If you have spent any time on X over the past year, you’ll know it’s evolving fast. What was previously just a text-based site, now offers lots of great features, many appealing to content creators.

Today, X launched the X Creator Academy, a built-in education hub designed to teach users how to actually turn a feed into a business.

It is a play we have seen before from the likes of YouTube and TikTok, but it comes at a time when X is making a real play to draw and keep creators on the platform.

If you are a creator wondering if it is actually worth your time, here is the breakdown of what the academy is, what they are promising, and whether it actually works.

What is the X Creator Academy?

At its core, the Creator Academy is an learning portal designed to educate you about the options you have available to you as a member of the Creator community.

The academy is split into two primary focus areas – teaching you how to use the specific creative tools on X and, more importantly, showing you how to unlock the platform’s various monetisation options.

Creator Academy: Tools

The Tools section uses Articles to talk about features of the platform, like how to write great Articles. (Articles are awesome btw, I’ve been using them heavily since they were released).

In this section, you will find modules dedicated to:

High-quality video production: Teaching you how to film, edit, and upload long-form video directly to the platform, capturing the massive push X has made towards native video content.

Live streaming and Spaces: Best practices for going live, hosting audio discussions, and how to use production tools like switchers and mics to make sure your broadcast does not look or sound amateurish.

Creative design and writing: Tips on hooks, formatting threads, and thumbnail creation to stop the endless scroll.

Analytics and Community building: Breaking down how to actually read your impressions, profile visits, and engagement metrics so you are not just posting into a void.

Creator Academy: Monetization

Let’s be honest, no one is going through an online academy just for fun. You want to know how to get paid. X’s monetisation section is clearly the main event here. The Academy aims to simplify the process by outlining X’s specific revenue streams, including:

Ad Revenue Sharing: How to ensure you meet the criteria (including that elusive X Premium subscription) to get a cut of the ads served in your replies.

Subscriptions: Setting up monthly tiers where your most loyal followers can pay you directly for exclusive content, badges, and direct access.

Creator Connect: The platform’s brand-matching tool launched earlier this year, showing creators how to format their profiles and negotiate with brands looking for sponsors.

Tips and Ticketed Spaces: Quick-transaction features to encourage immediate audience support during live events or broadcast drops.

Historically, getting consistent payouts from X has been a pain point, with many users complaining that the algorithms for payouts are about as transparent as mud. In the Academy, they are attempting to shed some light on the exact metrics you need to hit and how to maximise your visibility.

Is it actually worth it?

To even get a look-in at the Ad Revenue Sharing, you have to be paying for an X Premium subscription, which sits at around US$8 a month or up to US$16 a month for Premium+ depending on how you buy it.

This means you are essentially playing a subscription “pay-to-play” model just for the opportunity to get a payout. For many micro-influencers and casual creators, the math just hasn’t added up yet, but if you want a chance to get a slice of the bag, it’s worth a try at least.

Once you’re a verified creator, the X Creator Academy is free and I’d expect the content in here to grow over time. One obvious omission for me is @XSpaces, one of the service’s best features, which still hasn’t been monetised, but often sees users listening and speaking for hours on end.

For more information, head to X.