Meta is charging businesses: why your Facebook page was only ever rented
Facebook now limits business pages to two free links a month. Here's what that means for NZ small businesses, and why your own website matters more than ever.
Digital Marketing · 29 October 2026
For years, Facebook has been the cheapest shopfront in New Zealand. Plenty of tradies, hairdressers, cafés and local service businesses have built their whole marketing around a free business page. That's now changing, as RNZ explains.
What's changed?
Meta has started rolling out a subscription called Meta One. On the free plan, business pages can only include links in two organic posts or comments a month. Links dropped into the comments now count too, so the old workaround is gone, as Newstalk ZB discussed.
- Free or Essential plan (about NZ$26 a month): two links a month.
- About NZ$88 a month: eight links.
- About NZ$265 a month: 20 links.
- Max plan (about NZ$883 a month): unlimited links.
The rollout started globally on 15 September and is happening gradually, so you may not have seen the limit on your page yet. Prices are as reported by RNZ in October 2026 and may change.
The real lesson: rented land
Interestingly, links to Instagram and Threads, both owned by Meta, don't count toward the limit. Links to your own website, booking page or online shop do. The platform wants to keep your customers inside its walls, and it sets the rules.
That's the risk of building your business on someone else's platform. Your reach, your features and now your costs can change overnight, and there's nothing you can do about it. B2B News puts it well: your Facebook page was only ever rented.
Your website is the one thing you own
A website is yours. Nobody can cap how many people visit it, charge you to share your own contact details, or bury it behind an algorithm. It's also what shows up when people search Google for what you do in your area.
What should you do now?
- Keep using Facebook and Instagram to stay connected, but don't rely on them as your only shopfront.
- Use your two free links a month wisely, pointing people to your website, not a third-party page.
- Make sure your website clearly shows your services, reviews and how to get in touch.
- Invest in [local SEO](/seo-services) so customers find you on Google without needing a social post.
- Put your website address in your page bio and images, which don't count as post links.
If you're running your business mostly off Facebook and want a website that works harder for you, I'd love to have a chat about website design. Websites start from $1,499 for a single page and $2,999 for a multi-page site.
