Snapchat surpasses 30M paid subscribers

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 our paid products. Paid subscribers still represent a small share of our monthly community, giving us room to grow through broader adoption and new premium experiences.”

As for the company’s broader earnings release, Snap’s shares fell 12% after missing ad revenue and user growth estimates.

Snap reported 495 million daily active users for the quarter, up from 493 million in the previous quarter. However, the figure fell short of analysts’ expectations of 499 million.

“Daily engagement has historically been stable as a percentage of monthly engagement, but we do not intend to optimize Snapchat around daily use at the expense of long-term value for our community,” the investor letter said. “A longer-term horizon better aligns our reported metrics with the product and safety decisions that strengthen relationships, create lasting utility, and support broader, more durable audience growth.”

Spiegel said in the letter than while advertising revenue growth remains below the company’s target, the company plans to prioritize improving advertiser performance and expanding the ways businesses can reach its users.

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Aisha is a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor’s degree from University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University.

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