NAIROBI, Kenya – Snapchat is introducing fees for users who exceed five gigabytes (GB) of saved photos and videos in its popular Memories feature, which has been free since its 2016 launch.
The Memories feature allows users to archive posts within the app, preserving moments beyond the platform’s signature disappearing-message format.
Over the past eight years, Snapchat users have stored more than one trillion Memories, prompting the company to implement the new charges.
“For the vast majority of Snapchatters, who have less than 5GB of Memories, nothing will change,” the company said. Users exceeding the threshold will need to subscribe to new storage plans to continue saving additional content.
New Paid Storage Options
Snapchat’s paid plans include:
- 100GB plan: $1.99 (Sh257) per month
- Snapchat+ 250GB plan: $3.99 (Sh515) per month
- Snapchat Platinum 5TB plan: $15.99 (Sh2064) per month
Subscribers will also benefit from a 12-month grace period, during which any content exceeding the free 5GB limit will remain temporarily stored before an upgrade is required.
The company emphasized that users can download all Memories to their devices if they prefer not to pay for additional storage.
“Snapchatters can upgrade to a Memories Storage Plan at any time, and as always, will be able to download their Memories directly to their devices,” the statement read.
Snapchat acknowledged that the change may be challenging for some users but stressed the value of preserving special memories.
“It’s never easy to transition from receiving a service for free to paying for it, but we hope the value we provide with Memories is worth the cost,” the company added.
