Snapchat ramps creator tools

Snap is adding more ways for creators to make money on Snapchat as the company cuts about 1,000 jobs, or 16% of its workforce, on April 15. (techcrunch.com) The new creator push spans paid subscriptions, ad revenue sharing, and paid augmented reality filters called Lenses. Snap said on February 17 that it would start alpha testing Creator Subscriptions in the United States on February 23 with select creators, then expand to Canada, the United Kingdom, and France. (newsroom.snap.com) Snap has also expanded Lens Creator Rewards, which pays developers for high-performing filters, and added Lens+ payouts tied to engagement from Lens+ and Snapchat Platinum subscribers. Snap detailed that expansion at Lens Fest 2025 and in updated developer documentation published in 2026. (newsroom.snap.com) (developers.snap.com) Storage has become part of the same strategy. Snap said on February 18 that its paid offerings now include Memories Storage Plans for users with more than 5 gigabytes of saved Memories, alongside Snapchat+, Lens+, and Snapchat Platinum. (newsroom.snap.com) The company has been building this system for more than a year. In December 2024, Snap rolled out a unified monetization program that lets eligible creators earn from ads in Stories and in Spotlight videos longer than one minute starting February 1, 2025. (newsroom.snap.com) Snap tied those payouts to scale. The company said creators need at least 50,000 followers, 25 posts a month to Saved Stories or Spotlight, posting activity on 10 of the last 28 days, and either 10 million Snap views, 1 million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of watch time in the last 28 days. (newsroom.snap.com) Snap has also been adding tools meant to keep creator content on the app longer. In June 2025, it announced auto-save for public Stories on creator profiles, a timeline editor for United States creators, and new audience metrics including returning viewers, average view time, and traffic sources. (newsroom.snap.com) Those products are starting to show up in Snap’s numbers. The company said on February 18 that its direct revenue business reached a $1 billion annualized run rate and its subscription community passed 25 million users; on February 4, it reported 2025 revenue of $5.93 billion, up 11% from 2024, with fourth-quarter net income of $45 million. (newsroom.snap.com) (investor.snap.com) Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel told investors in February that Snap was pursuing “profitable growth,” and the layoff memo on April 15 said artificial intelligence would let teams “reduce repetitive work” while the company closed more than 300 open roles. Snap is trying to shrink costs and widen the set of products that creators and heavy users will pay for directly. (investor.snap.com) (techcrunch.com)