Snapchat premium, also known as Snapchat Plus, was a subscription service that Snapchat tested in select markets in late 2021. It provided additional features not available to regular Snapchat users. However, Snapchat has since discontinued the Snapchat Plus subscription offering.
What was Snapchat premium?
Snapchat premium was a $3.99 per month subscription that gave users access to exclusive features such as:
- Seeing who has rewatched your Story
- Pinning one Friend to the top of your chat list
- Seeing your friends’ locations on the Snap Map
- Seeing how many Friends have viewed your Story within the past 7 days
- Getting a Snapchat premium badge on your profile
Essentially, Snapchat Plus gave users more insight into how their friends were interacting with them on Snapchat. It allowed seeing analytics like views and rewatches that are not available for free users.
What markets tested Snapchat premium?
Snapchat rolled out the Snapchat Plus subscription test to the following markets in Q4 2021:
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- India
- Switzerland
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Ireland
- Spain
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Sweden
The subscription was not available to all Snapchat users globally. Snapchat was using these smaller test markets to gauge interest and see how people responded before considering a wider rollout.
When did Snapchat premium launch?
Snapchat Plus first launched in June 2021, starting with a test in Canada. Additional test markets were added over the following months:
- June 2021: Canada
- July 2021: Australia and New Zealand
- August 2021: Saudi Arabia and UAE
- September 2021: India and Switzerland
- October 2021: France, Germany, Italy, and the UK
- November 2021: Spain, Ireland, Sweden
The subscription was in testing for around 6 months before being discontinued.
Why did Snapchat discontinue Snapchat premium?
In late January 2022, Snapchat confirmed they were shutting down their Snapchat Plus subscription offering. The main reason cited was that the test had provided valuable insights, but the subscription needed more work before being rolled out more broadly.
Specifically, Snapchat said the premium features were not providing enough value to justify a standalone subscription. User retention and satisfaction rates for Snapchat Plus were apparently not high enough to warrant continuing the test.
Additionally, there was not much differentiation between the free and premium tiers. Most Snapchat users were content with the free version and didn’t see enough benefit in the paid offering. This poor differentiation likely contributed to the low perceived value.
Will Snapchat premium return?
Snapchat has said they may reevaluate offering a paid service in the future. However, there are no current plans to relaunch Snapchat Plus or any other premium subscription.
Some analysts believe Snapchat will take what they learned from the Snapchat Plus test and eventually incorporate some kind of premium offering into their business model. But this would likely come with changes to address the low value perception issues.
For now, Snapchat remains free to use for all users. Some possibilities for how Snapchat could approach a premium service in the future include:
- Tiered pricing with more features at higher price points
- Exclusive and original content only for subscribers
- Discounts on physical products or ecommerce
- Additional analytics and insights not available to free users
Ultimately the low retention figures showed Snapchat Plus was not successful in its test phase. Snapchat will need to reinvent what a paid subscription looks like before testing it again. Don’t expect Snapchat premium to return in its current form – but a revamped version may emerge in time.
Is there a free alternative to Snapchat premium?
Since Snapchat discontinued their paid Snapchat Plus subscription, there is no way to access those premium features anymore. They are not available through any third-party apps either.
However, there are some free workarounds and alternatives to get insights into how people are interacting with your Snapchat content:
- See who screenshotted your Stories – Some third-party apps claim to reveal Snapchat screenshots, but have privacy concerns.
- Poll your friends – Ask your closest friends directly if they viewed your Story or resnapped your content.
- Gauge replies – If you get lots of replies to a Story, it’s likely reaching a larger audience.
- Check public metrics – Snapchat shows total views for Stories posted to public profiles or Our Story.
- Consider off-platform analytics – Instagram Insights can approximate Snapchat reach if you cross-post.
While not as robust as Snapchat Plus analytics, these free options can give some helpful indicators of how your Snaps are performing.
Conclusion
Snapchat Plus offered exclusive paid features to test markets for around 6 months in 2021-2022. However, due to low subscription take-up and retention, Snapchat has discontinued their premium service for now. Some form of premium offering may return in the future, but only if Snapchat can provide more value than the current free experience.
For now, Snapchat remains a free app globally. Users will have to rely on unofficial workarounds to gauge Snapchat Story analytics. But the Snapchat premium experiment shows the challenges of justifying a paid social media subscription.