TweetDeck users started noticing the new paywall on Tuesday, but the company has been promising this for a while now. X, the social network formally known as Twitter, appears to be finally following through on its promise to make TweetDeck a paid service.
Many users on X, including social media consultant Matt Navarra, say that they’re seeing a sales page for X Premium (the subscription formerly Twitter Blue) when they try to load up TweetDeck, which is technically now called XPro.
A few of us at The Verge haven’t run into the block yet, but given how many people are saying that they can’t access XPro unless they pay, we’re guessing it’s only a matter of time.
Unfortunately, we knew this was coming, as X announced on July 3rd that it would be making XPro a subscriber-only feature. It said at the time that the transition would happen “in 30 days,” so the company missed its own deadline by just a bit.
Under owner Elon Musk, X has tried to make X Premium a more enticing subscription with additions like longer posts, formatting, ad revenue sharing, and higher rankings in conversations and search — now, the company is hoping that access to XPro is worth paying for a blue checkmark.
TweetDeck was one of the most popular third party apps for accessing Twitter until the company acquired it in 2011. Its ability to support multiple accounts and multiple custom feeds made it a powerful tool for journalists, marketers and others that found themselves regularly using Twitter for their day job.
Given that, charging for TweetDeck and putting a Pro on the name does make some sense. But it still sucks to have to pay for a useful tool that was previously free.
