Snapchat is weird. One day you’re someone's "Sun" and the next you’ve been demoted to "Mars" without doing a single thing differently. If you’ve ever opened your Friend Profile and seen a gold-bordered badge that says "Best Friends," you’ve stumbled into the solar system. The Snapchat bsf list planets system is basically the app’s way of gamifying your closest relationships, and honestly, it causes more anxiety than it probably should.
It’s exclusive. It’s part of Snapchat+, the subscription service that costs about $3.99 a month. If you don't pay, you don't see the planets. But even for those who do pay, the logic behind who sits where can feel like a total mystery. It isn't just about how many selfies you send.
How the Snapchat BSF List Planets Actually Work
The "Friend Solar System" represents how close you are to someone based on your relative interaction levels. Here is the kicker: it’s private. Only you can see your position in their solar system, and only they can see their position in yours. You aren't seeing a list of their best friends; you’re seeing where you rank in their top eight.
Mercury is the top spot. If you see yourself as Mercury, you’re their #1 Best Friend. As you move further away from the Sun (which represents your friend), your rank drops.
The Order of the Planets
- Mercury: You are their closest friend. The bitmoji usually looks happy, surrounded by five pink hearts. It's the "Super BFF" equivalent.
- Venus: You’re their second-best friend. You’ll see yellow hearts here.
- Earth: Third place. This one is iconic with the moon and some green and blue vibes.
- Mars: Fourth place. It’s the red planet, often decorated with stars.
Then it gets a bit more distant. Jupiter (5th) is large and orangey with stripes. Saturn (6th) has the rings, obviously. Uranus (7th) is green-blue and cold. Finally, Neptune (8th) is a deep, lonely blue.
If you aren't in their top eight, you won't see a planet at all. It just won’t appear. That’s usually when the "Wait, why did I disappear?" panic sets in.
🔗 Read more: Increase picture resolution without losing quality: Why most tools fail and what actually works
Why Your Rank Moves (And Why It’s Not Always Your Fault)
It’s a ratio. That’s the most important thing to understand about the Snapchat bsf list planets. People think if they send 50 snaps a day, they’ll stay at Mercury. Not necessarily.
Snapchat’s algorithm looks at the volume of interactions between you and that friend compared to their interactions with everyone else. If your friend starts talking to a new person constantly, your "score" relative to their total activity might drop. You could be snapping them just as much as before, but if they are snapping someone else more, you’re moving toward Saturn.
It's a bit brutal.
Sometimes the list glitches too. The app cache can get weird, or the "Best Friends" list (which is different from the Solar System but related) might update at a different frequency than the visual planet badge. It’s not an exact science, and checking it every hour is a one-way ticket to overthinking your social life.
The Snapchat+ Factor
You have to be a subscriber to see the "Best Friends" badge on a friend's profile. However, the other person doesn't need to be a subscriber for you to see your rank in their system. You are paying for the "Best Friends" feature to peek at where you stand.
If you see a "Best Friends" badge with a gold border on someone’s profile, tap it. That’s where the planet reveals itself. If there’s no gold border, you aren't in their top eight. Or, you haven't talked enough recently for the algorithm to categorize you.
Common Misconceptions About the Solar System
A huge myth is that your "Snap Score" determines your planet.
Nope.
Snap Score is your total activity across the whole app. The Snapchat bsf list planets are strictly about the one-to-one relationship between two specific accounts. You could have a Snap Score of 1 million and be Neptune in someone’s list if you only talk to them once a week.
Another big one? People think the other person can see that you’re "checking" their planet.
They can't.
Snapchat notifies people of screenshots, but it doesn't notify someone when you tap that "Best Friends" badge to see your planet. You can lurk in peace.
Practical Steps to Manage Your Snapchat Rankings
If you're trying to climb the ladder or just want to understand the system better, here is what actually works.
- Consistency over volume. Sending a massive "snap dump" once a week won't help as much as daily streaks. The algorithm favors frequent, multi-day interactions.
- Use different media. It isn't confirmed, but many users report that a mix of chats, snaps, and even the occasional video call keeps the "Best Friend" status more stable than just sending "S" (streaks) photos.
- Check your privacy settings. If you’ve recently ghosted someone or cleared a conversation, it can reset the data points the algorithm uses to place you in the solar system.
- Don't ignore the "Solar System" toggle. If the feature is stressing you out, you can actually turn it off in your Snapchat+ settings. Sometimes not knowing is better for your mental health.
The reality is that these planets are a tiny slice of data in a very complex app. They don't define your real-world friendship. If you’re Earth and you think you should be Mercury, just send a regular text. Most people don't even know the difference between the Uranus and Neptune icons anyway.
🔗 Read more: Finding Another Word for the Internet: Why the Terms We Use Actually Matter
To fix a missing planet or a rank that seems wrong, try clearing your Snapchat cache in the settings menu. This forces the app to re-download the latest relationship data from the servers. Often, that "drop" from Venus to Mars was just a display error that a quick refresh solves.