Instagram seems to have taken a page out of Patreon’s book and is reportedly toying with the idea of introducing a subscription model, a change that it has been mulling since earlier this year. To that effect, the company has introduced in-app purchase options for “Instagram Subscriptions,” as first spotted by Sensor Tower and Apptopia.

The new “Instagram Subscriptions” IAP can be seen on the Instagram App Store listing, with subscriptions priced between $0.99 and $4.99 in the US. Instagram may have deployed the subscription model as a test since it hasn’t officially announced the new feature.

The subscription feature will open up a new revenue stream for content creators. Instagram previously only offered in-app purchases for Instagram Badges, which allowed users to support creators by buying a virtual badge during their live streams. It is now rumored to offer subscriber-only perks such as exclusive stories and live videos.

The Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, hinted during Creator Week earlier this year that it is working on helping creators rake in more cash. He promised new avenues for monetization such as custom badges, tipping, subscriptions, and even NFTs to allow Instagram users to fund creators. Instagram could be the perfect platform to showcase NFTs, thus adding another revenue channel for the creators.

It looks like big tech is eyeing a slice of the subscription pie. Twitter, with its Twitter Blue subscription service, introduced a monthly subscription model in June this year. Instagram could soon be following in its footsteps.

Would you be interested in paying a small premium to peek into your favorite influencer’s life? Or are you annoyed by the increasing number of social media entities gating content behind paywalls? Let us know in the comments below.