--- description: New accounts that want to post or interact with other users will have to pay the fee, which is viewed as a measure to reduce spam, automated bot accounts and manipulation of X's service. title: X Tests $1-per-Year Subscription Plan image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5cdabdf8b5d8e4e/698a414c4ee262d8f531bd52/x-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # X Tests $1-per-Year Subscription Plan ## Video: Elon Musk and Lawmakers Expect AI Regulation at Some Point After Forum [Watch (HLS stream): Elon Musk and Lawmakers Expect AI Regulation at Some Point After Forum](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D8kCGbdC.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2023-09-13. Senators heard from prominent technology executives and others in private Wednesday on how to accomplish the potentially impossible task of passing bipartisan legislation within the next year that encourages the rapid development of artificial intelligence and mitigates its biggest risks._ by [Aisha Counts / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Aisha Counts / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 18, 2023 2:00 AM CUT  Jakub Porzycki—NurPhoto/Getty Images by [Aisha Counts / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Aisha Counts / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 18, 2023 2:00 AM CUT X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, began testing a $1-per-year subscription fee for new accounts on the web that want to post or interact with other users, saying the measure has the potential to reduce spam, automated bot accounts and manipulation of its service. The test, called “Not a Bot,” rolled out in New Zealand and the Philippines, X said in a [blog post](https://help.twitter.com/en/using-x/not-a-bot "undefined") Tuesday. New users who don’t pay the fee won’t be able to take certain actions on the site, including writing posts, liking, replying or bookmarking. ### More From TIME **Read More:** [_Twitter Has a Big Bots Problem in Southeast Asia_](https://time.com/5260832/malaysia-election-twitter-bots-social-media/ "undefined") “This will evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers on X, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount,” according to the blog post. “Within this test, existing users are not affected.” The San Francisco-based company has been on the hunt for new revenue sources since billionaire Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover last year, which saddled it with $13 billion in debt and drove away advertisers concerned about loosening content-safety rules. X owes about $1.2 billion in interest payments per year on its acquisition-related debt, Bloomberg [earlier estimated](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-18/elon-musk-has-more-to-lose-if-he-tries-to-skip-twitter-debt-payment "undefined"). To reinvigorate growth, X plans to test three tiers of its premium service, and will launch additional features that could generate revenue such as shopping and payments, Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino [told](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-05/x-tells-bankers-that-advertisers-are-back-but-spending-less "undefined") bankers earlier this month. X’s premium plan, which currently costs $7.99 a month, would be split into tiers that would let the company charge customers different amounts depending on how many ads they’re shown. **Read More:** [_The 7 Biggest Challenges Twitter’s New CEO Faces_](https://time.com/6285685/twitter-linda-yaccarino-challenges/ "undefined") New X users in the two test markets will have to subscribe to either the “Not a Bot” program or an X Premium tier, known for giving paying customers blue check marks, in order to write and interact with posts. “Read for free, but $1/year to write,” Musk [posted](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1714437136575807979?s=20 "undefined") on X following the announcement. “It’s the only way to fight bots without blocking real users.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6325238/x-twitter-subscription-one-dollar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6325238/x-twitter-subscription-one-dollar/"},"headline":"X Tests $1-per-Year Subscription Plan","datePublished":"2023-10-18T02:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:53:09.492Z","description":"New accounts that want to post or interact with other users will have to pay the fee, which is viewed as a measure to reduce spam, automated bot accounts and manipulation of X's service.","url":"https://time.com/6325238/x-twitter-subscription-one-dollar/","keywords":["Tech","wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5cdabdf8b5d8e4e/698a414c4ee262d8f531bd52/x-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aisha Counts / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5cdabdf8b5d8e4e/698a414c4ee262d8f531bd52/x-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"X, Formerly Called Twitter","caption":"","creditText":"Jakub Porzycki—NurPhoto/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6325238/x-twitter-subscription-one-dollar/","name":"X Tests $1-per-Year Subscription Plan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Elon Musk and Lawmakers Expect AI Regulation at Some Point After Forum","description":"Senators heard from prominent technology executives and others in private Wednesday on how to accomplish the potentially impossible task of passing bipartisan legislation within the next year that encourages the rapid development of artificial intelligence and mitigates its biggest risks.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/D8kCGbdC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-09-13T21:14:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/D8kCGbdC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6325238/x-twitter-subscription-one-dollar/","duration":"PT3M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6325238/x-twitter-subscription-one-dollar/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```