Bluesky Pricing: Is Bluesky Really Free? Full Cost Breakdown
TLDR
Bluesky is completely free. Custom domain handles (e.g., @you.com instead of @you.bsky.social) cost whatever your domain registration costs — typically $10-15/year. Truliv is $9/month with a 30-day free trial and human verification included.
Bluesky
$0 (custom domain handles cost your domain registration fee)per month
Truliv
$9–$19/mo30-day free trial / $9/mo
Bluesky Pricing Tiers
| Bluesky Free | Truliv Free Trial | Truliv ($9/mo) | Truliv Pro ($19/mo) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $0 for 30 days | $9/month | $19/month |
| Human verification | None | Liveness check (60 sec) | Liveness check (60 sec) | Liveness check (60 sec) |
| Bot protection | No technical barrier | Structural — bots excluded | Structural — bots excluded | Structural — bots excluded |
| Custom identity | Domain handle (~$10-15/yr for domain) | Verified human identity | Verified human identity | Verified human identity |
| Data portability | Yes — AT Protocol | No | No | No |
| Network size | Millions of users | Live — growing | Live — growing | Live — growing |
| Open protocol | Yes — AT Protocol | No | No | No |
What you don't get with Bluesky
- ⚠ Custom domain handle requires purchasing and renewing a domain ($10-15/year typical)
- ⚠ No human verification — you're paying nothing, but you also can't know which accounts are real
- ⚠ Data hosted on Bluesky Social PBC's servers (independent hosting is technically possible but uncommon)
- ⚠ AT Protocol's decentralization promise relies on ecosystem growth that hasn't fully materialized
Bluesky Costs Nothing
The answer to “how much does Bluesky cost” is simply: nothing. Bluesky is free, has always been free, and has no announced plans to change that.
The only optional cost is a custom domain handle. If you want your Bluesky handle to be @yourname.com rather than @yourname.bsky.social, you need to own that domain — which means paying a domain registrar the standard registration fee (typically $10-15/year for a .com). Bluesky itself charges nothing for the handle configuration.
What Free Gets You on Bluesky
The Bluesky free tier is the complete product. You get posting, replies, reposts, follows, custom feeds, starter packs, and access to third-party apps built on the AT Protocol.
Custom feeds are worth highlighting because they’re somewhat unique to Bluesky. The AT Protocol allows developers to build custom feed algorithms — chronological, subject-specific, interest-based — that users can subscribe to independently. This means you can use Bluesky without the default algorithmic feed if you choose, which is more control than most social platforms offer.
The Invisible Cost: Verification
Free is not the same as costless. One thing Bluesky doesn’t charge for — because it doesn’t offer it — is human verification.
You can confirm domain ownership via a custom handle. But there is no check that any account belongs to a real human. The custom domain handle confirms “the person who controls this domain also controls this Bluesky account” — which is useful for organizations and public figures. It says nothing about whether the account is operated by a human or an automated system.
Whether this matters to you depends on why you’re choosing a social platform. If the bot problem is your primary concern, Bluesky’s free tier leaves that problem unsolved regardless of price.
Bluesky vs Truliv on Price
The direct comparison: Bluesky is $0, Truliv is $9/month after a 30-day free trial.
For $0, you get a working social network with millions of users, open protocol data portability, and no human verification.
For $9/month, Truliv offers human verification (every account is a proven human), no biometric data retention, and a growing community of verified humans.
The rational choice today is Bluesky if you want the largest possible network. Truliv is the choice if the bot problem is what made social media feel worthless — start your 30-day free trial to see if the verified-human difference is real to you.
Both can be true simultaneously — you can use Bluesky and run a Truliv trial at the same time.
Source: Standard domain registrar pricing (Namecheap, Google Domains, Cloudflare Registrar)
Q&A
How much does Bluesky cost?
Bluesky is free. You can create an account, post, follow people, and use all features without paying anything. If you want a custom domain handle (e.g., @yourname.com instead of @yourname.bsky.social), you need to own that domain, which costs the standard domain registration fee — typically $10-15/year for a .com. Bluesky itself charges nothing for the handle setup.
Q&A
Is Bluesky free?
Yes. Bluesky is completely free with no subscription, no premium tier, and no ads currently. All features are available to all users at no cost.
Q&A
Will Bluesky ever charge for features?
Bluesky Social PBC has not announced paid tiers or subscription features as of the time of writing. The company is venture-backed and has not publicly disclosed a specific monetization timeline. The AT Protocol's open source nature means the underlying technology would remain free even if Bluesky's hosting introduced fees, but building an alternative client on the protocol takes significant effort.
Q&A
What does Bluesky's AT Protocol mean for pricing?
The AT Protocol means Bluesky could theoretically introduce a paid tier without trapping your data — you could move your identity and followers to another AT Protocol service. In practice, few alternative AT Protocol services exist today, so this portability is more theoretical than immediately useful.
Want a platform that actually verifies humans?
Try Truliv free — no credit card required.
| Bluesky | Truliv | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $0 (custom domain handles cost your domain registration fee) | $9–$19/mo |
| Setup fee | Varies | $0 |
| Contract | None | None |