Facebook Page vs Profile vs Pro Mode

Last reviewed: 6 October 2026

The short answer

Facebook gives you three ways to show up publicly:

• Your profile: the personal account you created when you signed up, for friends and family. You need it to create a Page.
• Your profile with pro mode on (Facebook also calls it professional mode): the same profile, plus public followers, insights and creator tools. Only you can manage it, and your real name is still required.
• A Page: a separate public profile for a business, brand, organisation or public figure. It doesn’t require a real name, more than one person can manage it, and you can have more than one.

For a business, create a Page. Meta’s own decision guide says that if you want a public presence for an entity (a business, organisation or product), you should create a Page; pro mode is for individuals building a public presence from their existing profile (Meta Business Help).

Based on Facebook Help and Meta Business Help pages checked on 6 October 2026. Viral In City is independent and not affiliated with Meta.

When to use a Page

Meta suggests a Page when you are building a public presence for a business, organisation, product, or under a different name such as a pseudonym, or when you want a team to help manage it (Meta Business Help). For businesses, a Page is the right choice because:

• It’s separate from your personal life. Customers follow the business, not your friends list.
• Several people can manage it with their own access, so no one shares passwords.
• It works with Meta Business Suite for scheduling, inbox and insights across Facebook and Instagram.
• It connects to your Instagram professional account and to Meta’s ad tools.
• It stays with the business if an employee leaves (as long as you keep more than one person with full control).

Profiles use the name you go by with friends and family, so a business name belongs on a Page, not on a personal profile.

What happens if you turn pro mode off

Facebook lists the changes (Facebook Help):

• Who can follow me changes to Friends, and you lose followers who aren’t your friends.
• Your content and audience insights are no longer available.
• You lose Moderation Assist and discovery opportunities.
• If you were monetizing, pending payouts or bonuses are paid, but future ones are paused.
• If you used content protection, protection for your content is removed.

Think twice before switching it off if you have built an audience.

How to set up a Facebook Page for your business

1. Create the Page from your profile menu (Pages, then Create). Use your real business name and choose an accurate category.
2. Add the basics: profile picture (your logo), cover photo, short bio, contact details, website, location and opening hours.
3. Add a button such as Message, Call or Book.
4. Give access to a second trusted person with full control, so you never get locked out.
5. Connect your Instagram professional account and use Meta Business Suite to schedule and manage messages.
6. Post regularly: Reels, photos and posts that help customers. Our content calendar generator gives you a 30-day plan.

Image sizes for the profile picture and cover are in our image size guide, sourced from Facebook Help.

Designing the cover? Use the dimensions in our Facebook cover photo size guide so text isn’t cropped on phones.

Once the Page is live, plan posts up to 29 days ahead: see how to schedule Facebook posts.

Common mistakes

• Running a business from a personal profile with the business name as your “name”.
• One person controls the Page and then leaves or loses access.
• Sharing your personal login with an employee or agency instead of giving Page access. Our guide to safe account access explains how.
• Turning pro mode off without thinking and losing your public followers.
• An empty Page with no posts for months. Visitors notice.