In early May, the buzz around Doubao's plan to introduce paid subscription services ignited fervent discussions across the market. According to an exclusive report by 36Kr, this marks just the first step in Doubao's journey towards commercialization. Moving forward, Doubao is poised to ramp up its commercialization efforts.

Sources close to the matter revealed that Doubao is slated to officially launch its paid content offerings in late June, coinciding with feature updates at the Force Conference. The decision to launch at this juncture stems from the need for approximately one more month for both PC and mobile platforms to finalize the adaptation of fundamental functions and the payment system.

Assuming smooth progress, Doubao aims to expand its paid service scenarios by integrating e-commerce functionalities in the third quarter. This will involve driving traffic to Douyin Mall through subsidies, with the goal of achieving a stable operational phase by the fourth quarter. These strategic moves are designed to lay a solid foundation for sustained commercial returns from 2027 onwards. Consequently, Doubao has decided not to use the paid user penetration rate as a key performance indicator for 2026.