X Premium Explained: What You Get and How to Use a Paid Twitter Account (2024)

Most of you probably use X, formerly known as Twitter, for free. But in an attempt to generate more income, owner Elon Musk has revamped and introduced several paid editions that offer more advanced features.

With a monthly or annual subscription, users of X Basic, X Premium, and X Premium+ (previously Twitter Blue) can edit or undo recent posts, upload longer videos, organize favorite posts, and more. How do you access the different paid levels, what does each one offer, and are any of them worth the price? Let’s check out your options.

What Is X Basic?

X Basic is the entry-level paid tier. Priced at $3 a month or $32 a year, X Basic offers the following benefits over the free version:

• Edit a Post: You have 30 minutes in which you can edit a post after sending it.

• Undo a Post: You can retract a post after you send it but before other people have a chance to read it. This only works for a short amount of time before the post is published for everyone to see.

• Create a Longer Post: Unrestrained by the 280-character limit, you can write posts with as many as 25,000 characters, and anyone will be able to read them. You can also write longer posts in a quote or reply.

• Upload Longer Videos: On the X website and iOS app, you can upload videos as lengthy as three hours and as big as 8GB.

• Download Videos: You’re able to download videos that you see posted on X.

• Play Videos in the Background. You can play videos in the background while you continue doing other things on X and on your computer or mobile device.

• Format Your Posts. You can make the text in a post stand out by applying bold or italics formatting.

• Bookmark Folders: You can bookmark and organize your favorite posts into folders, with no limit as to the number of folders and bookmarks.

• View Top Articles: Use the Top Articles shortcut to access the most shared articles from accounts that you follow and the people that they follow.

• Reader Mode: More easily read long conversation threads from someone on X by using the Reader icon at the top of the thread.

• Set Up Custom App Icons: You can modify the look of the X app icon on your mobile device. Choose from a variety of different options as new icons are periodically rolled out.

• Create a Community:You’re able to create a community on X to connect with people who have similar interests.

• Receive Reply Prioritization. Your replies to other posts are prioritized over those of non-subscribers.

What Is X Premium?

X Premium is the mid-level paid tier. At $8 a month or $84 a year, X Premium offers all the benefits included with a Basic account and adds the following:

• Get Paid to Post: You can get a cut of the ad revenue generated based on the number of replies to a post that you write and send.

• Set Up a Creator Subscription. Another way to get paid for posting, you can set up monthly Creator subscriptions and receive a chunk of the revenue that X earns from your top followers.

• Media Studio Access. With Media Studio, you’re able to manage and measure the popularity of the content you post on X.

• X Pro Access. With access to the X Pro site, you can juggle multiple timelines and accounts from one single screen.

• Fewer ads: You’re subjected to half the ads that non-subscribers and Basic subscribers will see.

  See Also

  Twitter Blue, a paid subscription service letting users 'undo tweets,' arrives in the USHow to sign up for Twitter Blue to edit your tweets and test out other new featuresTwitter Blue Explained: Everything You Need To Know in 2024Twitter Blue is relaunching today – here's what you need to know

• Verification: As a subscriber, your account is bestowed a checkmark next to your name. However, you can opt to hide the checkmark if you don’t want people to know that you pay for X.

• Receive Higher Reply Prioritization: Your replies to other posts are prioritized even higher than with a Basic subscription.

What Is X Premium+?

X Premium+ is the highest level of the paid tiers. Priced at $16 a month or $168 a year, Premium+ includes all the features in Basic and Premium and kicks in the following:

• Grok Access: You can use the Grok AI-powered chatbot to ask questions, seek out information, and chat about a variety of topics.

• No Ads: No ads will pop up to annoy you.

• Write Articles: You can write and publish long, formatted articles directly on the X website.

• Receive the Highest Reply Prioritization. Your replies to other posts are prioritized higher than with a Basic or Premium subscription.

