X API Pricing — Pay-Per-Call, Cheaper Than the Official Twitter API
TwitterAPI.io is a third-party X (Twitter) API priced per real API call, with no subscription required and no project approval. Bulk endpoints are tiered to reward larger pages — pulling 5,000 follower IDs costs about $0.0225, and tweet search via the advanced-search endpoint runs roughly $0.15 per 1,000 tweets returned.
The official X Developer Platform, by comparison, has a Basic plan at $200/month, Pro at $5,000/month, and Enterprise at $42,000+/month — and each tier requires application review. For most builders, third-party access is one-to-three orders of magnitude cheaper at equivalent volume.
How TwitterAPI.io compares to the official X Developer Platform
| Provider / tier | Floor cost | Setup | Bulk follower fetch |
|---|---|---|---|
| TwitterAPI.iothis site | Free credits on signup | 5 minutes, Google sign-in | 5,000 follower IDs ≈ $0.0225 |
| X Developer Platform — Free | $0 | Application review | Not accessible at this tier |
| X Developer Platform — Basic | $200/month | Application review | Not accessible at this tier |
| X Developer Platform — Pro | $5,000/month | Application review | Caps per month at this tier |
| X Developer Platform — Enterprise | $42,000+/month | Sales contract | Custom |
Official X Developer Platform pricing as published by X Corp; verify the current rate at developer.x.com before purchasing. TwitterAPI.io is not affiliated with X Corp.
How the pricing model works
Every endpoint is metered in credits, and credits are USD-denominated at a fixed ratio of 100,000 credits = $1. There are no minimum monthly commitments and no per-seat fees. Two practical numbers anchor the rest of the system:
Tweet search
~$0.15
per 1,000 tweets returned from /twitter/tweet/advanced_search
Bulk follower IDs
~$0.0225
per 5,000 follower IDs from /twitter/user/followers_ids at the max page size
For endpoints that aren't listed above, the live per-endpoint rate sheet is on docs.twitterapi.io. Rates are stable — when we change them, existing accounts are notified before the change takes effect.
Two ways to fund your credit balance
- Manual top-up (default). Buy any USD amount of credits whenever you want. They never expire. Best for unpredictable workloads.
- Auto-recharge subscription — $99/month. An optional monthly credit grant that handles billing in the background. The per-call rate is identical; the only difference is who initiates the top-up.
Cost calculator
Three of the most common workloads, priced for your scale. Sliders use real per-call rates.
Tweet search
Followers (with profile)
Follower IDs only
100,000 credits = $1. Live per-endpoint rates at docs.twitterapi.io.
What to watch out for when comparing
- Sticker prices on the official X Developer Platform are floors, not ceilings. Many real workloads exceed the tier's included quota and pay overage. Compare on workload-adjusted cost, not on the headline monthly fee.
- Free tiers carry rate ceilings that surprise builders. 1,500 tweets/month is fine for a single hobby script; it falls over the moment a project has even modest traffic. The most common migration pattern we see is "hit the free-tier ceiling on day two; needed paid access; needed it the same hour."
- Approval queues are not pricing, but they are a cost. If your launch deadline is real, three weeks waiting on a developer review can be more expensive than any monthly fee. Third-party access does not have this queue.
- Tiered bulk endpoints reward the maximum page size. Always request 200 per call on /followers and 5,000 on /followers_ids — the per-unit cost drops 2–3× compared to smaller pages.
FAQ
How much does the official X / Twitter API cost?+
X Developer Platform pricing as published by X Corp: Free tier ~1,500 tweets/month, Basic $200/month with limited endpoints, Pro $5,000/month, Enterprise starting around $42,000/month. Project approval is required for any paid tier and the approval window can stretch from days to weeks.
What does TwitterAPI.io cost?+
Per-call credits, USD-denominated (100,000 credits = $1). Bulk endpoints are tiered to reward larger pages: pulling followers via /twitter/user/followers costs 1 credit per follower at the maximum page size of 200, and the IDs-only endpoint /twitter/user/followers_ids costs 0.45 credits per ID at pages of 4,000–5,000 — about $0.0225 for 5,000 follower IDs. Tweet search via /twitter/tweet/advanced_search is metered the same way. Full live rates at docs.twitterapi.io.
Is there a free tier?+
Yes. Signing in with Google grants free starter credits — enough to evaluate every endpoint end-to-end without entering payment details. There is no monthly free quota that resets; the starter credits are a one-time grant intended for evaluation.
Do I have to commit to a monthly subscription?+
No. The default mode is pay-as-you-go on the credits balance you top up manually. There is an optional $99/month auto-recharge subscription if you prefer hands-off billing — it credits your account on a schedule rather than waiting for you to top up. The pay-per-call rate is identical either way.
How do I migrate from the official Twitter API?+
Two changes: swap the base URL from api.twitter.com to api.twitterapi.io, and replace the OAuth bearer token with an X-API-Key header carrying your TwitterAPI.io key. Most users complete the migration of an existing script in under thirty minutes. The advanced-search operator vocabulary is the same vocabulary that powers twitter.com's search box, so existing queries port over verbatim.
Start with free credits, scale as you go
No approval queue, no monthly commitment. Pay only for the calls you actually make.