X revamps Creator Subscriptions with new features, like exclusive threads and shareable cards | TechCrunch

Elon Musk-owned X announced on Thursday that it’s revamping the social network’s Creator Subscriptions offering with a number of new features, including exclusive threads, a refreshed subscriptions paywall, a new dashboard, and a shareable subscriptions card, among other changes.

The company believes these updates will allow creators to attract more fans and provide better experiences, as it pushes to become a bigger part of the creator economy alongside Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.

X also highlighted the recent launch of its “Paid Partnership” label, which is applied to posts where the content is paid for or incentivized by a third party.

One key new feature arriving Thursday is the launch of “exclusive threads,” which allow creators to monetize their posts directly on X, instead of sending fans to an external website or newsletter. With these posts, creators can tease the value of the thread in a parent post, then allow audiences to subscribe directly to the individual conversation. Subscriber-only content will now live in the account’s main profile feed, instead of in a separate Subscriptions tab, according to X.

Other new tools are designed to help creators market themselves and track their analytics. This includes a new Subscriptions card that can be shared on X to promote the creator’s content. There’s also a new dashboard that lets creators more easily track their earnings alongside other subscriber insights, as well as access built-in growth tools.

X is also tweaking the subscription process, which includes a refreshed paywall where creators can highlight the benefits of their subscriptions, and a faster onboarding process for setting up subscriptions that now takes just two steps. X said it has also sped up application review times, so creators can more quickly get started with monetization.

“We are doubling down on creators, the platform’s most influential experts, thought leaders, and voices, by investing in tools that enable sustainable incomes and deeper connections with their audiences,” said Allegra Jacchia, Creators Product at X, in a statement about the launch. “We believe creators deserve to be compensated for the value, knowledge, and perspectives they bring to the platform, and a big part of that is enabling them to monetize their most loyal supporters directly.”

The company also formally announced the recent launch of the “Paid partnership” label, which offers creators a built-in tool to comply with X’s policy and industry regulations over labeling ads, without having to use hashtags. Instead, the new label appears directly below the post’s content, and it can be added after the fact if a creator forgets to include it when they first post.

X’s Creator Revenue Sharing Programwhich launched globally in 2023,  allows creators to generate income for their popular posts. While designed to boost engaging content, some have criticized the program’s design, saying it incentivizes creators to post sensationalized content, including clickbait or ragebait. However, X has noted that some of its top creators include stock traders offering analysis, like @Banana3Stocks and @Jake_Wujastyk.

The company has paid out more than $45 million to creators to date, according to a post from Grokthe AI assistant integrated into X. For 2026, the company has more than doubled the revenue pool available due to X’s Premium subscription growth, Grok said. A spokesperson for X confirmed the latter, pointing to an X Creators post that also referenced changes to how payouts were calculated.

In January, some creators posted screenshots of their earnings, suggesting that payouts had recently increased. X also recently pushed creators to try long-form articles with a recent $1 million campaign for the top article.

The changes to the subscriptions arrive amid a flurry of news from X this week, which also included the beta tests of X’s standalone app, X Chat, and payments service, X Money. In addition, the company announced it would suspend creators from its revenue-sharing program if they posted unlabeled AI videos depicting armed conflict.

X has long sought to attract creators to its platform, even before the company was acquired by Musk. However, the majority of X’s revenue today still comes from advertisers, not premium subscriptions or creator content.