X Pro (TweetDeck) Locked Behind Premium+: What You Need to Know
If you manage social media for a living, you probably have a soft spot for TweetDeck. The multi-column dashboard that let you monitor feeds, lists, searches, and multiple accounts all from one screen was, for years, one of the best free tools on the internet.
Then Elon Musk bought Twitter, rebranded it as X, and slowly turned the screw.
TweetDeck was rebranded to X Pro in 2023 and moved behind a paywall for the first time. At that point, if you wanted it, you needed an X Premium subscription — which, at $8 per month, was annoying but manageable for most professionals.
That’s no longer the case.
What’s Changed
On 26th March 2026, X quietly moved X Pro behind its Premium+ paywall, effective immediately and with no warning to existing subscribers. To keep access to what used to be TweetDeck, you now need the top-tier plan.
X currently offers three subscription tiers:
- Basic — £3.60/month
- Premium — £9.60/month
- Premium+ — £47/month
X Pro — the dashboard formerly known as TweetDeck — now requires Premium+. That’s nearly a fivefold price increase overnight.
A Quick History of the Price Rises
To put that in perspective, here’s how the cost of using TweetDeck has changed since Musk’s takeover:
- Before 2023 — Free
- August 2023 — Rebranded to X Pro, available with Premium at £9.60/month
- March 2026 — Moved to Premium+ at £47/month
In a few short years, a tool that cost nothing now requires nearly $400 a year to access.
No Warning for Existing Subscribers
What’s made this particularly frustrating is the lack of notice. Journalists and social media professionals who use X Pro as part of their daily workflow found out about the change only when they tried to log in and were greeted with a prompt to upgrade. No email, no in-app notice, no grace period.
Some users had recently renewed their annual Premium subscriptions expecting continued access. X’s terms do state that included features are “subject to change at any time” — but that small print offers little comfort when a key tool disappears mid-cycle.
What You Still Get on Premium
If you stay on the standard $8/month Premium plan, you do still get a verified checkmark, boosted replies, reduced ads, and access to analytics. What you lose is the dashboard itself. For casual users that may be fine, but for social media managers and journalists who rely on multi-column feeds, it’s a significant loss.
Is a Replacement Coming?
X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, responded to the backlash by saying a more powerful replacement tool would be released within one to two weeks, and that X Pro would be kept only for users with specific business workflows. Whether that replacement will be included in the lower Premium tier or sit behind another paywall remains to be seen.
What This Means for Social Media Managers
If you’re using X as part of a client’s social media strategy, or your own, it’s worth reviewing what you’re actually paying for and whether it still makes sense. The jump from $84 to $395 a year is substantial, and with plenty of capable third-party tools available — Hootsuite, Buffer, and others — it may be time to look at alternatives.
If you’d like a hand reviewing your social media toolkit or digital marketing setup, we’re always happy to help, just get in touch. Give us a call on 01793 239239 or drop us a line at [email protected].
