what we can confirm, what it costs, and how to work around it without paying.
On 15 September 2026, Meta launched Meta One, a paid subscription service across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta AI. Meta says the core apps "will stay free", but the paid plans unlock extra tools for individuals, creators and businesses.
Around the same time, Page managers began reporting a new limit. According to Facebook’s own Help Centre, affected Pages "can include links in up to 2 organic posts or comments per month". The allowance resets on the 1st of each month, and unused links don’t carry over.
The important detail: comments count too. Posting your link in the first comment instead of the post itself, long a favourite trick of social media managers, no longer gets around the cap. A post or comment carrying a link uses up one of your two slots. The only comment exemption is for extra links added to the comments of a post that already used a link.
Meta’s Help Centre says these links do not count towards the limit:
Not everyone, yet. The limit first appeared as a "limited test" in December 2025, when Meta told TechCrunch it was checking "whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value" for paying subscribers. That test hit selected Pages and professional-mode profiles; the BBC reported notices reaching users in the UK and US.
Since Meta One launched, more Page managers have reported hitting the cap, and South Africa is not exempt. On 21 September, South African news site Africa in Touch reported that affected Pages were being told they had used their monthly allowance after just two link posts, illustrated with a screenshot of the limit hitting iOlogue Media’s publications.
Meta itself still describes Meta One as "in limited testing and isn’t available everywhere yet". It has not published a list of affected countries, and has not said whether every Page will eventually get the two-link cap. If your Page hasn’t shown you a link-limit notice, you’re probably not affected yet. Plan for it anyway.
Meta’s business and creator plans are priced in US dollars, and Meta says pricing "may vary by region". Meta’s Help Centre lists these Facebook link allowances:
| Plan | Price (USD, per month) | Posts or comments with links per month |
|---|---|---|
| No subscription | Free | 2 |
| Essential | from $14.99 | 2 |
| Advanced | from $49.99 | 8 |
| Expert | from $149 | 20 |
| Max | from $499 | Unlimited |
Source: Meta Help Centre, “About Meta One Plans”. Highlighted: the cheapest plan that raises the link limit.
Two things stand out. First, the cheapest business plan, Essential, doesn’t raise the link limit at all. It mainly adds the verified badge and impersonation protection. Second, to get more than two links you need Advanced at $49.99 a month or more. At mid-October exchange rates, that’s roughly R830 a month, but Meta has not published official rand pricing, so check the price shown in your own app before you subscribe.
The good news is that you don’t need to pay Meta to keep Facebook working for your business. You do need to be more deliberate about it.
The facts point one way. Meta tested the link cap in December 2025, launched Meta One in September 2026, and now offers more than two link posts a month only on plans from $49.99 a month. Its own 2025 data showed that more than 98% of US Feed views came from posts without links. Put together, Facebook is becoming a place where businesses build awareness, while clicks to their own websites increasingly cost money.
That doesn’t make Facebook useless. It means relying on it as your main source of website traffic is now a bigger risk. The businesses that will be least affected are the ones that already own their customer channels: an email list, a Google Business Profile, a fast website that ranks in search, and a WhatsApp line customers actually use.
MinuteSteak Marketing is one of the big players in South African digital marketing, based in Linbro Park, Sandton. We help businesses get found and get enquiries, whatever Meta does next:
Is your Page affected?
Want to see if your Page is affected, and what to do about it? Get in touch:
WhatsApp 081 327 2146 Call 081 482 2584 Email hey@minutesteak.co.za