TwittrAPI vs Official X API: Pricing, Limits, Endpoints (2026)

The official X API is run by X. TwittrAPI is a third-party service that reads X data and is not affiliated with X Corp. They solve overlapping but different problems, and for some jobs the official API is the only sensible choice.

Official API details below come from docs.x.com, checked on 10 October 2026; each number links to its source.

At a glance (as of October 2026)

TwittrAPIOfficial X API (pay-per-use)

OperatorThird party, not affiliated with X Corp.X

Billing unitPer API callPer resource returned or request made

Reading posts$0.065 to $0.09 per 1,000 calls$0.005 per post read^{as of Oct 2026}, $5 per 1,000 posts^{as of Oct 2026}

Reading users / followersSame per-call price$0.010 per user read^{as of Oct 2026}, $10 per 1,000 users^{as of Oct 2026}

PostingOptional account actions with your own X session cookie and a proxy$0.015 per post created^{as of Oct 2026}, $0.200 per post with a URL^{as of Oct 2026}

Volume capNone published3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle^{as of Oct 2026}, then Enterprise

Repeat readsEvery call billedthe same resource is billed once per 24-hour UTC day^{as of Oct 2026}

Free to start$0.10 test credit, 14 days$20 credit after saving a first eligible card^{as of Oct 2026}, plus a match of the first auto-recharge up to $50^{as of Oct 2026}

PaymentCrypto (USDT or USDC on Polygon, USDT on Tron, or Litecoin); card top-upsCard, prepaid credits in the Developer Console

OnboardingSign up, get a keyDeveloper Console account, Developer Agreement, use-case description, app and credentials

AuthX-API-KEY headerBearer token (app-only), OAuth 1.0a or OAuth 2.0

Rate limits30 requests/s per key after the first top-up; higher tiers bookablePer endpoint per 15 minutes, e.g. 450 recent searches per 15 minutes per app^{as of Oct 2026}

Search historyWhat X's search tab returnsRecent search covers the last 7 days^{as of Oct 2026}; full archive on /2/tweets/search/all

ResponseX's own web JSON, not documented by XDocumented v2 schema: data, includes, meta

The X docs we checked do not mention the older Basic and Pro subscriptions, so they are not in this table.

Price for reading data

For reading, the difference is large. The official API charges $5 per 1,000 posts^{as of Oct 2026}. On TwittrAPI one lookup is one call, so 1,000 single-post lookups cost $0.065 to $0.09. A timeline or search page counts as one call, whatever it holds. With count at its default of 20, and assuming X returns 20 posts per page, 1,000 posts take 50 calls, $0.00325 to $0.0045. X decides the actual page size, so measure.

The official API has one pricing advantage: the same resource is billed once per 24-hour UTC day^{as of Oct 2026}, so reading the same post again within the same UTC day is not billed again. If your workload re-reads the same items many times a day, factor that in.

What only the official API does

Acting on behalf of other users with OAuth 2.0 or OAuth 1.0a and their consent.
Posting through the path X supports, with predictable billing per post.
Full-archive search and post counts.
A documented, versioned schema with field selection (post.fields, user.fields, expansions).
A direct relationship with X: its Developer Agreement, its support and Enterprise contracts.

If any of these is a requirement, use the official API. That includes most cases where a compliance team has to sign off on the data source.

Where TwittrAPI fits

Reading data at volume for a fraction of the per-post price.
No developer application: sign up, get a key, call the API.
Things the v2 API does not offer as one endpoint: a tweet with its reply thread in one call (GET /tweet/{tweetId}), X job listings (GET /jobs/search/{searchTerm}), account status for up to 500 handles in one call (GET /user/usernames/status).
Simple rate limits: one per-second limit for all endpoints instead of separate 15-minute windows.

Volume pricing, rate limits and invoices for companies are summarized on TwittrAPI for teams.

The trade-off: our responses are X's internal web JSON, which X does not document and changes from time to time. You need a tolerant parser. Our SDKs and the response format docs help with that, but it is more work than the v2 schema.

Endpoints side by side

TaskTwittrAPIOfficial X API v2

Post by IDGET /simpletweet/{tweetId}GET /2/tweets/{id}

Post with repliesGET /tweet/{tweetId}search with conversation_id:

User by handleGET /user/by/username/{username}GET /2/users/by/username/{username}

User by IDGET /user/{userId}GET /2/users/{id}

User postsGET /user/{userId}/tweetsGET /2/users/{id}/tweets

SearchGET /searchGET /2/tweets/search/recent, /search/all

FollowersGET /user/{userId}/followersGET /2/users/{id}/followers

FollowingGET /user/{userId}/followingsGET /2/users/{id}/following

QuotesGET /tweet/{tweetId}/quotesGET /2/tweets/{id}/quote_tweets

RepostsGET /tweet/{tweetId}/retweetsGET /2/tweets/{id}/retweeted_by

List postsGET /lists/tweetsGET /2/lists/{id}/tweets

List membersGET /lists/membersGET /2/lists/{id}/members

TrendsGET /trends/{locationId}GET /2/trends/by/woeid/{woeid}

Communitiesdetails, tweets, members, moderators, searchGET /2/communities/{id}, /2/communities/search

Spacesnot availableGET /2/spaces/{id}, /2/spaces/search

The full mapping with parameters is in the migration guide. Our endpoint reference is in the docs.

How to decide

Use the official API when you post for users, need full-archive search, or need X's agreement behind your data. Use TwittrAPI when you read data and price per item is the problem. Many teams do both: the official API for posting, a read API for monitoring and research. You can try ours with the $0.10 credit from /start, and our X API pricing article goes deeper into the official prices.

Reading data on TwittrAPI needs no X account; optional account actions use your own X session cookie and proxy.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the official X API cost in 2026?

The X docs describe pay-per-use with prepaid credits: $0.005 per post read^{as of Oct 2026}, $0.010 per user read^{as of Oct 2026} and $0.015 per post created^{as of Oct 2026}. Pay-per-use is capped at 3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle^{as of Oct 2026}; above that X points to Enterprise.

Is TwittrAPI a replacement for the official X API?

For reading data, often yes. For acting on behalf of other users with OAuth, posting through the supported path, full-archive search or anything that needs an agreement with X, no. Use the official API for those.

Do I need a developer account for TwittrAPI?

No. You sign up on our site and get a key. The official API needs an account in the X Developer Console, acceptance of the Developer Agreement and a use-case description.

Does the official API bill the same post twice?

X says the same resource is billed once per 24-hour UTC day^{as of Oct 2026}, so reading the same post twice that day is billed once. TwittrAPI bills every call.

TwittrAPI vs the official X API: pricing, limits, endpoints (2026)