Checked 28 September 2026

X API pricing in 2026 What every call costs, with a calculator

The X (Twitter) API has no free tier and no monthly plans for new developers. You buy credits and pay per request:

$0.015

per post

$0.20

per post with a link

$0.005

per post read

$0.001

per owned read

Source: X API pricing on docs.x.com. The basic and pro plans ($200 and $5,000 a month) no longer exist.

The full X API rate card

Writes are billed per request, reads per resource returned. The same resource is billed once per UTC day.

Writes

Action	Price	Note
Create a post	$0.015	Per request
Create a post that contains a URL	$0.200	Per request. Since 20 April 2026
Create a summoned reply	$0.010	A reply when someone mentions your account
Send a DM	$0.015	DM Interaction: Create
Delete (post, like, follow and similar)	$0.010	Interaction: Delete
Manage content (for example hide a reply)	$0.005	Content: Manage
Create a list	$0.010	List: Create
Manage a list	$0.005	List: Manage
Bookmark	$0.005
Media metadata	$0.005	Alt text and similar
Post counts (recent / full archive)	$0.005 / $0.010
Trends	$0.010

Reads

Resource	Price	Note
Posts	$0.005	Per post returned
Users	$0.010	Per user returned
Followers and following	$0.010	Per user returned
DM events	$0.010	Per event returned
Lists, Spaces, Communities, Community Notes	$0.005	Per resource returned
Likes, mutes, blocks	$0.001	Per resource returned
Owned reads	$0.001	Your app reading your own account: your posts, mentions, followers, bookmarks

Media uploads have no line of their own on the rate card; only media metadata ($0.005) is listed. X removed likes, follows and quote posts from self-serve access in April 2026, so we do not quote a price for them. Source: docs.x.com, read 28 September 2026.

X API cost calculator

Estimate a month (30 days) of posting and reading at the current rates.

Posts per day Share of posts with a link (%) Posts read per day Users read per day

Estimated monthly cost $32.25

Posts $2.25 + posts with a link $30.00 + reads $0.00

Reads assume every resource is new each day; repeated reads of the same resource within a UTC day are billed once. Pay-per-use accounts are capped at 3 million post reads a month.

What the X API costs per month: real examples

30 days, current prices. The link surcharge is what changes the bill.

Use	Calculation	Per month
One post a day, no links	30 × $0.015	$0.45
10 posts a day, half with a link	150 × $0.015 + 150 × $0.20	$32.25
30 posts a day, no links	900 × $0.015	$13.50
30 posts a day, all with a link	900 × $0.20	$180.00
Agency: 20 accounts × 3 link posts a day	1,800 × $0.20	$360.00
Monitoring: read 10,000 posts and 10,000 users	10,000 × $0.005 + 10,000 × $0.010	$150.00

Why a post with a link costs $0.20

On 20 April 2026 X raised the price of any post that contains a URL from $0.01 to $0.20, thirteen times the price of a plain post. It applies to the post as a whole: one link or three, the post costs $0.20.

The only cheaper case on the rate card is a summoned reply, a reply to someone who mentioned your account, at $0.010. A reply you post to your own post is a normal post, so moving the link into a self-reply does not avoid the charge.

If most of what you post links to a blog, a product or a video, budget for the $0.20 rate, or post the link less often.

What happened to the Basic and Pro plans

From monthly tiers to pay-per-use, in five dates.

When	What changed
2023	Free access for reading ends. Paid tiers appear: Basic at $100 a month (later $200) and Pro at $5,000 a month.
6 Feb 2026	Pay-per-use launches: buy credits, pay per request. Free scaled access remains only for approved public utility apps.
20 Apr 2026	A post with a URL goes from $0.01 to $0.20. A plain post goes from $0.01 to $0.015. Owned reads drop to $0.001.
Jun 2026	Legacy Basic plans move to pay-per-use at the end of their billing cycle.
Sep 2026	Legacy Pro plans move to pay-per-use. The fixed monthly tiers are gone.

