(Reuters) - Elon Musk-owned X raised the price of its premium-plus plan in several markets from Dec. 21 as the social media company looks to boost payment for creators on its platform.

The top-tier plan is now priced at $22 a month in the U.S., up from $16 earlier, according to a blog post. Prices for the basic tier and premium subscriptions remain unchanged at $3 and $8, respectively.

X changed its revenue-sharing practices in October to ensure subscription fees would more directly contribute to creator payouts and that they are compensated on content quality and engagement rather than ad views alone.

The updated pricing applies to new subscribers, while existing members will retain their current rates until Jan. 20.

X offers premium-plus subscribers ad-free browsing and features such as expanded access to the Grok AI chatbot and Radar, which offers real-time analytics on emerging trends through keyword tracking.

Subscriptions are a key part of Musk's strategy to drive revenue growth at X, the platform which was known as Twitter before the billionaire purchased it and had long relied on advertising dollars.

(Reporting by Kritika Lamba and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)