Overview

• Elon Musk's social media platform, X, previously known as Twitter, has launched two new subscription tiers named Basic and Premium+. The Basic tier is priced at $3 per month and the Premium+ tier at $16 per month.
• The Premium+ subscription offers an ad-free experience in 'For You' and 'Following' feeds, a 'largest reply boost', and full access to X's creator tools. However, it has been noted that ads may still appear in other areas of the platform.
• Despite the lower cost, the Basic tier does not remove ads or include the blue verification checkmark. However, it does offer users a 'small reply boost'.
• X's existing subscription tier, previously known as Twitter Blue, remains in force at $8 per month. It provides benefits including a blue checkmark, prioritized ranking in replies, the ability to edit posts, and more.
• These new tiers come amidst declining ad revenues for X, with reports suggesting a 60% year-on-year decrease in U.S. ad revenue as of August. The introduction of these new tiers helps to generate additional revenue streams for the platform.
• Both the Basic and Premium+ subscriptions can only be purchased via the web initially. This is likely intended to avoid additional fees associated with Apple and Google’s app stores.