X is Betting the Farm on Features
I checked in on X this month, as I have been doing since it started monetizing aaaaaall the way back in 2021. Things have changed a lot since, and growth is no longer a matter of “what Elon said”.
April was an interesting month not because of revenue, but because it looks like X spent April giving Premium users more reasons to open the app.
According to Appfigures Intelligence, X earned $16M in net revenue, what it keeps after Apple and Google take their cut, in April. That’s a nice chunk, but… it’s roughly 6% lower than March’s haul.
The drop is partially X and partially a wide market trend in April where many apps saw growth slow down. Many attribute the slowdown to rising gas prices, so I wouldn't call this an X problem. There is a problem though.
As we've seen with other social platforms, the real revenue driver, and reason free users pay, is features. Snapchat has mastered that and had its best month of revenue in March, actually.
Grok is still a Premium X feature, but with its standalone app growing revenue quickly ($29M net in April), I don't think that's as big of a driver as it once was.
But that’s an area X is now more focused under Nikita Bier’s management. The platform recently released custom timelines, cashtags, and a barrage of changes to its algorithm and its policies to make the content more relevant.
All of these will be setting the foundation for sustained growth. It may not happen overnight, but it’s the correct direction for the platform.
Downloads Are (Finally) Trending Up
The good news is that X's downloads have not only stabilized but are also growing, undoing the downward trend that started at the end of 2024.
Our estimates show X ended April with 11M new downloads from the App Store and Google Play. The last time X hit that level before 2026 was all the way back in August of 2024.
In a strange way, the same reasons that caused revenue to slow down (aka the news) also bring new users to the platform that prides itself on being a real-time source of unfiltered news.
Another thing I think will be very positive for X's growth is the change in incentive for creators, which moved from "get paid for impressions on any content" to "get paid for impressions on original content." A subtle but serious change that I hope will bring more quality and diversity to the platform.
Looking at the trend, I won't be surprised if X manages to continue its download growth spurt into the summer. And with more reasons to go Premium, I expect to see revenue growing consistently.
FYI - If you want more insights about mobile apps and games make sure to follow me (@arielmichaeli) on X.
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
