X will soon restrict the ability to live stream to its premium paywall, as announced by the company. This move will make X the only major social platform to charge for a feature that remains free on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok.

“Starting soon, only Premium subscribers will be able to livestream (create live video streams) on X,” the company stated. “This includes going live from an encoder with X integration,” referring to X’s game streaming capabilities.

X did not provide a reason for the change. The company has previously used features like post editing, longform writing, and ad-free feeds to attract users to its paid subscriptions, but it has not typically moved existing, widely available features behind its paywall. X Premium subscriptions start at $3/month for the "basic" tier, increasing to $8/month for Premium and $16/month for Premium+.

Additionally, there are indications that the Elon Musk-owned platform aims to charge for other simple features. The company implemented a $1 annual fee for new accounts to have posting privileges in New Zealand and the Philippines. Although the company describes this as a test, Musk has indicated he wants to extend the fees to all new users.