Would you pay for TikTok? Actually, a lot of people already do.
Research firm Data·ai claimed earlier this year that TikTok generated more than $1bn of in-app purchases in Q1 2023 alone. That’s people spending money on virtual coins, which in turn can be spent on virtual gifts for their favourite creators.
However, this morning there’s a buzz about another potential way to pay for TikTok: monthly subscriptions. News site Android Authority found references in the TikTok app’s code to tests of an “Ad-free plan” that would cost $4.99 a month.
TechCrunch followed up with TikTok and was told that this is indeed a test, but ‘only in a single, English-speaking market outside the US’ despite the dollar sign in the pricing.
Social media has traditionally been heavily focused on advertising as its main business model. In recent years, though, we’ve seen efforts around subscriptions from Snapchat (which now has more than five million subscribers to its Snapchat+ tier) and X, the company formerly known as Twitter.
TikTok isn’t the only company mulling ad-free subscriptions though. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Meta is considering charging around €10 a month for ad-free access to Facebook or Instagram on the desktop, and €13 a month on mobile – to account for Apple and Google’s share of in-app purchases.
The currency sign here is euros, and there’s a reason for that. Meta’s subscriptions would be a response to new regulations in the European Union around data privacy and big online platforms. We reported on previous rumours of an ad-free Facebook and Instagram in Europe last month.
Here’s a theory. If the “single, English-speaking market” where TikTok is testing its own ad-free plan is Ireland, it could be a similar response to the European regulations, and thus likely to only roll out in the EU.
However, if it’s somewhere else (Australia? TikTok has used that as a test market before, and that would explain the dollar symbol in its code) it could signify deeper interest in the subscription model: more of a Snapchat+ play. Watch this space.
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