SnapChat now has a paid version, SnapChat Plus

Snap Inc reported it would miss revenue and profit targets for the second quarter

Snap Inc. launched a paid version of the Snapchat app, SnapChat Plus on Wednesday in the U.S. The paid version of the app is priced at $3.99 a month. This is a major step away from their earlier revenue model, which was largely dependent on advertising. Snap, which released the subscription version, Snapchat+, earlier this month, said it would be available in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, France, and the United Arab Emirates. Rising costs and weakening consumer spending are putting social media companies under pressure and forcing them to cut back on advertising expenditures.

Snap Inc. earlier last month reported it would miss revenue and profit targets for the second quarter and would have to slow down hiring and lower spending, sending the social media 's shares down over 40% in a single day. Snap's senior vice president of product, Jacob Andreou, told tech news site The Verge that the initial features in the paid version include the ability to see who re-watched a story, change the app's icon, and pin other users on chat history as a "BFF." More than 332 million individuals use SnapChat worldwide.