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X API pricing 2026: every pay-per-use price in one table
X API pricing is pay-per-use: you buy credits and every call is billed, with no subscription tiers. Creating a post costs $0.015, a post containing a URL costs $0.20, and reading posts costs $0.005 per post returned. Reads of your own data on qualifying endpoints cost $0.001 per resource.
Every price below is copied from the official X API pricing page and each row links to its section there. X notes that prices are subject to change and that current rates are always shown in the Developer Console, so treat the console as final if it ever disagrees with this page.
X API price table (searchable)
Writes and actions bill per request. Reads bill per resource returned, so a call that returns 100 posts is 100 charges, not one. Webhook events from the X Activity API bill per event delivered. Type to filter, or pick a type.
| Endpoint or action | Type | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post: Create | Write | $0.015 per request | docs.x.com |
| Post: Create (with URL) | Write | $0.200 per request | docs.x.com |
| Post: Create (summoned) | Write | $0.010 per request | docs.x.com |
| DM Interaction: Create | Write | $0.015 per request | docs.x.com |
| User Interaction: Create | Write | $0.015 per request | docs.x.com |
| Interaction: Delete | Write | $0.010 per request | docs.x.com |
| Content: Manage | Write | $0.005 per request | docs.x.com |
| List: Create | Write | $0.010 per request | docs.x.com |
| List: Manage | Write | $0.005 per request | docs.x.com |
| Bookmark | Write | $0.005 per request | docs.x.com |
| Media Metadata | Write | $0.005 per request | docs.x.com |
| Privacy: Update | Write | $0.010 per request | docs.x.com |
| Mute: Delete | Write | $0.005 per request | docs.x.com |
| Counts: Recent | Write | $0.005 per request | docs.x.com |
| Counts: All | Write | $0.010 per request | docs.x.com |
| Trends | Write | $0.010 per request | docs.x.com |
| Posts: Read | Read | $0.005 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| User: Read | Read | $0.010 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| DM Event: Read | Read | $0.010 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Following/Followers: Read | Read | $0.010 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| List: Read | Read | $0.005 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Space: Read | Read | $0.005 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Community: Read | Read | $0.005 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Note: Read | Read | $0.005 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Like: Read | Read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Mute: Read | Read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Block: Read | Read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| Profile Update: Read | Read | $0.005 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/tweets (your own posts) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/mentions (your mentions) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/liked_tweets (posts you liked) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/bookmarks (your bookmarks) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/followers (your followers) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/following (accounts you follow) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/blocking (accounts you blocked) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/muting (accounts you muted) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/owned_lists (lists you own) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/followed_lists (lists you follow) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/list_memberships (lists you belong to) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| GET /2/users/{id}/pinned_lists (your pinned lists) | Owned read | $0.001 per resource returned | docs.x.com |
| post.create | Webhook event | $0.005 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| post.delete | Webhook event | Not billed | docs.x.com |
| follow.follow | Webhook event | $0.010 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| follow.unfollow | Webhook event | $0.010 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| mute.mute | Webhook event | $0.001 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| mute.unmute | Webhook event | $0.001 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| block.block | Webhook event | $0.001 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| block.unblock | Webhook event | $0.001 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| profile.update.* | Webhook event | $0.005 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| chat.received | Webhook event | $0.010 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| chat.sent | Webhook event | Not billed | docs.x.com |
| chat.conversation_join | Webhook event | Not billed | docs.x.com |
| dm.received | Webhook event | $0.010 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| dm.sent | Webhook event | Not billed | docs.x.com |
| dm.read | Webhook event | Not billed | docs.x.com |
| dm.indicate_typing | Webhook event | Not billed | docs.x.com |
| news.new | Webhook event | $0.005 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| spaces.start | Webhook event | $0.005 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
| spaces.end | Webhook event | $0.005 per event delivered | docs.x.com |
Showing 59 of 59 prices.
