X, the home of ‘freedom of speech” gets a price hike: Now $22/month

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Elon Musk’s “free speech platform” just got much less free. X is cranking up Premium+ prices by 37.5% because, apparently, burning cash on blue checkmarks wasn’t enough.

Here’s the damage (starting December 21):

Look at it this way: For the yearly subscribers, prepare to shell out $229, a jump from $168. Remember that this is where Musk and his sheep sing the virtues of free speech. Yet, they’re still blind to the fact that they’re paying for it when in reality, it costs nothing to use.

If you’re already subscribed, you’ve got until January 20 before these new rates kick in. After that, you’ll need to decide if an ad-free X experience is worth the price of a Netflix subscription and a fancy coffee.

X claims they’re “adjusting” prices to “support the experience” they offer. Translation: We need more money and hope you’re too addicted to doom-scrolling to care.

They’re trying to spin this as supporting content creators, but considering X’s subscription revenue struggles (just $14.7 million in September), it feels more like desperate times call for desperate measures.

What about the basic tier?

The basic tier stays at $3 monthly, probably because even Musk realizes there’s a limit to how much people will pay for blue checkmarks and slightly longer posts.

With user numbers expected to drop to 335 million in 2024, this price hike feels less like strategy and more like squeezing the last few dollars from loyal users.

Welcome to X – where the price of freedom keeps going up, but the memes remain priceless.

How do you feel about the new price hikes on X’s Premium+ service? Do you think the changes are justified, or is it just another cash grab? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com.