Creators eye Snapchat as a reliable income alternative to TikTok and YouTube

"Even before Snapchat fully scales its newly unveiled creator subscriptions program, high-earning creators on the platform say it provides a reliable revenue stream with minimal content lift - encouraging amid the instability of other social algorithms. "I never have a day where I'm making less than $200," said Josh Horton, who has amassed 624,000 followers on Snapchat after joining in the platform's early days. He says he gets over a million daily views on his stories thanks to the platform's discovery tools."

""I have days that are great, where I make over $1,000, but nowhere else on social media are you guaranteed every single day that you're going to have something coming in," said Horton, whose YouTube following totals 2.1 million. Unlike YouTube's ad-driven, long-form model or TikTok's viral, algorithm-heavy payouts, Snapchat has quietly evolved into a platform that rewards consistent, direct-to-fan engagement, creators told Digiday. Followers get near-constant, intimate content from their favorite creators, and the chance to directly interact with them through story replies. Horton conceded that there are some RPM (revenue per thousand views) fluctuations on Snapchat, but they are "more clear cut" than on other platforms - where competitors pay out a million views with $70 or over $1,000, he said."

Snapchat's creator subscriptions program provides a reliable revenue stream for high-earning creators with relatively low additional content requirements. Top creators report consistent daily earnings (for example, minimums around $200 and occasional days exceeding $1,000) driven by steady story views and the platform's discovery tools. The platform emphasizes direct-to-fan engagement through near-constant, intimate story content and story replies. RPM fluctuations exist but are reported to be more predictable than on competing platforms. Some creators report earning more on Snapchat than on TikTok or YouTube, and Snapchat reached over 946 million monthly users.

Read at Digiday