On January 15, 2020, WeChat announced that the platform of WeChat public account was testing the payment function. This means that after years of rumors, the paid subscription of WeChat public account is really coming.

According to WeChat, those public accounts can open the payment function.

• has registered for over 3 months
• has no serious violation records in the past 3 months
• has published at least 3 original articles

WeChat expressed that good content creators deserve better benefits. The WeChat platform strives to bring value to those who create content value.

The WeChat team answered the questions concerning paid subscription:

1. How to set the price of paid articles?

At present, operators can choose appropriate pricing at 35 price ranges from 1 to 208 RMB. For the time being, the operator does not support user-defined prices.

2. How to set the paid reading ratio?

Operators can select “Paid Graphic” in “Graphic Type” at the bottom of the public account background editor. Follow the guidelines to set the proportion of articles that can be read, and purchase pricing.

3. Which accounts are currently eligible for testing?

At present, the paid function only tests some eligible personal subscription numbers, and applications are not open for the time being. This capability will be provided for more accounts in the future.

4. Can I buy on iOS and Android?

Subscription number paid content supports iOS and Android users to purchase, iOS payment through Apple IAP, Android users pay through WeChat payment.

5. Is all the revenue given to the operator? Will the platform be paid?

According to the provisions of Apple’s “Apple Developer Program”, WeChat settles with Apple first, and the remaining funds will be provided to the operator in conjunction with the Apple settlement cycle. There is no channel cost for the Android payment, and it is settled to the operator every month.

6. Can articles that are paid for reading be deleted?

Operators can delete paid reading articles on their own. If the article violates the “WeChat Public Platform Operation Specification”, the platform will impose relevant penalties in accordance with the regulations.

Paying for articles is the user’s trust in the subscription number. The WeChat platform recommends that operators strictly control the quality of paid articles and be accountable to users. If user complaints or disputes are caused by the operator’s own deletion of the text, the platform will punish them accordingly.

7. Can I still use the appreciation function after the article is set to pay?

Paid articles do not currently support the use of praise.

8. Can users share articles paid for viewing to friends?

Paid articles can only be read by paying users, and other users no matter what channels they use to obtain articles, they need to purchase to read.

9. Is there a choice of annual / monthly subscription?

The ability to pay for reading is currently only available for a single article.