Tumblr Post Plus subscription for creators is shutting down; This is what you need to know

Tumblr Post Plus subscription, which launched in 2021, will soon shut down, highlighting the platform’s downsizing efforts. It was added to allow creators to add a fee for their content to the subscribers.

With the closure of the Tumblr Post Plus subscription, creators will no longer be able to add a paywall over their content starting January 2024. (REUTERS)

Tumblr underwent a redesign in July 2023 when the platform announced it would improve its content discovery as well as ease the process of creating a page. The company claimed the changes were implemented based on user feedback. Now, taking another step in its feedback-focused process, it will also be removing the Tumblr Post Plus subscriptions. It allowed creators to share content behind a paywall for those subscribers who paid for the subscription. The company has said that it will be removed starting January 2024.

Tumblr posted on its official blog and said, “We originally introduced Post+ to uplift and support the vast swathes of incredible creators here on Tumblr…Well, it didn't land as we'd hoped. We've heard your feedback and monitored usage, and after much consideration, we've decided to remove Post+ from Tumblr”.

Post Plus subscription launched in 2021 in the US as a beta feature. It is similar to Instagram and X's (formerly Twitter) subscription where users pay an extra charge to view special content and participate in special events.

Tumblr Post Plus is going away

The platform has also shared a timeline for its phased removal of the Tumblr Post Plus subscription. According to the post, users will no longer be able to enable Post Plus on their blogs after December 1. However, existing Post Plus content will remain accessible through the end of this year. 

In early 2024, the platform will remove the ability to create new Post Plus content, and existing content will be marked as private. From then on, it'll be up to each creator to determine whether they want to make those posts public. Subscribers will also not be billed starting in January. Those who have subscribed through in-app purchases on an iOS device will need to manually cancel their subscription to not be charged.

Tumblr also announced that while Post Plus is going away, creators can still enable Tipping, a feature through which subscribers can voluntarily make a monetary contribution to the creator. Tipping will not affect the viewability of the blogs.