WEIR
Get a key
Theme

What Does the Blue Check Mean on Twitter? X Checkmarks 2026

Blue means X Premium, gold an organization, grey a government. What each X checkmark requires and costs as of October 2026, and what an API can see.


Published · Updated · 6 min read

Cover image: Blue, gold or grey?

The blue check on Twitter means the account pays for X Premium and passed X's review, not that X checked who owns it.

This guide is for anyone reading a profile on X (Twitter), and for developers who need the badge in data. You get each color, what it requires and costs as of October 2026, and what an API returns.

Keep this key handy:

Blue check    X Premium or Premium+ subscriber, reviewed by X
Gold check    organization on Premium Business, square avatar
Grey check    government, multilateral body or official
Small logo    affiliate of a verified organization

Every badge, from X's Help Center as of October 2026:

Badge Who gets it US price How
Blue check Premium and Premium+ members $8 or $40 a month Subscribe, then a review
Gold check Businesses, non-profits, parties $200 or $1,000 a month Premium Business, then a review
Grey check Governments and officials No fee listed Apply with ID or a gov email
Affiliate badge People and brands tied to an org $50 a month each, paid by the org The org invites, you accept

What does the blue check mean on Twitter in 2026?

A blue check means the account has an active X Premium subscription and meets X's rules. It "does not mean that the account has been ID verified," X's Help Center says.

It can sit on a person or an organization, X's labels page says.

X began winding down its legacy program on 1 April 2023. Old checks stayed only on accounts that subscribed.

In the EEA, X now calls blue-check users "Premium" rather than "verified." X says a European Commission decision of 5 December 2025 led to the change, and X is appealing it.

How do you get a blue check on X?

You subscribe to the Premium or Premium+ tier, then X reviews your account. The cheapest tier, Basic, doesn't include a check.

X Premium tiers, US web price per month, October 2026
Basic (no check)$3
Premium$8
Premium+$40

X's review checks for:

  • A complete profile, with a display name and a profile photo.
  • Recent use. The account was active in the past 30 days.
  • A confirmed phone number on the account.
  • No recent changes to your photo, display name or @handle.
  • No signs of deception, platform manipulation or spam.

X's Premium FAQ says the review "can take several business days." Changing your photo, name or handle later hides the check until X reviews you again.

An invite works too. Per X's FAQ, affiliates of a Verified Organization can get a blue check.

What does the gold check on X mean?

A gold check marks "an official organization account through Premium Business," in X's words. Gold accounts also get a square profile picture.

Premium Business has two tiers, as of X's September 2026 page:

  • Basic costs $200 a month in the US. It gives the gold check but no affiliates.
  • Full Access costs $1,000 a month. It adds affiliates at $50 a month each.

Only organizations can join, such as businesses, non-profits and political parties. Personal accounts aren't allowed, with some exceptions for personal brands.

Sign-up needs the matching X account, a current organization email and the website domain. The gold check appears only after X approves the account.

What does a gray checkmark mean on X?

A grey check means the account "represents a government/multilateral organization or official." X's pages spell it both grey and gray.

X's grey checkmark page lists who qualifies:

  • National officials, such as heads of state, ministers, members of Congress or Parliament, and ambassadors.
  • State leaders, such as governors and chief ministers.
  • Government bodies, including agencies, ministries, legislatures, embassies and consulates.
  • Multilateral groups, such as international government organizations and their heads.

You apply with a form, proving who you are with ID documents or a linked government email.

The check follows the office, not the person. X's example: an outgoing US president loses the grey check on inauguration day.

Grey isn't given to affiliate accounts. Governments that want affiliates join Premium Organizations, at $1,000 a month in the US.

What is the affiliate badge on X?

An affiliate badge is a small copy of an organization's profile photo beside an account's name. Tapping it opens the organization.

Organizations on the Full Access tier invite affiliates, and each one has to accept. X's labels page says affiliates "can have gold, grey, or blue checkmarks depending on the type of account."

Does the API tell you the checkmark color?

Weir returns a yes-or-no verified flag on profiles, post authors and followers, with no color field. We looked up @NASA:

curl https://api.weirapp.io/v1/x/users/NASA \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $WEIR_API_KEY"

We ran this on 22 October 2026 for 3 credits: 2 for the profile and 1 for the call. Trimmed:

{
  "id": "11348282",
  "username": "NASA",
  "name": "NASA",
  "verified": true,
  "followersCount": 92312345,
  "createdAt": "2007-12-19T20:20:32.000Z",
  "protected": false
}

NASA is a US government agency, the kind X's grey rules cover. Yet the flag only says true, not which color.

Weir's about endpoint adds two hints. Its profileImageShape is Square for organisations, our docs say, and verificationInfo.isIdentityVerified shows an ID check.

A verified account with a square avatar points to a gold or grey check. We haven't tested that across many accounts, and it still can't split gold from grey.

X's own API does split them, as of October 2026:

You need Weir X API
Has a check verified verified
Check color Not returned verified_type
ID verified verificationInfo.isIdentityVerified is_identity_verified
Cost per profile 3 credits, under $0.001 $0.010 a user read

X's data dictionary lists "blue", "business" and "government" as values of verified_type.

When not to use Weir

  • You need the check's color. X's API returns verified_type on a user read, so use it for that field.
  • You check one profile. The badge on X costs nothing to look at.
  • You need to prove who someone is. A check is a subscription, so look for "ID verified" or the organization's own website.
  • You need to post or follow. Weir is read-only.

To count checks across followers, see our verified followers guide. X's terms apply to what you collect; this isn't legal advice.

FAQ

What does the gold check on X mean?

It marks an official organization on Premium Business, such as a company, non-profit or political party. Gold accounts also get a square avatar. The US price starts at $200 a month, as of October 2026.

What does a gray checkmark mean on Twitter?

It marks a government body, a multilateral organization or an official, such as a minister or an embassy. Officials apply with ID or a government email, and the check ends when they leave office.

Can you get a blue check on X without paying?

Not on your own. You need Premium or Premium+, or an invite from an organization on Premium Business Full Access. Officials can apply for a grey check, which X's page describes as an application, not a subscription.

Does a blue check mean the account is real?

No. X says the blue check "does not mean that the account has been ID verified." Look for the separate "ID verified" label, or find the handle on the owner's own website.

Sources

Checked on 22 October 2026, X Help Center pages through Wayback copies of these dates:

Keep reading