X has stopped accepting new applications for its Creator Revenue Sharing program and will shut it down entirely after September 7, 2026, replacing it with a new program called the Original Content Rewards Program. The new program pays creators based on what X considers original content, rather than rewarding any kind of engagement. The company stopped new enrollments on August 7 (X Help Center). People already earning through the old program can continue through September 7, with final payouts scheduled for August 14, August 28, and a last payment on or around September 11 (X Help Center).

The new program, announced via X's creators account and detailed in the company's help documentation, rewards creators who bring "original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity and commentary" to the platform (Engadget). Creators earn money based on how many times their original content is seen by paying subscribers. Only views from Premium subscribers count, and each subscriber's view is counted only once (Engadget). Payments are processed through X's Payment Processor, and the program lets creators share in revenue from engagement with their content (X Legal).

X defines original content narrowly. It includes users' original writing or reporting, photos or videos they take, and memes or illustrations they create. Users can earn from other people's posts only if they add meaningful commentary or analysis, or perform creative editing on existing videos or photos. Adding captions or text overlays that merely describe other people's content does not qualify as original under the policy (Engadget).

The requirements to join the new program are strict. Creators must be 18 or older, live in an available country, pay for a Premium, Premium+, or Premium Business subscription, have at least 500 verified followers, and have gotten at least 500,000 views from verified users on their home timeline in the past 90 days. Once accepted, creators must keep meeting these thresholds to receive payouts. Members can check their eligibility status at any time through Creator Studio by selecting Original Content Rewards (Engadget; X Help Center).

Transition logistics differ by participant status. Creators currently enrolled in revenue sharing must reapply for the new program when they become eligible on September 8. Users not part of the old revenue-sharing program can apply for the Original Content Rewards Program immediately (Engadget). X notes that the existing Creator Revenue Sharing program is available globally to creators who meet eligibility requirements, and the company reserves the right to modify or cancel the program at any time in its sole discretion, including for business, financial, or legal reasons (X Help Center).

The shift arrives against a backdrop of platform integrity concerns. In March, X updated its revenue-sharing program to give more weight to engagement from a user's home region, a change widely interpreted as an attempt to deter creators from misrepresenting their location. The BBC reported earlier in the year that dozens of popular accounts posting pro-Trump sentiments and US political commentary were not based in the United States (Engadget; BBC). It is unclear whether the new Original Content Rewards Program will retain the same home-region engagement weighting (Engadget).

The broader context here is a platform trying to align its creator economy incentives with content it considers valuable. The old model paid creators for any kind of engagement, which created opportunities for people to fake their location to earn more or to post low-effort content designed to rack up clicks rather than offer real value. The new program's focus on original content, combined with the rule that only paying subscribers' views count, narrows who can earn considerably. Creators who built audiences around reposting other people's work or posting light commentary will need to shift toward genuinely original output, or add real analytical value to others' work, to keep earning.

The requirement of 500,000 views from verified users in 90 days is a high bar. Combined with the need for a paid subscription, it effectively limits monetization to established creators who already have a solid audience. This may reduce the program's appeal to newer or mid-sized accounts that the old system was more accessible to. X's reservation of the right to change or cancel the program at its discretion, carried over from the previous program's terms, also means creators are building on a foundation the platform can pull at any time.

What the new program does enable is a clearer deal for original creators, journalists, and visual artists who produce their own work rather than repackaging others'. Tying payouts to original content and paying subscriber views creates a cleaner signal for what X is willing to pay for, even if the definition of "meaningful commentary" will likely require ongoing moderation judgment to enforce fairly.