Formerly TweetDeck, X Pro Now Requires Subscription

X Pro, the popular Twitter management tool, now requires a subscription as part of the X Premium service introduced by Elon Musk.

The service, now called X Pro, allows users to view and customize multiple feeds in real time. This change comes as part of X’s efforts to generate additional revenue for the company.

TweetDeck, which was acquired by Twitter in 2011 due to its popularity among users, has historically been free to use. However, X announced in July that it would transition to a subscriber-only feature. As of Wednesday, users wishing to access X Pro will need to subscribe to X Premium, with an annual fee of $84, according to CNBC.

Subscribers to X Premium get additional features, including a blue checkmark on their accounts, prioritized rankings in replies and search, access to longer posts and fewer ads. The service, previously known as Twitter Blue, faced initial challenges when it was temporarily pulled from the platform due to impersonation issues. However, it was relaunched in December.

The rebranding efforts initiated by Musk in July have seen Twitter retire its iconic blue and white bird logo and transform it into X. This rebranding has also led to changes in the names of various Twitter services, such as renaming TweetDeck to X Pro.

While the move to a paid subscription model for X Pro has been met with criticism from some users, it is not entirely unexpected. X has been testing the new version of TweetDeck since last year, introducing features such as a full Tweet composer, advanced search capabilities, new column types, and the ability to group columns into clean workspaces. However, some power users have expressed dissatisfaction with the new version, finding it more challenging to perform common actions such as clearing columns.

X’s decision to implement a paid subscription model for TweetDeck is part of Musk’s broader strategy to monetize the platform through X Premium subscriptions. As of June last year, the service had approximately 700,000 subscribers, according to Engadget. Musk’s vision for X extends beyond social networking, as he aims to transform it into a multifunctional app for various purposes.