Snapchat Debuts Subscriptions to Bolster Creator Revenue

Creator Subscription will launch in alpha testing Feb. 23 with a select group of creators in the U.S., the social media platform announced Tuesday (Feb. 17), adding that there are plans to expand to creators in Canada, the U.K. and France in the coming weeks.

“Snapchat has always been about connection, and creators are driving that more than ever,” the company said in its announcement.

During the fourth quarter of 2025, Snapchat saw 946 million daily active users, with the number of American users posting to the platform’s Spotlight increasing 47% year over year, the company said.

“Expanding on existing monetization offerings like the Unified Monetization Program and the Snap Star Collab Studio, Creator Subscriptions introduce a premium layer of connection directly into how Snapchatters already engage with creators across Stories, Chat, and replies,” the announcement added.

According to Snapchat, the subscription offering lets fans access exclusives such as subscriber-only Snaps and Stories, as well as priority replies to a creator’s public Stories and an “ad-free experience.”

For creators, the program offers “the freedom to experiment, reward their biggest supporters, and build a recurring income stream on Snapchat that grows with their audience,” as well as a new and “sustainable source of revenue on top of existing monetization options.”

PYMNTS examined the changing nature of subscription payments late last year in a discussion with Jake Lambrecht, director of partnerships and platforms at Nuvei; Ken Houseman, vice president of order to cash at Zuora; and Patrick Presto, head of payments at Vimeo.

The three executives stressed that subscriptions are no longer a promise of access, but an exchange of value that is negotiated and ongoing.

Upsell and repricing efforts can become a “slippery slope” if they’re disconnected from real customer value, Zuora’s Houseman said.

“The most important thing is understanding the value that you’re delivering for the subscription,” he said, adding that the value proposition cannot remain generic, but has to be tied “to the individual themselves.”

“It’s against this backdrop that recurring billing is being redefined by data-driven personalization, payments as a strategic lever, and flexible orchestration,” PYMNTS wrote. “Payments are no longer an endpoint; they’re becoming a decision engine.”

In other Snapchat news, the platform earlier this month held a quarterly earnings call in which it positioned artificial intelligence (AI) as the key lever for boosting advertiser performance and fueling more profitable growth.

The company said it is embedding AI across every part of its advertising platform, from creative development to campaign delivery and optimization, with an emphasis on direct-response outcomes and return on advertising spending.