The only way to read and post on X that X's own terms allow, with full write access and an official SDK, but at $5 per 1,000 post reads it costs roughly 12 to 30 times what unofficial data APIs charge, and there is no free tier.
What it is
The X API (formerly the Twitter API) is X Corp's own developer platform. Since February 6, 2026 it is sold pay-per-use: you buy credits in the Developer Console at console.x.com and each request deducts its price, with no subscription or minimum spend. Reads are charged per resource returned: $0.005 per post ($5 per 1,000), $0.010 per user profile or follower, $0.001 for likes, and $0.001 for owned reads of your own account's data. Writes are charged per request: $0.015 to create a post, $0.200 for a post that contains a link and $0.010 for a summoned reply. The same post read twice in one UTC day is billed once. Pay-per-use accounts are capped at 3 million post reads per billing cycle; above that X sends you to an Enterprise plan with unpublished pricing. The old Basic ($200 a month) and Pro ($5,000 a month) plans are gone: X migrated Basic subscribers to pay-per-use after June 1, 2026 and Pro subscribers after September 1, 2026. New paying accounts can earn $20 in free credit plus a match of the first auto-recharge up to $50, and spend can earn up to 20% back in xAI API credits. Checked on docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing November 14, 2026.
Best for
- Apps that post, reply or send DMs on X
- Companies that need a licensed, terms-compliant data source
- Dashboards built on a user's own X data (owned reads at $1 per 1,000)
What we like
- The only route X's developer terms permit, so no account, legal or blocking risk from X
- Full write access: posts, replies, DMs, likes, lists and bookmarks
- No subscription or minimum: pay only for what you use, with spending limits and auto-recharge
- Official Python and TypeScript SDKs, a playground and an MCP server
What to watch
- Expensive for reading at volume: $5 per 1,000 posts and $10 per 1,000 profiles
- Capped at 3 million post reads a month before an Enterprise contract with no public price
- Posts with a link cost $0.20 each, 13 times a plain post
- No free tier for new developers; free access only for apps X classifies as Public Utility Apps
Where X API ranks
Alternatives and head-to-heads
TwitterAPI.io
Apify
Bright Data
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