The rules that change the bill
- A URL multiplies the cost of a post by more than 13. Post: Create is $0.015. Post: Create (with URL) is $0.20. X set these rates in its April 2026 pricing update, effective April 20. Background in the X API link post fee.
- Owned reads cost a fifth of Posts: Read. Twelve endpoints such as
GET /2/users/{id}/tweetsand/mentionscost $0.001 per resource when the id is the authenticated user and that user owns the developer app. - Same resource, same UTC day, one charge. Resources are deduplicated within a 24-hour UTC window that resets at midnight UTC. X calls this a soft guarantee that can fail in edge cases such as outages.
- Post reads are capped. Pay-per-use is capped at 3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle. Above that, X points you to Enterprise.
- You can set a spending limit. A maximum spend per billing cycle blocks requests once reached. Auto-recharge tops up at most once per 5-minute window and pauses at a zero or negative balance. The detail is in does X API pay-per-use have a spend cap.
What happened to the Free, Basic and Pro tiers
The X docs now describe the X API as pay-per-usage with no subscriptions. The old tiers did not all end on the same day:
- February 6, 2026: X launched pay-per-use. Its changelog says recently active Legacy Free tier users got a one-time $10 voucher, Basic and Pro stayed available, and existing subscribers could opt in. Public Utility Apps continue to receive free scaled access.
- Basic: X announced on its developer forum that legacy Basic plans were deprecated and that subscribers would move to pay-per-use after June 1, 2026, at the end of their billing cycle. The migration is final. Default settings after the move were auto-recharge of $200 below a $10 balance and a $400 spend cap per cycle. What that means in practice is in migrating from X API Basic to pay-per-use.
- Pro: a matching forum announcement on August 14, 2026 deprecated legacy Pro plans, moving subscribers to pay-per-use after September 1, 2026, again at the end of the billing cycle. Monthly Pro accounts were charged a $5,000 initial credit, with auto-recharge of $5,000 below a $250 balance and a $10,000 spend cap by default.
- Enterprise: still exists for volume beyond the pay-per-use cap. The pricing page lists no Enterprise rates and routes you to an interest form instead.
If a guide quotes a monthly tier price for the X API, it predates these changes. For the short version, see is the X API free in 2026.
Sources: X developer changelog, Basic plans announcement, Pro plans announcement.
X API free credits
Since October 2, 2026 pay-per-use accounts can earn two one-time credits: $20 when the account saves its first eligible payment card, and a match of the first successful auto-recharge up to $50. A new account that earns both gets $70. The credits are spent before purchased credits and expire 3 months after they are granted. X says the incentives are still rolling out, so an account where they are not yet enabled gets no credit.
At the prices above, $70 covers about 4,666 plain posts or 350 posts with a link. Eligibility rules and the expiry trap are in X API free credits, sourced from the X free credits page.
Up to 20% back in xAI credits
The February 6, 2026 launch added a rebate: X API spend earns free xAI (Grok) API credits. The rate depends on cumulative spend in the billing cycle and applies to the whole amount, and the total resets to $0 each cycle. You must link your xAI team to your X developer account in the console settings to receive it.
X's own example: $1,000 of purchases in one cycle returns $200 in xAI credits. These credits pay for the xAI API, not for X API calls, so they do not lower the cost of posting or reading.
X API cost examples per month
Posting only, 30-day month, at $0.015 per plain post and $0.20 per post with a URL. Reads, media metadata and replies are extra. The OpenTweet column is the cheapest plan whose daily post and link limits cover that volume.
The gap is almost entirely links: 100 plain posts a day is $45.00, the same volume with links is $600.00. Reads add up the same way. A job that searches once an hour and gets 100 new posts back each time bills 100 x $0.005 = $0.50 per run, about $360 over a 30-day month before deduplication.
To run your own numbers, use the X API cost calculator. For a longer walk through the meter, read X API pay-per-use explained and X API cost in 2026.
