Twitter Verification: Costs, Requirements and Checkmarks

Jump to badge meanings, US prices, requirements, a missing checkmark or business verification.

Blue, gold and gray checkmarks mean different things

X's profile-label documentation distinguishes the main badges this way:

The small company image next to someone's name is therefore useful context: it connects their account to an organization. It isn't a fourth, more prestigious level of blue verification. Follow that connection and inspect the organization if the relationship matters to your decision.

The terminology is changing too. X's current blue-checkmark explanation says it uses “Premium” rather than “verified” for blue-check users in the EEA following the European Commission's December 2025 decision. X says it is appealing. The Commission's published finding challenged the misleading impression that purchasing the badge established who was behind the account.

How much does Twitter verification cost?

For an individual subscribing directly, Premium is the least expensive standard tier that includes blue-checkmark eligibility. These are X's published US web prices, checked October 7, 2026, before applicable taxes and payment fees.

The annual Premium price works out to $7 a month, but $84 is billed for the year. It isn't a $7 monthly plan. Paying $8 monthly for twelve months totals $96, so the published annual option saves $12 over that period.

Premium+ includes additional features, not a different blue badge. If the checkmark is your only reason for subscribing, there is no badge-color upgrade hiding in that higher price.

Compare the web checkout before purchasing through an app. X's Premium FAQ attributes mobile price differences to app-store fees and recommends web purchasing for the lowest price. Local currency, taxes and offers can change what you actually pay.

Keep the subscription decision separate from the approval decision. Paying for more months or choosing the most expensive tier doesn't give you evidence that the account will pass review.

The current blue-checkmark requirements

X's eligibility criteria require an appropriate active subscription and an account that has:

• A display name and profile photo.
• Activity within the previous 30 days.
• A confirmed phone number.
• No recent changes to the photo, display name or username.
• No misleading behavior, platform manipulation or spam.

The published list doesn't specify a minimum follower count. It also doesn't currently state the blanket 90-day account-age rule repeated in some older guides. X separately says it may impose waiting periods for new accounts, so follow any account-specific restriction shown during subscription.

The practical move is to settle your public identity before subscribing. If you're about to rename the account, replace the profile photo and launch a new business, finish those decisions first. Otherwise, you're asking for review while the information being reviewed is still changing.

There is no need to pad the account with disposable posts to make it look established. Make the profile coherent: the name, photo, bio, website and recent work should make sense together. Our Twitter bio examples can help with the wording, but a polished bio is useful to visitors regardless of whether the badge appears.

If you're following an article that asks you to collect press coverage, select a celebrity category or prove that you're notable, check its date. Those instructions belong to the legacy verification system. They aren't the standard route to a subscription checkmark today.

Paid for Premium, but no blue checkmark?

Start by identifying which state the account is in. A payment problem, a pending review and an eligibility decision can all look like “I paid and nothing happened,” but they need different responses.

The subscription is active and the review is pending

X says the review can take several business days. That's a general expectation, not a guaranteed deadline. Immediate access to another subscription feature doesn't mean the badge review has finished.

Keep a record of the subscription date and the last identity-related profile change. If you contact support, that timeline is more useful than a series of screenshots saying the badge still hasn't arrived. Avoid scheduling a launch around an assumed approval hour.

The receipt and the account don't appear to match

Check which handle the subscription belongs to, which tier is active and where you purchased it. This is particularly worth checking if you manage several accounts. A Basic receipt explains the absence of a badge; waiting longer won't change what that tier includes.

If the expected subscription benefits are missing too, use the troubleshooting and support routes linked by X. Include the handle, plan, purchase channel and date. Don't publish a receipt containing private billing details in a public complaint.

X has shown an eligibility or enforcement message

Work from the reason in the notice. A phone-confirmation issue needs a different fix from a restriction for misleading behavior. If the message provides a correction or review route, use that route; repeatedly purchasing a subscription doesn't address the underlying issue.

