@mekkaokereke
With the greatest respect, I don’t think cost is the issue, I think it’s revenue.
The cost per user should be made public and those who both can and want to, can donate for it. No perks.
Alternatively, we could use the free market to create many special interests, from black communities to zoology. These host people for a standard fee and a code of conduct. The low fee allows for solid moderation and an account is used as an algo. Follow for boosts. We could do this today.
These are additive to the existing free ones, not replacing. If they scale to be only $1 a month, that is an affordable option for most.
I think this will happen when we get the right nerdy community leader ready to spend the effort to do it.