Social media giant Snap is testing a paid subscription called Snapchat Plus that would give users access to exclusive features.
“We’re doing early internal testing of Snapchat Plus, a new
subscription service for Snapchatters,” a Snap spokesperson told dot.LA in a
statement. “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.”
Snap’s statement came after app researcher Alessandro
Paluzzi shared screenshots and information on Twitter about Snap’s experiments
with a paid tier.
#Snapchat is working on a subscription plan called Snapchat+ 👀
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) June 16, 2022
ℹ️ Snapchat+ gives you access to exclusive, experimental and pre-release features such as the ability to pin 📌 the conversation with your Best Friend, the access to custom Snapchat icons, a special badge, etc... pic.twitter.com/VrMbyFlFvI
The screenshots show how Snapchat Plus could allow
subscribers to pin a friend on the app as a “#1 BFF.” Other features could include
the ability to see how many friends have rewatched a Snapchat Story and learn
of a friend’s whereabouts in the last 24 hours (if that friend has chosen to
share their location), according to Paluzzi.
One screenshot showed a listed subscription price for
Snapchat Plus of 4.59 euros per month and 45.99 euros per year, or around $4.81
per month and $48.19 per year—though those price tags could just be
placeholders. A Snap spokesperson declined to share how much Snapchat Plus
would cost subscribers. (Disclosure: Snap is an investor in dot.LA.)
Snap would follow other social media giants—most notably,
Twitter’s Twitter Blue product—in offering a subscription with exclusive
features and perks for a monthly or annual price.
Adding a subscription tier would provide Snap with a new
revenue stream as the company grapples with a challenging digital advertising
market. Snap—which currently generates virtually all of its revenue from
ads—warned investors last month that it’s expecting lower-than-expected revenues
and profits this quarter.
The company has blamed economic headwinds like inflation and
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the underwhelming results and is also still
navigating Apple’s new privacy policy, which restricts how users are tracked on
its mobile devices.