A missing badge alone isn't proof that the account is suspended or that every post has lost visibility. If X has actually suspended the account, use the process covered in our Twitter account suspension guide. Treat the account notice as evidence, rather than diagnosing an enforcement action from a missing icon.

Why a checkmark can disappear after approval

A rebrand is an easy way to encounter this. According to X's guidance on profile changes, changing your profile photo, display name or handle triggers another review and temporarily removes the blue checkmark. Further changes to those fields are restricted while that review is underway.

For a company launch, write down the final name and handle before making changes. Don't use the live account as a place to audition several identities. A second review is an operational detail you can plan around, even though you can't control its duration.

Also check whether the subscription term has ended or the account has received a policy notice. For a directly purchased Premium subscription, canceling normally leaves the badge in place until the paid term ends, unless X removes it for another reason. Organization-managed badges have their own terms; don't assume the same cancellation behavior applies to every badge.

Keep your website's account link current when changing handles. A working link from a site people already know can help them find the correct account while the profile is being reviewed.

ID verification is a separate check

X's ID-verification policy describes a voluntary government-ID check for eligible individual Premium users. It can add an ID-verification label to the account's badge details. Businesses and organizations don't use that optional individual process.

X may also request identification for safety or other eligibility checks. The fact that an ID request exists doesn't mean every blue account has completed one. Read the purpose of the request before treating it as a routine step toward the badge.

The policy names Persona and Stripe as processors. If you choose to submit identification, start from X's official account flow and read the privacy information presented there. Someone offering verification through a DM isn't a reason to send them a passport photo.

Even an identity check answers a limited question. It doesn't establish that the person is qualified to give medical advice, owns the product they are selling or will honor a business agreement. Check those claims on their own merits.

Gold verification for businesses and organizations

Premium Business is the route for an organization seeking a gold checkmark. X reviews the organization before applying the badge. The application calls for a matching active account, organization email and website, control of the account and an accurate profile.

Full Access supports affiliation badges; Basic doesn't. A related employee, brand or support account must accept its affiliation invitation. Personal accounts generally don't qualify for Premium Business, although X says it considers some businesses built around personal brands individually.

For budgeting, a Full Access monthly plan with three additional affiliates is $1,150 a month before tax. On annual billing, the same published components total $11,800 a year. Count the accounts you actually need to connect before comparing plans.

That cost makes this a different decision from putting a blue check beside a founder's name. A company with several support handles may need a visible relationship between them. A freelancer who just wants a personal badge may have no use for that structure.

Gray verification is based on an official role

The gray-checkmark program covers qualifying government and multilateral accounts and officials. X publishes eligible roles and an application route using identification or an official government email. Buying personal Premium+ doesn't turn an account gray.

There is also a separate Premium Organizations offering for governments and multilateral organizations, including affiliation management. The direct gray-badge application and the paid organization service shouldn't be treated as the same process.

Gray badges are tied to current eligibility. X says an official leaving office or an organization being disbanded or reorganized can lose the badge. For an agency managing these accounts, a change of officeholder is therefore also a reason to review the profile and its access arrangements.

Choose the status you need, then judge the account by its work

For a personal blue checkmark, evaluate Premium and its review requirements. For a company that needs an official organizational identity and related accounts, examine Premium Business. For a government role, start with the published gray-badge criteria. The colors aren't a ladder everyone is supposed to climb.

If the real question is whether paying helps your work reach people, that's a separate decision covered in our X Premium growth article. A badge can't tell you whether visitors become useful contacts or whether the account earns back its subscription cost.

The same applies to payouts: a checkmark isn't approval for a creator program. Our Twitter monetization guide covers those additional requirements. Keep the badge, the subscription benefits and the commercial results separate when deciding what is worth paying for.

Get the profile into its intended shape, use the appropriate official route and keep track of the review. Once that is handled, the more useful question is what someone finds when they open the account.

Rules and published US prices checked October 7, 2026. Sources are linked beside the relevant sections. Prices may vary by location, purchase channel, taxes and current offers. Review times describe X's guidance, not an approval guarantee.