There are five common ways to get X (Twitter) data into your code: the official X API, three API services (twitterapi.io, SocialData and us), and scrapers on Apify. They charge in different units, so a single "price per 1,000" column is misleading unless you know what the 1,000 counts.
We run TwittrAPI, so read this with that in mind. Every competitor number below comes from the provider's own website or docs, is marked with the date we checked it and links to its source. If you find something out of date, write to support@twittrapi.com and we will fix it.
Overview (as of October 2026)
TwittrAPI
$0.065 to $0.09 per 1,000 calls
Billing unit
Per API call
Free to start
$0.10 test credit, 14 days
Rate limit
30 requests/s, up to 3,000 on request
twitterapi.io
$0.15 per 1,000 tweetsas of Oct 2026
Billing unit
Per item returned (credits), minimum per call
Free to start
$1 credit for new accounts, no card requiredas of Oct 2026
Rate limit
20 requests/s after payingas of Oct 2026, up to 500 requests/s (Business plan)as of Oct 2026
SocialData
$0.20 per 1,000 tweets or profilesas of Oct 2026
Billing unit
Per item returned
Free to start
no free planas of Oct 2026; up to 3 requests per minute without chargeas of Oct 2026
Rate limit
120 requests per minute per useras of Oct 2026, more on request
Official X API
$5 per 1,000 postsas of Oct 2026, $10 per 1,000 usersas of Oct 2026
Billing unit
Per resource returned
Free to start
$20 credit after saving a first eligible cardas of Oct 2026
Rate limit
Per endpoint per 15 minutes
Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
$0.40 per 1,000 tweetsas of Oct 2026
Billing unit
Per item returned
Free to start
$5 of usage per monthas of Oct 2026
Rate limit
1 concurrent run with up to 5 queriesas of Oct 2026
See the full comparison, row by row
| TwittrAPI | twitterapi.io | SocialData | Official X API | Apify (Tweet Scraper V2) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per API call | Per item returned (credits), minimum per call | Per item returned | Per resource returned | Per item returned |
| Published price | $0.065 to $0.09 per 1,000 calls | $0.15 per 1,000 tweetsas of Oct 2026 | $0.20 per 1,000 tweets or profilesas of Oct 2026 | $5 per 1,000 postsas of Oct 2026, $10 per 1,000 usersas of Oct 2026 | $0.40 per 1,000 tweetsas of Oct 2026 |
| Minimum charge | One call | $0.00015 per callas of Oct 2026 | None stated | None stated | at least 50 tweets per queryas of Oct 2026 |
| Free to start | $0.10 test credit, 14 days | $1 credit for new accounts, no card requiredas of Oct 2026 | no free planas of Oct 2026; up to 3 requests per minute without chargeas of Oct 2026 | $20 credit after saving a first eligible cardas of Oct 2026 | $5 of usage per monthas of Oct 2026 |
| Payment | Crypto (USDT or USDC on Polygon, USDT on Tron, or Litecoin); card top-ups | Card, crypto | Not stated on the site | Card (prepaid credits) | Apify subscription |
| Rate limit | 30 requests/s, up to 3,000 on request | 20 requests/s after payingas of Oct 2026, up to 500 requests/s (Business plan)as of Oct 2026 | 120 requests per minute per useras of Oct 2026, more on request | Per endpoint per 15 minutes | 1 concurrent run with up to 5 queriesas of Oct 2026 |
| Auth | X-API-KEY header | X-API-Key header | Authorization: Bearer | Bearer token or OAuth | Apify API token |
| Response format | X's own JSON, passed through | Flat camelCase objects | Flat snake_case objects (v1.1-like fields) | v2 data / includes / meta | Flat camelCase dataset items |
| Posting | Optional, with your own X session cookie and proxy | Yes, with login cookies and a proxy | No | Yes (official) | No |
| Trends | Yes | Yes | No endpoint listed | Yes | Not in this actor |
| Spaces | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Billing unit
- TwittrAPI
- Per API call
- twitterapi.io
- Per item returned (credits), minimum per call
- SocialData
- Per item returned
- Official X API
- Per resource returned
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- Per item returned
Published price
- TwittrAPI
- $0.065 to $0.09 per 1,000 calls
- twitterapi.io
- $0.15 per 1,000 tweetsas of Oct 2026
- SocialData
- $0.20 per 1,000 tweets or profilesas of Oct 2026
- Official X API
- $5 per 1,000 postsas of Oct 2026, $10 per 1,000 usersas of Oct 2026
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- $0.40 per 1,000 tweetsas of Oct 2026
Minimum charge
- TwittrAPI
- One call
- twitterapi.io
- $0.00015 per callas of Oct 2026
- SocialData
- None stated
- Official X API
- None stated
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- at least 50 tweets per queryas of Oct 2026
Free to start
- TwittrAPI
- $0.10 test credit, 14 days
- twitterapi.io
- $1 credit for new accounts, no card requiredas of Oct 2026
- SocialData
- no free planas of Oct 2026; up to 3 requests per minute without chargeas of Oct 2026
- Official X API
- $20 credit after saving a first eligible cardas of Oct 2026
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- $5 of usage per monthas of Oct 2026
Payment
- TwittrAPI
