X Raises Premium+ Prices by up to 37%
Almost every major social platform has raised the prices for their premium subscriptions, and it’s not just by a small amount. Video-based platforms like Disney+ and YouTube started this trend with YouTube bumping up prices by as much as 40%, followed by Spotify, and now X is jumping on the bandwagon.
In a post by the company, X announced it had raised the price of its Premium+ subscription by as much as 37% in some areas. For U.S. users, the price went up from $16 to $22 per month. In Nigeria, it’s a huge jump from ₦7,300 to ₦34,000, while Canadian users now pay $29 instead of $20. In the EU, prices are also rising, from €16 to €21. However, the basic plan hasn’t been affected and will stay at $3 in most regions.
These changes took effect on December 21, 2024, for new subscribers. Existing subscribers will start being charged the new price from their next billing cycle after January 20, 2025. Until then, they’ll still pay the old rate. So, if your next billing date is before January 20, consider yourself lucky.
X says the price hike is needed to fund new services coming soon to Premium+ subscribers and make the tier ad-free. The platform claims the extra funds will help improve the site and bring new features. This change follows a recent shift in how X pays creators. Previously, creators earned money from ads in comments, but now they’ll be paid based on how Premium users interact with their posts, such as likes, comments, and retweets.
The price increase also comes at a time when many users are already unhappy with recent changes on the platform. Some have moved to competitors like Bluesky, frustrated by new features like allowing blocked accounts to still see posts from users who blocked them. X’s reputation has also taken a hit, with a report from Techloy showing that the platform has lost a lot of value since Elon Musk’s purchase.
Despite promising new features and an ad-free experience, this price hike could drive away more of X’s 1.3 million premium users out of its reported 611 million active users, rather than attracting new ones. X will need to rely on these improvements to keep users, but this move might push loyal subscribers to seek alternatives like Bluesky, which has 25 million users and is about to introduce a more affordable $8 monthly premium tier.