Snap launches paid creator subscriptions as user growth slows, seeking steadier revenue beyond advertising in a crowded market.
Snap Inc. is introducing a paid subscription feature that will allow creators to earn recurring income directly from their most engaged followers, as the company seeks to diversify beyond advertising.
The Los Angeles-based social media firm will begin testing the feature, called Creator Subscriptions, on Monday with a small group of Snapchat creators, the company told CNBC exclusively. The move comes as user growth moderates and Snap looks to build more predictable revenue streams.
“In the year ahead, growth in subscribers will be a critical input metric to track our progress,” said Evan Spiegel, Snap’s chief executive, in a recent letter accompanying the company’s fourth-quarter results.
Snap reported 474 million daily active users in the most recent quarter, down 3 million from the previous period. At the same time, its existing subscription products — Snapchat+ and Memories Storage Plans — grew 71 percent year over year to 24 million users.
Under the new program, users will be able to subscribe to creators for $4.99 to $19.99 per month in exchange for exclusive content, including private photos and videos, access to subscriber-only Stories and prioritized text replies that may be featured at the top of a creator’s public Story.
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“We want the next step in our long-term creator monetization journey to be one that’s really rooted in real relationships,” said Jim Shepherd, Snap’s head of content partnerships, in an interview. The goal, he added, is to help creators generate predictable income from their most engaged fans.
Snap is entering an increasingly crowded subscription market. Platforms such as Patreon, Substack and OnlyFans are built around paid memberships, while major social networks have rolled out their own offerings. YouTube began offering Channel Memberships in 2018, and Meta Platforms introduced subscription tools on Facebook and Instagram in 2020 and 2022.
On Snapchat, creators will receive approximately 60 percent of subscription revenue after platform fees. Snap said it will provide performance data to help creators refine pricing as the product evolves.
The initial test will include 15 creators, with about 10 more expected to join in the United States during the early phase. Expansion is also underway in Canada, the United Kingdom and France. Participants include high-profile creators such as David Dobrik, Catherine Paiz, Harry Jowsey, Jeremiah Brown and Skai Jackson.
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The feature will initially be available to users on Apple iOS devices in eligible countries. Snap did not specify when Creator Subscriptions would launch on Android.
For Snap, the bet is clear: as advertising markets fluctuate and user growth plateaus, recurring creator subscriptions may offer a steadier path forward — provided it can stand out in a marketplace already crowded with ways for fans to pay.
