Update (July 30, 10:50 pm ET): Twitter provided a statement explaining why it's raising the subscription service's price.
What you need to know
- Twitter Blue is seeing a price hike for new and existing subscribers.
- The monthly subscription rate has cranked up from $2.99 to $4.99.
- Early adopters will start paying the new monthly fee in October.
Twitter Blue is seeing a price hike to continue developing new features and improving existing ones, according to the company, marking the first time the subscription rate has been raised since its launch in June of last year.
In an email sent out to subscribers, Twitter said that it has raised the subscription service's price for new users as of July 27 or July 28, depending on their time zone (via Max Weinbach). It now costs $4.99, a 67% increase from $2.99.
The new monthly rate takes effect for new members immediately. Twitter, on the other hand, will not charge the new fee to early adopters until October. This means they'll continue to pay the same introductory monthly fee until then. Twitter will notify them 30 days before the new rate takes effect for their account, but they can cancel their subscription at any time.
Beyond the United States, Twitter Blue's price has also been increased in countries where it is already available, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The service's help page provides more information about the increase by country. The rate has been raised to $6.99 AUD in Australia, $6.49 CAD in Canada, and $6.99 NZD in New Zealand.
Twitter did not explain in its help page why it's raising the price. But in its email to Blue subscribers, the company says that the price hike will be used to build new highly requested features, improve existing capabilities, and continue supporting journalism. Since its launch, Twitter Blue has rolled out a few handy features, including the ability to undo a tweet to make quick changes and customize the navigation bar, among others.
However, some subscribers still find it hard to wrap their heads around the price hike, doubting whether it's even a worthwhile investment for a thin set of premium features.
"Twitter Blue has been offering the most engaged people on Twitter access to exclusive features to help them customize their experience on the platform," a Twitter spokesperson told Android Central. "At launch, we felt strongly about keeping the cost of the subscription as low as possible while we tested, learned and gathered feedback."
The company's decision to update Twitter Blue's price comes after it "refined the vision for this product, conducted significant research, introduced new enhancements with more in development."
With the higher price, Twitter should finally give us what we've been asking for: the ability to edit tweets. That could be enough to justify it.
