• by Colin Kirkland , February 19, 2026

Despite a dip in daily active users, Snapchat continues to grow its premium subscription service, amassing more than 25 million paying users and generating over $1 billion per year from its non-advertising business.

Snapchat+ originally launched in 2022 and accumulated over 3 million paying subscribers within its first year.

Adding around 100 million more daily active users over the past 4 years, the social-media platform has worked on expanding its premium offerings in order to build a substantial alternative revenue stream.

The company's premium subscription service has expanded its original exclusive features, such as an AI-powered chatbot and visual generative AI options, to include an “ad-light” experience, a Lens+ subscription, and enhanced storage plans for users’ in-app activity.

According to a company statement, Snapchat has focused on developing its premium subscription offerings around “customization, self-expression, and friendship,” with ongoing investment in community-driven features, such as “Creator Subscriptions,” which the company will begin testing next month.

“In the year ahead, we will focus on growing existing subscription offers,” the company's Q4 investor letter stated, citing 71% year-over-year growth in its subscriber base.

“Growth in subscribers will be a critical input metric to track our progress,” the letter added. “And we will ultimately grade our performance based on growth of the annualized run rate for Other Revenue,” which increased 62% year-over-year in Q4 to $232 million.

With user stagnation and decline across key revenue markets, Snapchat is becoming more dependent on its ability to generate revenue outside of its ad business.

So far, introducing new subscription offerings has proved effective in doing so, while the company is also betting on the upcoming release of its Specs AR glasses – a direct competitor with wearables being developed by Apple and Meta.