Starting this week, Snap will begin offering an optional subscription called Snapchat Plus that unlocks exclusive and early access features.
See also: Snapchat sued for sexual exploitation of a minor
Priced at $3.99 per month, the subscription is aimed at «people who spend most of their time communicating with their close friends on Snap», says The Verge, the company's SVP of product, Jacob Andreou. Named Snapchat Plus, it is Snap's first real attempt to make money outside of advertising, although Andreou says there are no expectations for Plus to become a «significant new source of revenue».
At least initially, Snapchat Plus is mostly a cosmetic upgrade. The most notable features include the ability to change the style of the app icon, see who -watched a story, and pin one of your friends to the top of chat history as a “BFF.” Moving forward, Andreou says that “single-player” features like the BFF pin will likely remain limited to Plus subscribers, while features that rely on interactions with others will eventually roll out to the entire user base.
See also: Snapchat: Share YouTube videos as stickers on your snap
With the introduction of a paid subscription, it is natural to wonder whether Snap intends to allow users to pay to disable ads in the app.
Snap isn't the only social media app to recently introduce a paid tier: both Twitter and Telegram have developed their own subscriptions aimed at professional users, and Discord has been making money for years through its optional Nitro subscription.
See also: YouTube Music: Share your favorite songs on Snapchat Stories
The company called Snapchat Plus an “early” internal test after it was discovered in the app’s code just two weeks ago. It’s now rolling out quickly in Snap’s top markets: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates.
Source of information: theverge.com
