X API pricing in 2026: what the Twitter API costs now

How much does it cost to read data from the X API?

X charges reads per resource returned, not per request. A search that returns 100 posts bills 100 post reads. Figures come from X’s pricing docs and the developer.x.com pricing page. X says rates can change and the Developer Console always shows current prices. Prices checked November 10, 2026.

Owned Reads apply when your own app reads its own user’s data, such as your posts, mentions, followers, likes, bookmarks or lists. They cost $0.001 per resource, 1,000 for $1.

How much does it cost to post and act through the X API?

Writes and actions are charged per request. A post with a link costs over 13 times a plain post. Webhook events from the X Activity API bill per event delivered, for example $0.005 per post.create and $0.010 per follow or DM received.

What happened to the Basic and Pro X API plans?

The developer.x.com page now compares an "old model" of fixed monthly fees ($200 or $5,000), tier-dependent rate limits and monthly caps with a new pay-per-use model. X’s docs say the API uses pay-per-usage pricing with no subscriptions, contracts or minimum spend. You buy credits in the Developer Console and each request draws them down.

The two pages differ on volume. The developer.x.com page says the new model has no monthly caps. The pricing docs say pay-per-use plans are capped at 3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle, with an Enterprise plan for more. Plan for the 3 million cap until X reconciles them.

• Deduplication: X charges once per resource per 24-hour UTC day. X calls this a soft guarantee that can fail in edge cases such as outages.
• Expansions: from November 22, 2026, every user, post, media item, poll or place that an expansion adds to a response bills at its normal rate, so expansions=author_id adds a $0.010 user read to each new author.
• Balance: requests stop when credits run out. A balance can go slightly negative, and requests stay blocked until you cover it.
• Spending limit: you can set a maximum spend per billing cycle. Requests stop when you reach it.
• Auto-recharge: tops up at most once every 5 minutes and pauses at a zero or negative balance.

Are there free X API credits?

X lists no free tier, but new accounts can earn up to $70. X grants $20 once an account with its first eligible card completes its first credit purchase. Since October 13, 2026, adding a card alone does not qualify. X also matches the first successful auto-recharge up to $50. These free credits are spent first and expire 3 months after they are granted. X says the incentives are still rolling out.

X API spend also earns free xAI API credits, for Grok models, once you link your xAI team. The rate applies to your whole cumulative spend in the billing cycle.

• Grok API pricing

What does the X API cost for common workloads?

Monthly cost follows the resources you read and the actions you take. These examples use pay-per-use list prices and assume no repeat reads within a day.

Can an agent read X data through Locus Pro?

Yes. Locus Pro offers 15 reviewed X read endpoints, from post search and lookups to user timelines, followers, mentions, counts and trends, from one prepaid credit balance with no X developer account. Reads bill per resource returned, as they do on X, and objects that expansions add are billed too. Catalog checked November 11, 2026.

Locus holds the most a call can return and refunds the rest when the response arrives. Recent search covers the last 7 days. Locus offers reads only, so posting needs your own X account.

• Read X data pay per request
• Browse X endpoints

Which X API option fits your workload?

Use your own X developer account for posting, DMs, webhooks and reads of your own account, which cost $0.001 each as Owned Reads. Steady or repeated reads can also cost less per call with your own X account and API key.

Locus Pro fits agents that make occasional X reads alongside other paid tools, without an X developer account. Beyond 3 million post reads a month, talk to X about Enterprise.

• Bots that post: your own X developer account, and avoid links where you can, since a post with a URL costs $0.20.
• Dashboards of your own data: Owned Reads at $0.001 on your own X account.
• Occasional agent reads without an X developer account: Locus Pro, priced per resource returned.
• Summaries of what X is saying: Grok’s X Search tool, at $5 per 1,000 posts plus tokens.