Snapchat Rolls Out 2025 Monetization Program for Indian Creators

When Snap Inc., the Santa Monica‑based parent of Snapchat, announced its Monetization ProgramIndia on October 20, 2025, the move sent ripples through the country’s burgeoning creator ecosystem.

From Spotlight Rewards to a Unified Program

Until January 31, 2025, Indian creators earned from the now‑defunct Spotlight Rewards scheme. The new framework, unveiled by Evan Spiegel, CEO and co‑founder of Snap Inc., swaps isolated payouts for ad‑share revenue across both public Stories and Spotlight videos longer than one minute.

Spiegel told the company’s newsroom that "eligible creators can now join and get rewarded through the Snapchat monetization program" – a line that underscored the firm’s global push to back authentic content.

Eligibility: What Creators Need to Qualify

To tap the revenue stream, creators must clear a handful of hurdles. First, a public profile must boast at least 50,000 followers. Then, over the prior 28 days, they need one of three performance metrics: 10 million Snap views, 1 million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of view time.

On top of that, the creator must have posted at least 25 separate saved Stories or Spotlight videos and have been active on either format for a minimum of 10 days within the same 28‑day window. Age and location are non‑negotiable – you have to be 18 or older and reside in an eligible country, with India firmly on the list.

All content must be brand‑safe, original, and comply with Snapchat’s Monetization Terms and Creator Monetization Policy, a legal contract that ultimately binds creators to Snap Group Limited, an Irish entity headquartered at 8th Floor, Harcourt Building, 57B Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.

How Revenue Sharing Works

Snapchat inserts short ads between Snaps in a public Story or within a Spotlight video. The platform then splits the generated revenue with the creator. Payouts are managed in‑app, with a daily cash‑out floor of $100 once the creator finishes onboarding for payments.

Spotlight videos must stretch to at least one minute to qualify for ad placement – a detail many newcomers overlook. In addition to ad‑share, creators can tag sponsored content with a ‘Paid Partnership’ label, and established Snap Stars enjoy an extra toggle that lets them tag brands across Spotlight, Snap Map, and public Stories.

Creator Connect: Bringing the Program to the Streets

The rollout isn’t just digital. Snap Inc. launched Snapchat Creator ConnectDelhi as a multi‑city roadshow aimed at Gen‑Z storytellers outside the metro bubble. The latest stop in Delhi drew crowds of aspiring creators eager to learn best practices straight from Snapchat engineers.

According to the company’s September 26 newsroom briefing, the initiative helped lift the number of official Snap Stars in India by 1.5 × over the past two years, while total watch time on the platform doubled in the same period.

Market Impact: Numbers That Speak

• Snapchat’s global active user base topped 583 million in 2025.
• India now accounts for roughly 12 % of that audience, a faster growth rate than any other market.
• Content posted to Spotlight grew by more than 4 × year‑over‑year.
• Public Story watch time in India doubled between 2023 and 2025.
• Snap Stars in India increased from 1,200 in 2023 to over 1,800 in 2025.

These figures matter because they hint at a shift: creators are no longer hobbyists; they’re emerging as a revenue‑generating workforce.

Industry Reactions

Digital‑marketing firms like Shopify are already drafting guidebooks to help brands partner with Indian Snap creators, noting the platform’s vibrant visual style as a perfect match for lifestyle and fashion campaigns.

Meanwhile, competitors such as Instagram and TikTok have croaked about tightening their own creator‑payout structures, suggesting a broader arms race for short‑form video talent.

What’s Next for Snapchat in India?

The next phase likely involves deeper integration with e‑commerce. Snapchat’s Help Center hints at upcoming shopping tags that could let creators tag products directly in their Snaps, turning views into purchases.

Analysts at Counterpoint predict that, if the payout thresholds stay low, the creator pool could swell by another 30 % by the end of 2026, especially as internet penetration rises in Tier‑2 and Tier‑3 cities.

Background: The Road to Monetization

Snapchat debuted in 2011 as a disappearing‑photo app, but over the past decade it has reinvented itself as a video‑first platform. The Spotlight feature, launched in 2020, was Snapchat’s answer to TikTok’s algorithmic feed, rewarding creators with a share of ad revenue only if their clips hit a certain view count.

When the original Spotlight Rewards program wound down in early 2025, many creators feared a sudden income loss. The new Monetization Program, therefore, is both a safety net and an upgrade, bundling ad‑share across multiple content formats.