Instagram Subscriptions Net Calculator

Meta’s public number for Instagram Subscriptions is clean: 30% platform fee, creators keep 70%. That math is true for web sign-ups in year 2 and beyond. Most creators never see it. When a fan taps “Subscribe” inside the Instagram app on iOS or Android, Apple or Google takes 30% first — before Meta sees a cent — and then Meta takes 30% of the remainder. Your 70% collapses to 49% in one click.

There’s a second layer most calculators miss: Meta waives its 30% in a creator’s first 12 months on the program. In year 1, a web sign-up on a $4.99 subscription nets you the full $4.99. That same fan one year later nets you $3.49 on the web — or $2.44 through the iOS app. The calculator above models both years so you can see exactly what your first-year numbers look like compared to the steady state.

The playbook is the same as YouTube Memberships: route sign-ups to a browser. Share instagram.com/yourusername/subscribe in a pinned Story, in a link-in-bio tool, in a DM auto-reply, or anywhere you can direct traffic off the app. Once they’re subscribed, they consume everything in the app normally. Only the payment flow has to leave the app — and that single nudge is the difference between keeping 49% and keeping 70%.