Elon Musk's X will soon make live streaming a premium feature

This makes the Elon Musk-owned platform the only social media app to charge for the feature.
 By 
Chance Townsend
 on 
 The logo of online social media site 'X' (formerly known as Twitter)
Credit: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has announced plans to lock its livestreaming feature behind its premium subscription service. As noted by Engadget, this would make X unique among its competitors in the live streaming space like YouTube, Twitch, and Kick, which don't charge for livestreaming.

X's live streaming service is yet another feature that the Elon Musk-owned company will try to use to lure users to its premium subscription model. For users who want to pay for X, the Basic tier starts at $3, with the Premium and Premium+ tiers at $8 and $16, respectively. Users on these plans gain access to features like longer video uploads, ad-free feeds, and the ability to edit and write longer posts.

In its post announcing the change, the company offered no explanation. However, the news comes just days after a report showed that the beleaguered platform was losing money hand over fist.


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Overall, the move is unsurprising as Musk tries to find new ways to increase revenue. The company has even tested charging new accounts for the privilege of posting on X. So don't be shocked when, perhaps, non-premium accounts are one day charged $1 to reply to posts.

Topics X/Twitter

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Chance Townsend
Assistant Editor, General Assignments

Chance Townsend is the General Assignments Editor at Mashable, covering tech, video games, dating apps, digital culture, and whatever else comes his way. He has a Master's in Journalism from the University of North Texas and is a proud orange cat father. His writing has also appeared in PC Mag and Mother Jones.

In his free time, he cooks, loves to sleep, and greatly enjoys Detroit sports. If you have any tips or want to talk shop about the Lions, you can reach out to him on Bluesky @offbrandchance.bsky.social or by email at [email protected].

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