Snap Inc. Is launching “Creator Subscriptions” on Snapchat, a new feature designed to allow creators to generate recurring revenue directly from their most engaged fans. The move, announced , represents a significant step in Snap’s efforts to diversify its income streams beyond advertising, particularly as user growth begins to moderate.
The subscription feature will initially be tested with a small group of Snapchat creators, beginning . Subscribers will gain access to exclusive content, including direct photos and videos from creators, access to a subscriber-only Story, and the ability to submit text-based replies that may be featured prominently in the creator’s public Story. Pricing for these subscriptions will range from $4.99 to $19.99 per month, with creators receiving approximately 60% of the revenue after platform fees.
“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 a statement. “And help creators expand the ways that they make money in a way that’s predictable and they can make money from their most engaged fans.”
Snap’s decision to introduce Creator Subscriptions places it squarely within a rapidly expanding market for direct-to-fan monetization. Platforms like Patreon, Substack, and OnlyFans have already established themselves as key players in this space, offering creators tools to build sustainable income streams through membership models. Major social media companies are increasingly offering similar features. YouTube launched Channel Memberships in , allowing creators to retain 70% of membership revenue, while Meta (Facebook and Instagram) introduced subscriptions in and respectively, currently allowing creators to keep 100% of subscription revenue after fees.
Snap’s existing subscription offerings, Snapchat+ and Memories Storage Plans, have seen substantial growth, increasing 71% year-over-year to reach 24 million users. However, this represents a relatively small fraction of Snapchat’s 474 million daily active users – a figure that actually decreased by 3 million in the most recent quarter. This decline in daily active users underscores the urgency for Snap to explore alternative revenue models.
The company is positioning its new subscription feature as a way to foster deeper connections between creators and their audiences. Shepherd emphasized that Snap’s strength lies in its distribution and discovery capabilities, particularly through the Spotlight feature, which showcases short-form videos to a broad user base. “We have a built-in distribution engine where so many creators are building fandoms,” he stated.
Snap’s initial rollout of Creator Subscriptions will involve 15 creators, with approximately 10 more joining in the U.S. During the early testing phase. The company is also extending outreach to creators in Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. The initial cohort includes prominent creators such as David Dobrik, Catherine Paiz, Harry Jowsey, Jeremiah Brown, and Skai Jackson.
The rollout will initially be limited to users on Apple iOS devices, with no immediate plans to support Android users. This phased approach allows Snap to gather data and refine the feature before a wider release. The company plans to provide creators with performance data to inform pricing strategies as the program evolves.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel highlighted the importance of subscriber growth as a key metric for evaluating the success of the new program, stating, “In the year ahead, growth in subscribers will be a critical input metric to track our progress.” This emphasis on subscriber numbers suggests that Snap views Creator Subscriptions not just as a revenue diversification strategy, but as a fundamental indicator of its ability to cultivate strong, lasting relationships between creators and their fans.
The launch of Creator Subscriptions reflects a broader trend within the social media landscape, where platforms are increasingly recognizing the value of empowering creators and providing them with more direct control over their income. While the market is becoming increasingly competitive, Snap hopes its unique features and existing user base will allow it to carve out a significant share of the direct-to-fan monetization space.