Migrated accounts keep any prorated value of an annual plan as credits. Enterprise still exists for volumes above the 3 million monthly post-read cap, with no public price. Sources: X Developers announcement, X developer forum, April 2026 update.

Rate limits and spending controls

Rate limits apply on top of billing: paying more does not raise them.

Endpoint	Limit
Create posts (POST /2/tweets)	100 per 15 min per user, 10,000 per 24 h per app
Delete posts	50 per 15 min
Send DMs	15 per 15 min, 1,440 per 24 h
Likes	50 per 15 min, 1,000 per 24 h
Follows	50 per 15 min
Recent search	450 per 15 min per app
Media upload	500 per 15 min, 50,000 per 24 h

Set a spending limit per billing cycle. When the balance runs out, requests are blocked until you top up.
Auto-recharge tops up at most once every 5 minutes and pauses when the balance reaches zero.
X returns part of your spend as xAI API credits: 10% from $200 a cycle, 15% from $500, 20% from $1,000.
Pay-per-use accounts are capped at 3 million post reads per billing cycle.

Sources: X API rate limits, X API pricing.

Posting to X without an X developer account

If all you need is to publish, you do not have to open an X developer account, buy credits or build OAuth. Upload-Post already runs an approved X app: you connect your X account once and post through one endpoint that also covers LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and 17 more platforms.

Plain posts are included in every plan, from the Free plan (10 uploads a month, no card) to paid plans with unlimited uploads from $24 a month.
Links in X posts need the X links add-on: $19 a month for 50 posts with a link. Without it, URLs are removed from the X version of the post and the rest is published as normal.
Images, video and scheduling go through the same call as every other platform.

Upload-Post saves you the developer account, the credit balance and the integration work, and plain posts cost nothing extra on any plan. If you need to read X data (search, timelines, followers), use the X API directly.

Start free, no card X posting API Other API pricing

X API pricing: frequently asked questions

Last checked 28 September 2026.

How much does the X API cost in 2026?

The X API is pay-per-use: you buy credits and each request is deducted from them. Creating a post costs $0.015, a post that contains a URL costs $0.20, reading a post costs $0.005 and reading a user costs $0.010. There is no monthly subscription for new developers. Prices checked on docs.x.com on 28 September 2026.

Is the Twitter API free?

No. There is no free tier for new developers in 2026. Free scaled access exists only for apps X approves as public utility apps. Everyone else buys credits up front.

How much does it cost to post a tweet with the API?

$0.015 per post, or $0.20 if the post contains a URL. Thirty posts a day without links is about $13.50 a month; the same thirty posts with a link each is about $180 a month.

Why does a post with a link cost $0.20?

X raised the price of posts that contain a URL from $0.01 to $0.20 on 20 April 2026, while a plain post went to $0.015. The only exception on the rate card is a summoned reply (a reply to someone who mentioned your account), which stays at $0.010.

Do the Basic ($200) and Pro ($5,000) plans still exist?

No. Legacy Basic plans were moved to pay-per-use from June 2026 and legacy Pro plans from September 2026, each at the end of its billing cycle. Enterprise still exists for high volumes, with no public price.

What is an owned read?

A read of your own account’s data through your own app, such as your posts, mentions, followers or bookmarks. X bills these at $0.001 per resource, a fifth of the normal post-read price.

Is there a cap on X API usage?

Pay-per-use plans are capped at 3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle. Above that you need an Enterprise agreement. Rate limits apply separately from billing.

How do I avoid a surprise X API bill?

Set a spending limit per billing cycle in the developer console and decide whether to turn on auto-recharge. X also charges the same resource only once per UTC day, so re-reading a post within the day does not cost twice.

What are the xAI credits on the X API?

X gives back part of your API spend as xAI API credits if you link an xAI team: 10% from $200 a cycle, 15% from $500 and 20% from $1,000.

Can I post to X without an X developer account?

Yes, through a posting API that already has an approved X app. With Upload-Post you connect your X account once and post through one endpoint, without buying X credits. Plain posts are included in every plan; links in X posts need the X links add-on ($19 a month for 50 link posts).