Snapchat sparks outrage for charging to save old photos and videos

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Snapchat recently announced a change that’s causing a lot of criticism online: users will now have to pay to save their Memories if they use more than a specific amount of storage. This means if you want to keep all your photos and videos on Snapchat beyond a certain limit, you’ll need to subscribe to a paid plan.

Since the mid-2010s, Snapchat has remained a well-used social platform. It lets people send and receive quick photos and videos that vanish after 24 hours.

But you don’t have to lose those messages! Snapchat’s Memories feature allows you to save your photos and videos, and then organize them using tags and a search function so you can easily find and keep your favorite moments forever.

Kind of. Snapchat revealed on September 26, 2025, that it will begin charging users a monthly fee for keeping their Memories if they use more than 5GB of storage. This will happen as part of what they’re calling a “gradual global rollout.”

Snapchat faces backlash over new Memories storage fees

According to a post on their Newsroom, this change is happening because of growing storage constraints. With users worldwide creating more and more Memories, storage space is becoming limited.

To ensure our users can save their Memories for years to come, we’re launching new Memories Storage Plans for those with over 5GB of saved content,” Snapchat announced.

They let readers know that most users won’t have to update their accounts, as they typically don’t reach this limit. However, for users who do exceed the limit, they have a choice of three different Memories Storage Plans. It’s a simple process.

As a big Snapchat fan, I’m really excited about these new storage options! You can now get 100GB of storage for just $1.99 a month, or if you’re a Snapchat+ subscriber, you can jump up to 250GB for $3.99 a month. And for those of us who *really* need space – like me! – there’s a 5TB plan with Snapchat Platinum for $14.99 each month. It’s great to finally have more storage choices!

Fortunately, Snapchat is offering users a year to download their saved Memories before deleting them if they don’t want to pay for storage. However, this isn’t stopping many users from being annoyed by the trend of free services increasingly requiring subscriptions.

“This is what drives away dedicated users and turns them into former users. People shouldn’t have to pay to access their own photos,” one person posted on X.”

One person commented that paying to save memories you’ve already made is really strange. They added that it feels like companies are prioritizing data over genuine emotion, saying, “They really said data over sentiment.”

That’s a typical strategy for tech companies – create something people rely on, and then start charging for it. As one person put it, “I guess I’ll finally get around to deleting those concert videos from 2016 that I never watch,”

This is how you turn loyal users into ex-users. Nobody’s paying rent for their own photos.

— topboy (@topboynate) October 2, 2025

Snapchat directly responded to the negative feedback, stating on their Newsroom blog, “We understand it’s difficult when a free service starts costing money, but we believe the benefits you get from Memories justify the price. We appreciate you sharing your special memories with us.”

Earlier this year, Twitch faced comparable backlash when it revealed plans to restrict the number of highlights and uploads available to streamers, a decision some content creators described as a significant setback.

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2025-10-02 21:49