Snap tops 30 million paying subscribers as shares slide on ad and user misses

What happened

Snap said on Wednesday that its paid subscriber base has passed 30 million, according to its third-quarter 2026 earnings release, TechCrunch reported. The total is 5 million higher than in February, when the company disclosed it had reached 25 million. CEO Evan Spiegel told investors the count spans Snapchat+, Memories Storage and Lens+, and credited AI-powered features with helping Lens+ beat the company's expectations.

Despite the subscription gains, Snap's shares dropped 12% after the company missed estimates for both ad revenue and user growth. Daily active users reached 495 million in the quarter, compared with 493 million in the prior quarter, but below the 499 million analysts had expected. The investor letter said Snap does not plan to tune the app around daily usage if doing so would undercut long-term value for its users.

Spiegel acknowledged in the letter that ad sales growth is still short of where the company wants it. He said Snap will focus on improving results for advertisers and widening the ways businesses can reach people on the platform. He also noted that paying subscribers remain a small portion of Snapchat's monthly users, which he framed as leaving room for further growth.

Context

Snapchat+ debuted in 2022 at $3.99 a month, offering members early access to features and some only available to subscribers. Snap later added Lens+, which costs $8.99 monthly and unlocks members-only Lenses plus augmented reality features, as well as an ad-free option called Snapchat+ Platinum priced at $15.99 a month. About a year ago, the company drew criticism when it capped free Memories storage and told users to pay $1.99 a month for more space or move to Snapchat+.