Key findings:
- 52% of British social media users expect paid subscriptions to become more common, rising to 63% among professional users and 62% among public content creators.
- 67% would not pay for any feature, falling to 42% among professional users and 54% among public content creators.
- An ad-free experience has the broadest appeal: 19% would pay for it, rising to 29% among professional users and 24% among public content creators.
Social media platforms have traditionally offered most of their services for free, supported largely by advertising. But paid tiers or subscriptions are increasingly becoming part of the offering for many social media platforms.
New YouGov Surveys data explores whether British social media users expect paid subscriptions to become more common, and which features they might consider paying for. The results suggest that resistance to paying is widespread, although attitudes differ considerably depending on how people use social media.
Four in five Britons (81%) say they use social media for personal purposes, such as keeping in touch with friends and family or for entertainment. Nearly one in six Britons (17%) say they use social media to create content for a public audience, such as paid or unpaid videos or social media posts. One in ten (10%) use it for professional, business or commercial purposes. These groups are not mutually exclusive, as respondents could select more than one way in which they use social media.
Insight #1: More than half of social media users expect paid subscriptions to become more common
Among British adults who use social media, 52% agree that they expect paying for social media subscriptions to become more common in the future. Nearly one in five (18%) neither agree nor disagree, while 21% disagree. A further 8% say they do not know.
Expectations are higher among people who use social media for purposes beyond their personal lives. More than six in ten (63%) of those who use social media for professional, business or commercial purposes expect paid subscriptions to become more common, as do 62% of those who use it to create content for a public audience. By comparison, 52% of those who use social media for personal purposes agree.
Insight #2: Greater interest in paid features among those who use social media professionally or for public content creation
Around two-thirds (67%) of British social media users say they would not consider paying a small monthly fee for any of the features specified in the survey. Resistance is lower among those who use social media professionally (42%) and those who use it for public content creation (54%).
An ad-free experience attracts the broadest interest across the audiences measured. Nearly one in five social media users overall (19%) would consider paying for an ad-free experience, rising to 29% among those using social media professionally and 24% among those using it for public content creation.
The differences are particularly pronounced for features linked to building and managing a social media presence. Among professional users, 26% would consider paying for increased visibility or promotion of their content, more than four times the 6% among social media users overall. Nearly one in five would pay for greater control over who sees and engages with their content (18% vs. 8% overall) or for better analytics and audience insights (18% vs. 5%).
Those using social media for public content creation also show more interest than social media users overall in several creator-focused features. Some 15% would consider paying for increased visibility or promotion of their content, while 13% would pay for exclusive content, communities or experiences.
Methodology:
YouGov Surveys: Serviced provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online on 14 - 17 August, 2026, with a nationally representative sample of 2,109 adults (aged 16+ years) in Great Britain, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, gender, education, region and social grade to be representative of all adults in Great Britain (16 years or older) and reflect the latest ONS population estimates.
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