How to Sign Up for Twitter Basic, Premium, or Premium+

To sign up for one of the paid tiers, launch the X website in your browser and sign in. Click the entry for Premium on the left. Select the option for I am an individual and then click the Subscribe button.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

By default, X takes you to the Premium+ tier to try to get the most money out of you. Click the left and right arrow at the top to cycle through the three different paid subscriptions. After choosing the level you want, click Subscribe & Pay. You’re taken to a checkout page to enter your credit card information. Fill out the page with the necessary details and click Subscribe.

You’re then told that it will take some time for your account to be reviewed before you’re granted the checkmark. You can periodically check the X Premium settings to see your status. In the meantime, you’re able to immediately take advantage of all the other benefits.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Edit a Post

You can make a limited number of changes to an original post or a quote of another post after sending it, but you only have an hour to do so. You’re able to change the text, tag someone, or modify the media you attached. To edit a post, go to your Profile page to find the post. Select its three-dot icon and select Edit post. Make the changes you wish and then select Update.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Undo a Post

You’re allowed a certain amount of time to revoke a post before it goes live. After you submit a post, a countdown appears. To stop the post in its tracks, select the Undo button. To cut to the chase, tap Send now. If you undo the post and want to revise it, make your changes and click or tap Post. If you’d rather delete the post entirely, close it and choose the option to discard it.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

You can also tweak this feature to change what types of posts you can undo and how long you have to undo them. Select the option for Premium on the left and then click the gear icon at the top. Select Undo Post and you can now change a couple of settings. Turn the switch on or off for each type of post you want to be able to undo. Under Post Undo period, select the interval to determine how long a post will be available to undo before it goes live.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Download a Video

You can download any video as long as downloading hasn’t been disabled by the account that posted it. To try this at the X website, click the gear icon for the video you want to download and select Download video. At the full screen of the video, right-click anywhere and select Save Video As. Choose a name and location to store the video as an MP4 file.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Format a Post

Select the text in the post that you want to format. Click the bold or italics icon depending on which formatting you want to apply. When done, click Post.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Organize Saved Posts Into Folders

To organize your favorite posts into folders, select the Bookmarks option on the left and click the New folder button. Add a name for the folder and select Create.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

When you find a post you want to save to a folder, click its Share icon and select Bookmark to Folder from the menu. You’ll see a menu with all your existing folders. You can select the folder to which you want to save the post or create a new folder.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

To view all your bookmarked posts, click Bookmarks on the left and then select the folder with the posts you wish to see. The posts will be shown in the format of a normal feed.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Customize the X App

Subscribers can customize the X app in a number of ways. Open the X app from your phone and tap your profile icon (or select the More icon from an iPad). Select Premium, tap Preferences, and then select Extras. Select Custom navigation and pick up to six icons (including the Home icon) that you want to place on the navigation bar. When done, tap Save.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

To change the overall color theme for the Twitter app, choose the Theme option. Pick the color theme you want to apply and then view your X homepage to see the new theme in effect.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

Select the App icons option from the Extras menu, then choose the icon you wish to use going forward. Open to the home screen where you keep the X app to view the new icon.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

View Top Articles on X

You can see the most shared articles from the people you follow and the people that they follow. At the X website, click Premium on the left and then select Top Articles from the Quick Access section. With the mobile app, select your profile icon (or tap the more icon on an iPad). Tap Premium and then select Top Articles. You can switch between the people you follow and the people they follow. Tap the toggle icon in the top-right corner to change the timeframe to the last hour, two hours, four hours, eight hours, or 24 hours.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)

View Threads in Reader Mode

Threads on X consist of multiple tweets, usually because non-subscribers can’t squeeze their entire message into a single 280-character tweet. To read a thread more easily in the mobile app, tap the Reader icon at the top of the thread. The tweets then appear on a single screen, with all the distracting parts of the interface removed.

You can modify the text size in Reader mode from the X settings menu. Select your profile icon (or tap the More icon on an iPad). Tap Premium, select Preferences, and then tap A better news reading experience. Choose Reader and change the text size to small, medium, or large.

(Credit: Lance Whitney / X)