X Tests Three Tiers of Paid Accounts

Social media platform X is reportedly testing three tiers of premium service. 

The company formerly known as Twitter is considering splitting its current $7.99 per month plan into Basic, Standard and Plus variations, allowing it to charge customers different amounts based on the number of ads shown, Bloomberg reported Friday (Oct. 6). 

The introduction of the three-tiered premium service aims to attract consumers who may not want to pay the full price, according to the report. 

Code for the app shows that the entry-level plan includes the normal amount of ads, the standard plan shows half as many ads, and the top-level offering is ad-free, the report said, citing findings by X user @Aaronp613 who examines code within popular apps.

X owner Elon Musk has also proposed charging a small fee to all X users, saying it would help combat bots, per the report.

During a Thursday (Oct. 5) briefing with debt holders, CEO Linda Yaccarino shared the plan for three tiers while expressing optimism about the company’s future, according to the report. She highlighted that revenue is growing in the high single digits quarter-over-quarter across advertising, data licensing and subscriptions. Yaccarino also revealed that the company is already cash flow positive, excluding debt servicing costs, and aims to achieve this milestone even when including debt by the second half of 2024.

Yaccarino added that approximately 90% of the company’s top 100 advertisers have returned, an increase from 75% in June, the report said.

Yaccarino and Musk have also presented plans to investors to attract celebrities and political figures to the platform, as well as facilitate more commerce and payments between users, per the report. X recently secured a new deal with Paris Hilton and 11:11 Media to promote its live shopping and video products, showcasing its commitment to expanding beyond social media.

Musk said Sept. 18 during a livestreamed event that the X platform currently boasts 550 million monthly users who generate 100 million to 200 million posts per day, CNBC reported. He did not provide a breakdown of authentic users versus bots within this user base. In May 2022, before Musk’s takeover of the platform, Twitter reported an “average monetizable daily active usage” of 229 million.