Elon Musk’s X hits users with a steep Premium+ price increase

On By Littum

As the year ends, it’s time for companies to start adjusting their subscription prices. YouTube recently made its move, and now Elon Musk’s platform, X, is jumping on the bandwagon.

X increases the cost of its Premium+ subscription by a hefty 37.5%, the steepest increase since Elon Musk took over the platform in 2022. For US users, the monthly price jumps from $16 to $22, while the annual subscription jumps from $168 to $229.

X defends its Premium+ price increase with three key points. First, the subscription now offers a completely ad-free experience that lets users browse without interruption.

Second, Premium+ subscribers get access to more perks, including priority support from @Premium, a new radar tool for tracking keywords and trends, and increased limits for Grok AI models. Finally, X emphasizes that subscription fees help fund its creator program, which rewards users for producing engaging, high-quality content.

Your subscription now more directly fuels our evolving creator program. We’ve changed our revenue sharing model to reward content quality and engagement rather than ad impressions alone. Your Premium+ subscription fee contributes to this new, fairer system where creator earnings are tied to the total value they add to X, not ad impressions.

– X, December 2024

New Premium Plus subscribers will be charged the updated prices immediately, while existing subscribers will see the price increase take effect on January 20, 2025, or with their first billing cycle after that date. The changes are not limited to the United States. In the EU, the monthly fee jumps from €16 to €21, and in Canada the cost rises from $20 to $29.

X is feeling the heat as competition rises from Meta’s Threads and Bluesky, both of which remain ad-free and completely free to use (at least for now). With the subscription fees for Musk’s app rising even higher, I think there’s a good chance more users will start jumping ship to try these alternatives.