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Snapchat to charge users storing over 5GB of photos and video under 'Memories' feature
Snapchat will charge users with over 5GB in Memories, offering paid plans from $1.99/month. Most won’t be affected, but some users criticize the move as unfair.
Snapchat will start charging users who keep more than five gigabytes (GB) of content in its Memories feature. The change will affect people who have built up large photo and video collections since the option was introduced in 2016, according to BBC news report.
Snap confirmed the update as part of a global rollout, with the base plan costing $1.99 per month for 100GB of storage, while 250GB will be included in the $3.99 Snapchat+ plan, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch.
The UK pricing for these plans have not yet been announced. Users who go over the 5GB limit will receive 12 months of temporary storage before deciding whether to pay or download their content.
More than one trillion Memories saved till now
More than one trillion Memories have been saved since the feature began, Snap said. Memories lets users keep posts that originally disappeared after 24 hours and re-share them later as “throwbacks.” Snap says moving to a paid model will allow investment in the feature.
“These changes will allow us to continue to invest in making Memories better for our entire community,” the company said in a blog post. It admitted the switch from free to paid storage “is never easy”, but argued it would be “worth the cost” for heavy users.
Most users to remain unaffected by change
The company says most people will not be impacted, as the majority of Snapchatters have less than 5GB of stored content. However, the decision faced backlash online. Some said they had years of photos and videos saved, meaning the shift could result in large ongoing costs. Others accused Snap of being “greedy” and unfair for forcing people to choose between paying or losing old content.
This storage change comes after Snap recently launched its Lens+ subscription at $9 per month, another sign that the platform is expanding paid services.
Experts suggest more platforms will move in the same direction. Drew Benvie, CEO of consultancy Battenhall, said, “The road to paying for storage on social media is inevitable. In an era where we post less, but save more, this is an evolution of messaging and social media platforms.”
Snapchat reported more than 900 million monthly active users in April. Rival apps Instagram and TikTok continue to report billions.
