Business1 min read

Snapchat surpasses 30M paid subscribers

By · Via TechCrunch · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Snap gained 5 million paying customers since February 2026, driven by higher-priced options like the $15.99 ad-free Snapchat+ Platinum plan and paid Memories storage. Despite this momentum, company shares fell 12% after both advertising revenue and daily active users trailed analyst expectations. Chief Executive Evan Spiegel noted that while artificial intelligence tools like the $8.99 Lens+ tier boost paid demand, subscribers remain a small fraction of the broader audience. To remedy lagging ad growth, the company plans to focus heavily on improving performance tools for commercial partners.

Key points

  • Premium offerings such as Lens+ and Platinum tiers provide meaningful revenue diversifica…: Premium offerings such as Lens+ and Platinum tiers provide meaningful revenue diversification beyond Snap's original $3.99 subscription model.
  • Executive leadership intends to avoid maximizing daily engagement metrics if doing so thr…: Executive leadership intends to avoid maximizing daily engagement metrics if doing so threatens the platform's long-term enterprise value.
  • Future company initiatives will center on improving commercial advertiser tools to compen…: Future company initiatives will center on improving commercial advertiser tools to compensate for sluggish revenue growth across core promotional segments.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Snap has surpassed 30 million paid Snapchat+ subscribers, the company announced Wednesday in its third-quarter 2026 earnings release. The milestone marks an increase of 5 million subscribers since February, when Snap reported crossing the 25 million mark.

Launched in 2022, Snapchat+ gives subscribers access to exclusive and pre-release features for $3.99 per month. Following a successful launch, Snap introduced additional paid tiers beyond the core Snapchat+ subscription to further diversify its revenue streams. These include Lens+, a $8.99-per-month plan that unlocks exclusive Lenses and AR experiences, and Snapchat+ Platinum, a $15.99 monthly tier that offers an ad-free experience.

The milestone comes a year after Snapchat announced a controversial limit on free storage for its Memories feature and informed users it would start requiring users to pay $1.99 per month for additional storage or subscribe to Snapchat+ to retain their Memories.

“We surpassed 30 million paid subscribers across Snapchat+, Memories Storage, and Lens+,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a letter to investors. “Innovative AI-powered features have helped Lens+ exceed our expectations, demonstrating how new creative experiences can drive demand for…

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