Snap launched a paid version of Snapchat in the US on Wednesday, priced at US $3.99 a month, and a few other markets, in a major step away from a revenue model that is mostly dependent on advertising.
Social media firms are under pressure as companies cut back on ads budgets in response to rising costs and weaker consumer spending.
In the last month, Snap said it would miss revenue and profit targets for the second quarter and would have to slow hiring and lower spending, sending its shares down over 40 per cent in a single day.
The ability to change the icon of the app, see who rewatched a story and pin other users on chat history is one of the features in the paid version of the app, according to Jacob Andreou, senior vice president of product at the tech news site The Verge.