X, the social media platform recently acquired by Elon Musk, has announced an increase in the cost of its Premium Plus subscription plan, effective immediately for new users.
The monthly subscription price rises from $16 to $22, while the annual cost increases from $168 to $229. Current subscribers will continue paying the existing rates until their billing cycles after January 20, 2025.
The price hike marks one of the most significant changes since Musk acquired X, formerly Twitter, in 2022. Under Musk’s leadership, the platform introduced subscription plans as part of a strategy to generate profitability.
Notably, the once-free Blue Tick verification became tied to subscription plans in 2022, requiring users to apply for eligibility.
X defended the price increase by highlighting three key benefits for Premium Plus subscribers.
The first is a completely ad-free experience. The second includes access to advanced features such as Radar, a trend-monitoring tool, and Grok AI, a suite of artificial intelligence models. Lastly, X stated that the higher price supports its Creator Program, aligning revenue-sharing models to reward creators based on content quality and overall engagement instead of ad impressions.
The Premium Plus plan contributes to X’s revamped revenue-sharing system, which aims to offer a more equitable model for creator payouts. X claims this approach ties creator earnings to the value they provide to the platform.
The company’s Grok AI models have also gained significant attention recently, particularly the Grok Aurora image generator, which reportedly outperformed competitors in creating life-like images. However, with subscription costs rising, it remains to be seen whether this impacts user adoption of the platform’s premium features.
