Twitter Blue subscription to get costlier

People often express their surprise that Twitter is free, but for some people, it isn't: Twitter Blue launched last year in several countries, adding a few extra features for anyone willing to pay $2.99 ​​a month. Today, the service told subscribers that it's increasing the price (via Matt Navara), and it's going up to $4.99 per month in the US. That probably won't break the pockets of information junkies who choose to pay for a service that still includes ads in their feed, but it might be enough to make people wonder if it's worth it.

The Twitter Blue package add-ons range from extremely useful (an undo tweet window to correct mistakes, a customizable navigation bar, top articles shared by people you follow) to trivial (the ability to choose between different app icons).

In an email to users, the Twitter Blue team insists that the higher rate "helps us continue to build some of the features you've been asking for, improve upon the current ones you already love and sustain our mission of supporting journalism."

Notably, it doesn't mention Elon Musk, even though the company blamed him for falling second-quarter revenue compared to a year earlier. Elon Musk is trying to get out of his deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion, but in happier times, he had reportedly floated the idea of ​​an unnamed subscription service outside of Blue that he thought could attract more than 100 million subscribers one day.

The higher price is already in effect for new subscribers. Still, for early adopters, Twitter says they will remain locked in at the original price until October and can expect to be allowed to cancel at least 30 days before the new price goes into effect.

When did the price go up? - Based on your time zone, the price increase for new subscribers occurred on July 27 or 28.

To keep paying customers, Twitter Blue email teases a "smoother reading experience" in the works, among other features to be released in Twitter Blue Labs. One reason I might stick around until at least October, if not beyond, it's also not listed in the email: editable tweets. Twitter seems to have picked up the pace of feature development under Parag Agrawal's stewardship. With the feature already announced and in testing, I can't wait to see if it's included as a Twitter Blue benefit at launch.