Bluesky is developing paid subscriptions — but will always be free to use, it says

Bluesky is having a moment.

The small upstart social media platform has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past few months. Despite stiff competition from much bigger competitors like Musk’s X and Meta’s Threads, Bluesky’s profile rose in the period after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, and then it managed to maintain its momentum.

On Thursday, Bluesky announced some news: The decentralized platform has now grown to over 13 million users and it just raised $15 million in financing.

However, further buried in the announcement was another interesting tidbit: Bluesky is planning to launch a paid subscription service.

Bluesky’s paid subscription 

For those who fled Musk’s X due to the new paid model, let’s address those concerns first and foremost. Bluesky says it will always remain free. And, unlike how Musk’s X works, the paid subscription service will not provide paying subscribers with prioritization over free users.

So what will paying subscribers get? According to Bluesky, the company is currently developing a service that will allow paying subscribers to upload longer videos and further customize their profile page with different themes and avatar frames.

“Paid subscribers won’t get special treatment elsewhere in the app, like upranking premium accounts or blue checks next to their names,” Bluesky chief operating officer Rose Wang wrote in a series of posts addressing likely concerns from users.

Of course, algorithm boosts, blue checkmarks, and prioritization in the replies are all bonuses that come with X’s paid subscription service X Premium. Many users who left X cite Musk’s paid subscription model as a major contributor to the degradation of that platform.

Bluesky has consistently capitalized on X’s decisions, especially over the past few months. The platform has grown by millions of new users during that time frame as a result of X’s ban in Brazil and X’s decision to change how blocking works.

Bluesky has not yet announced any other features or potential pricing for the service at this time.