Elon Musk took to X on Friday to share exciting news about the impending launch of two additional tiers in the platform's premium subscription offerings. While Musk didn't specify an exact release date, he did confirm that these new plans would be introduced in the near future. Notably, one of these forthcoming tiers will feature a more budget-friendly price point, lower than the existing premium plans, while the other will come with a higher price tag. In the affordable X Premium subscription package, there will be no reduction in advertisements, but the pricier alternative will grant subscribers an ad-free experience on X.
Elon Musk's announcement aligns with a recent Bloomberg report that disclosed discussions between X CEO Linda Yaccarino and lenders about restructuring the X Premium subscription model into different tiers, encompassing Basic, Standard, and Plus plans. The tiers alluded to by Musk are presumably the Basic and Plus plans, with the existing offering considered as the Standard. As Musk noted, only Plus subscribers will have the privilege of enjoying an ad-free X experience, whereas Basic and Standard subscribers will continue to encounter advertisements, although fewer than non-subscribers.
Some specific details about these fresh subscription plans are yet to be revealed. Queries remain about when and if these plans will be made available to Indian users and whether they will be accessible on both mobile and web applications. Traditionally, X Premium plans have been priced more favorably for the web/desktop app in comparison to the pricing for mobile app subscriptions, whether on Android or iOS. Furthermore, it is essential to mention that these X Premium subscription plans are tailored for individuals, not organizations.
As things stand in India, the annual X Premium subscription for the desktop app is priced at Rs 6,800, and the monthly plan is available for Rs 650. For the X mobile app, the annual X Premium subscription is priced at Rs 9,400, with a monthly subscription rate of Rs 900.
The current subscription offerings come with various perks, such as prioritized rankings in conversations and search results, text formatting options for posts, the capability to share longer videos and support for uploading videos in 1080p quality, access to the coveted edit button, the ability to create bookmark folders, and early access to new features. Although the existing premium plans do not entirely eliminate advertisements from the platform, X promises its subscribers "twice as many posts between ads" within the For You and Following timelines.
This news comes shortly after X introduced a new testing phase in New Zealand and the Philippines. This experimental model introduces minimal annual fees of $1 for features like reposting and replying to tweets, which are presently free for all users. X is clear that this is not a revenue-generating approach but rather an attempt to reduce the presence of bots on the platform.
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