Twitter Blue Subscription Service Is About to Get a Price Increase
The cost of the service, which allows subscribers to undo tweets and read ad-free news articles, is going up by 66%.
The price of Twitter Blue, the social network's new premium subscription service, is about to increase -- a little more than 8 months after it made its debut.
The service, which launched in the US and New Zealand in November, allows subscribers to pay for features such as the ability to undo a tweet and read ad-free news articles. When it launched, Twitter Blue cost $3 per month, but that monthly cost is increasing to $5, Twitter informed subscribers on Thursday.
The price increase is only for new subscribers for now; existing subscribers won't be charged the higher rate until October, Twitter said in its note. Twitter said the price increase will go toward developing new features and improving existing ones in an effort to support journalism.
"At launch, we felt strongly about keeping the cost of the subscription as low as possible while we tested, learned and gathered feedback," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. "We've since refined the vision for this product, conducted significant research, introduced new enhancements with more in development, and as such we are updating pricing."
The price increase comes as Twitter is embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with Elon Musk. In April, the billionaire launched an unsolicited deal to take over Twitter for $44 billion. But earlier this month, Musk said he's pulling out of the deal, claiming Twitter breached the purchase agreement by failing to provide fundamental information about the number of spam accounts on the service. Twitter responded with a lawsuit to force Musk to complete the deal.
Twitter Blue gives users a 30-second undo tweet window that allows them to make revisions to their tweets before it's posted on Twitter. It also allows users to customize their experience with themes and icons and to organize tweets in a bookmark folder.
Some of the publications that Twitter Blue users can read ad-free include The Washington Post, USA Today, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed, Insider and The Hollywood Reporter.