With the launch of Snapchat Plus, Snapchat has joined the increasing number of social media apps that offer a paid membership option.
The app unveiled the new subscription option this week, not long after rumors of a premium Snapchat tier began to circulate.
The membership, which costs $3.99 a month, is aimed at users who spend the majority of their time on Snap communicating with their closest friends.
Snapchat Plus features the ability to modify the look of the app’s icon, see who re-watched your story, and use the BFF pin function to pin a friend to the top of your chat list.
Some of these features will be made available to free players in the future, while the more “single-playerish” ones will stay Plus-only, with the BFF pin falling into the latter group.
Interestingly, Snap made no mention of advertisements in the press release, which is normally one of the most compelling reasons to pay more for a more premium social media or streaming tier.
Snapchat Plus has already begun to roll out, with users in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates among the first to sign up.
Snapchat joins apps like Twitter and YouTube in providing premium subscriptions to users.