The flat alternative: no per-post fee
If your use of the X API is writing posts, threads and scheduled posts, you do not need your own developer app or a credit balance. OpenTweet holds the X connection and exposes a REST API and an MCP server, billed as a flat monthly plan with no per-post fee.
- Pro, $11.99 a month: up to 20 posts a day. Plain posts, with link credits as an add-on.
- Advanced, $29 a month: up to 100 posts a day, 10 of them with links.
- Agency, $49 a month: up to 300 posts a day, 20 of them with links.
Compare every route on cost in the cheapest way to post to Twitter programmatically, or see pricing and the API reference.
When you still need the X API itself
Search, streaming, webhooks and reading other accounts' posts need your own X API access and the per-resource prices above. A flat plan covers writing to X, not reading it.7-day free trial with a few limits, or pay now for full limits.
X API pricing FAQ
How much does the X API cost in 2026?
The X API is pay-per-use. You buy credits in the X Developer Console and each call is deducted from the balance. Creating a post costs $0.015, a post containing a URL costs $0.20, and reading posts costs $0.005 per post returned. Reads of your own data on qualifying endpoints cost $0.001 per resource.
What are the X API pricing tiers now?
There are no self-serve subscription tiers. The X docs describe pay-per-usage pricing with no subscriptions. X deprecated the legacy Basic plans (subscribers moved to pay-per-use after June 1, 2026) and the legacy Pro plans (moved after September 1, 2026), each at the end of the subscriber billing cycle. Enterprise remains for volume above the pay-per-use cap of 3 million post reads per billing cycle.
How much does it cost to post a tweet with the X API?
$0.015 per post created, or $0.20 if the post contains a URL. A reply where the original author summoned your account is $0.01. At 10 posts a day that is $4.50 a month for plain posts and $60.00 if every post has a link.
Is there a free X API tier?
The pricing docs list no free tier. New pay-per-use accounts can earn free credits instead: $20 for saving a first eligible payment card and a match of the first successful auto-recharge up to $50. Those credits expire 3 months after they are granted. X says Public Utility Apps continue to receive free scaled access.
Are X API reads billed per request or per result?
Per result. Read operations are charged per resource returned, so a search that returns 100 posts costs 100 x $0.005 = $0.50. Resources are deduplicated within a 24-hour UTC day, so fetching the same post again the same day is not charged twice. X calls that deduplication a soft guarantee.
Is there an X API pricing calculator?
Yes. The OpenTweet X API cost calculator takes your monthly post volume and link share and shows the link-post bill next to a flat plan. It counts link posts only, so for a full posting bill use the worked examples on this page, which add plain posts at $0.015 each.
What is the cheapest way to post to X without paying per post?
Use a service that holds the X connection and charges a flat fee. OpenTweet posts to X through a REST API and MCP server for $11.99 a month on Pro, with no per-post fee and no X developer app. Link posts are included on Advanced ($29, 10 a day) and Agency ($49, 20 a day). On Pro they need add-on link credits.
Keep exploring
X API costs, credits, caps and the flat-fee way to post.
X API cost calculator
Enter your monthly posts and link share and see the pay-per-use bill.
X API pay-per-use explained
How the meter works per endpoint, with worked examples.
X API cost in 2026
What you pay per post at your volume, and the flat-fee alternative.
X API free credits
The $20 card credit, the $50 recharge match, and the 3-month expiry.
Is the X API free in 2026?
What closed, what replaced the free tier, and what is still free to call.
Does X API pay-per-use have a spend cap?
The per-cycle cap, auto-recharge, and what they do not protect you from.
The X API link post fee
Why a post with a URL bills at $0.20 and how to avoid it.
Cheapest way to post to Twitter programmatically
Every route to automated posting, compared on cost.
Migrating from X API Basic to pay-per-use
How auto-recharge and the spend cap behave after the Basic migration.
Post to X without a per-post meter
Flat $11.99 a month, or $29 with link posts included. One API key, a REST API and an MCP server, no X developer app and no credits to top up.
7-day free trial with a few limits, or pay now for full limits.