Snapchat is testing a paid subscription model with extra perks

Snap Inc is testing a paid subscription-based service called Snapchat Plus through which it will provide early access to new features in addition to making some exclusive features available to a select group of loyal users. This was first reported by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi and was later confirmed by Snap in a statement to The Verge.

“We are doing early internal testing of Snapchat Plus, a new subscription service for Snapchatters. We’re excited about the potential to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with our subscribers, and learn more about how we can best serve our community,” Liz Markman, director of product communications told The Verge. 

Paluzzi pointed out in a June 16 Twitter post that with Snapchat Plus, Snap is planning to provide users access to exclusive Snapchat icons, display badges in profiles, check a friend’s location in the last 24 hours, pin a friend and check how many people saw their stories. 

Snap isn't the only social media company that is planning to add a subscription model to its services. Twitter has already rolled out its subscription service called Twitter Blue in select markets. Twitter blue subscribers get access to some additional features and controls such as the option to bookmark folders, undo tweets, and access to reader mode. In Canada, one of the few markets where Twitter Blue is available, users can access these features for a monthly payment of CAD $3.49 (approx ₹210).

Telegram too is expected to launch its subscription service this month. This was announced by chief executive Paul Durov in a Telegram post on June 10. He said that the company will introduce a new premium version which will give users access to “additional features, speed, and resources,” while existing features will remain available to free users. Its premium features will include the option to view extra-large documents, media, and stickers sent by Premium users and access premium reactions to messages. 

Adding premium subscriptions is also becoming a necessity for many social networks as the addition of new users is also increasing their infrastructure burden and cost. 

In his post, Durov said, “many have been asking us to raise the current limits even further. The problem here is that if we were to remove all limits for everyone, our server and traffic costs would have become unmanageable.”

Snapchat has over 332 million daily active users worldwide, as per Statista data. It's also ranked as the seventh most downloaded app in the world with close to 100 million downloads in the first quarter of CY22, according to Sensor Tower data.