Twitter on Tuesday announced it has acquired Revue, an email service that makes it free and easy for anyone to start and publish editorial newsletters, for an undisclosed sum.

The move will allow Twitter to effectively utilise its user base of writers, journalists and publications that regularly use the service.

"Starting today, we're making Revue's Pro features free for all accounts and lowering the paid newsletter fee to 5 per cent, a competitive rate that lets writers keep more of the revenue generated from subscriptions," Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour said in a statement.

"Revue will give writers a way to monetise their audience -- whether it's through the one they built at a publication, their website, on Twitter, or elsewhere".

Revue by Twitter

Twitter's acquisition of Revue places it in direct competition with Substack, a rival email newsletter service.

What this acquisition means?

Revue makes it easy for writers and publishers to send editorial newsletters — and get paid. Find your audience, create deeper connections, grow without limits, and never give up control.We think we have the fairest deal out there, some changes you'll see include:

  • Starting a newsletter on Revue is now free
  • On paid newsletters, we charge just 5%

With Revue, you are in full control: You own your list and your content. You can send from your own domain. And of course we have an API. Plus: We are making a version of Revue for large creators and publications with even more control, like custom designs and promotion tools.

Revue was originally founded in 2015 in the Netherlands.

Twitter said that for those looking to generate revenue, "we're creating a durable incentive model through paid newsletters".

Twitter logo
Courtesy: Reuters

Twitter will continue to invest in Revue as a standalone service, and its team will remain focused on improving the ways writers create their newsletters, build their audience and get paid for their work.

"We're also expanding their team and hiring for key roles across engineering, design, research and data science," Beykpour said.

(Additional agency inputs)