- Crypto (USDT or USDC on Polygon, USDT on Tron, or Litecoin); card top-ups
- twitterapi.io
- Card, crypto
- SocialData
- Not stated on the site
- Official X API
- Card (prepaid credits)
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- Apify subscription
Rate limit
- TwittrAPI
- 30 requests/s, up to 3,000 on request
- twitterapi.io
- 20 requests/s after payingas of Oct 2026, up to 500 requests/s (Business plan)as of Oct 2026
- SocialData
- 120 requests per minute per useras of Oct 2026, more on request
- Official X API
- Per endpoint per 15 minutes
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- 1 concurrent run with up to 5 queriesas of Oct 2026
Auth
- TwittrAPI
X-API-KEYheader- twitterapi.io
X-API-Keyheader- SocialData
Authorization: Bearer- Official X API
- Bearer token or OAuth
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- Apify API token
Response format
- TwittrAPI
- X's own JSON, passed through
- twitterapi.io
- Flat camelCase objects
- SocialData
- Flat snake_case objects (v1.1-like fields)
- Official X API
- v2
data/includes/meta - Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- Flat camelCase dataset items
Posting
- TwittrAPI
- Optional, with your own X session cookie and proxy
- twitterapi.io
- Yes, with login cookies and a proxy
- SocialData
- No
- Official X API
- Yes (official)
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- No
Trends
- TwittrAPI
- Yes
- twitterapi.io
- Yes
- SocialData
- No endpoint listed
- Official X API
- Yes
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- Not in this actor
Spaces
- TwittrAPI
- No
- twitterapi.io
- Yes
- SocialData
- Yes
- Official X API
- Yes
- Apify (Tweet Scraper V2)
- No
Prices exclude taxes and promotions. Our payment options and fees are on the pricing page.
Per call vs per item
Per-call and per-item prices only line up when one call returns one object, such as one tweet by ID or one profile.
For pages of results (search, timelines, followers) a per-call price covers the whole page. On TwittrAPI the count parameter defaults to 20. X decides how many items actually come back, and it can be a few more or fewer. If a page holds 20 tweets, 1,000 tweets take 50 calls, which is $0.00325 to $0.0045 on our tiers. That is an assumption, not a promise, so measure it on your own queries.
The fair test is simple: run the same queries on each service, then divide what you paid by the number of items you got.
Where others are the better choice
- Official X API: the only option run by X. It supports OAuth on behalf of users, posting through the supported path, full-archive search and a documented, versioned schema. If you need any of that, or a contract with X, use it.
- twitterapi.io: flat, readable JSON, Spaces, webhook and websocket filter rules on search queries, follower ID lists of up to 5,000 follower IDs per callas of Oct 2026, more free credit to start ($1 credit for new accounts, no card requiredas of Oct 2026 against our $0.10), and higher per-key limits on its larger plans (500 requests/s (Business plan)as of Oct 2026) than our standard 30 requests per second.
- SocialData: flat JSON close to the old v1.1 objects, only successful requests are charged and per-item endpoints cost nothing for empty pages, Spaces, threads, monitoring and webhooks, and a refund within 14 days if the deposit is unusedas of Oct 2026.
- Apify: no-code runs, scheduling and exports to CSV or spreadsheets, on a platform that also scrapes many other sites.
Detailed comparisons
- TwittrAPI vs twitterapi.io
- TwittrAPI vs SocialData
- TwittrAPI vs the official X API
- TwittrAPI vs Apify Twitter scrapers
Migration guides
TwittrAPI is a third-party service and is not affiliated with X Corp. Reading data needs no X account; optional account actions use your own X session cookie and proxy. Check whether an unofficial API fits your compliance requirements before you build on it.
Frequently asked questions
Which Twitter API is the cheapest?
It depends on the unit. twitterapi.io, SocialData, the official X API and Apify's tweet scrapers charge per item returned. TwittrAPI charges per call. For lookups where one call returns one object, TwittrAPI has the lowest published price in this table. For timelines, search and follower lists, run your own queries on each service and divide what you paid by what you got back.
Which option can post tweets?
The official X API is the way X supports for posting and acting on behalf of users. twitterapi.io and TwittrAPI also have write endpoints, but both need the session cookie of your own X account and a proxy, which is a different setup with different risks.
Do I need an X developer account?
Only for the official X API. twitterapi.io, SocialData, Apify and TwittrAPI issue their own keys or tokens.
How current are these numbers?
Every competitor number on this page was checked on the provider's own pages on 10 October 2026 (twitterapi.io's prices, limits and free credit again on 12 October 2026) and links to its source. Prices change. Follow the source links before you decide.