Instagram’s paid creator subscriptions are still a tiny business

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge

There are now 1 million paid subscriptions to creators on Instagram, slowly transforming the platform into a space where creators can get paid directly by their fans. It's a big milestone but a small number for Instagram: the service has around 2 billion monthly users. Patreon, meanwhile, is estimated to have more than 30 million paid subscriptions - albeit with about a decade's head start.

Meta announced the milestone today alongside some other news related to creators getting paid. The company is going to start promoting subscriptions in Instagram's feed, putting a big Subscribe" button at the top of every post so that non-paying followers know it's available. Creators will be able to offer 30-day free trials, and Instagram is adding...

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