Make Money with X (formerly Twitter)

X (formerly Twitter) offers an ad-based monetization system. To access it, creators must subscribe to Premium, meet several criteria, and generate a high volume of impressions. Here’s how it works, what it can pay, and how to complement it without charging your community.

Native monetization on X (Twitter)

Since Elon Musk’s takeover, X has introduced an ad revenue-sharing program for certain creators.

The promise is simple: pay accounts that generate engagement and views. In practice, access follows a specific model with fairly strict requirements.

Key takeaway: monetization is mainly tied to ads shown in replies to your posts, which makes earnings highly dependent on conversation-driven engagement.

Requirements to enable ad revenue

To enable native monetization on X, you typically need to:

• Subscribe to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue), from €8/month
• Have at least 500 followers
• Reach 5 million impressions over the last 3 months
• Maintain an active account that complies with platform rules
• Connect a Stripe account to receive payouts
• Pass any additional checks (identity, eligibility, etc.)

This model limits monetization to creators already able to generate large view volumes, and it also excludes creators who don’t want to pay a subscription to unlock these features.

How much can you earn on X?

Payouts depend on the volume of monetized impressions—and especially on ads actually delivered in replies to your posts.

Estimates vary widely, but a commonly observed range is $0.50 to $4 per 1,000 monetized impressions.

• Your audience’s geographic location
• Your topic/niche (some attract higher-paying advertisers)
• Engagement rate (replies, conversations, thread depth)
• Advertiser availability at the time ads are served

Even for popular accounts, earnings are often irregular: some creators report tens to a few hundred dollars for several million impressions, with no guarantee of stability.

Monetizing without charging followers: the limits

X also offers paid subscriptions (e.g., “Subscriptions”, formerly “Super Follows”), but that means charging your fans directly.

If you want to monetize without selling to your community, options remain limited: beyond affiliate links or external redirects, the short format often makes it hard to promote long-form content or products without hurting the experience.

In other words: native monetization on X can work, but it requires very high impression volume, a subscription, and an ad model that remains inherently unstable.

Happew: a simple alternative for Twitter creators

For creators active on X, Happew can be a strong complement: you publish content (images, videos, or text) that fans unlock for free by watching an ad.

Each unlock pays you—no Premium subscription, no impression thresholds, and no audience-side eligibility requirements.

• No barrier to entry: no minimum follower count
• More personal, authentic, or experimental content formats
• Anonymous fans: no account required to access content
• Immediate monetization from publish to every interaction

Observed earnings on Happew typically range from $2 to $8 per 1,000 ad impressions, and can go higher depending on plan and engagement.

To understand the concept and available formats, read What is Happew? .

Conclusion

X can pay creators through ads, but this system remains reserved for a minority: subscription required, high thresholds, and often unstable earnings.

Platforms like Happew offer an immediate alternative: your content stays free for fans, you earn via ads, and you keep full control over your pace and formats.