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

> The official X API charges per post read on pay-per-use; TwittrAPI charges per call. What each costs, what only the official API can do, and when to use which. Checked October 2026.

HTML page: https://www.twittrapi.com/compare/official-x-api
Competitor facts checked on 2026-10-10.

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)

| | TwittrAPI | Official X API (pay-per-use) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Operator | Third party, not affiliated with X Corp. | X |
| Billing unit | Per API call | Per resource returned or request made |
| Reading posts | $0.065 to $0.09 per 1,000 calls | $0.005 per post read (as of October 2026), $5 per 1,000 posts (as of October 2026) |
| Reading users / followers | Same per-call price | $0.010 per user read (as of October 2026), $10 per 1,000 users (as of October 2026) |
| Posting | Optional account actions with your own X session cookie and a proxy | $0.015 per post created (as of October 2026), $0.200 per post with a URL (as of October 2026) |
| Volume cap | None published | 3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle (as of October 2026), then Enterprise |
| Repeat reads | Every call billed | the same resource is billed once per 24-hour UTC day (as of October 2026) |
| Free to start | $0.10 test credit, 14 days | $20 credit after saving a first eligible card (as of October 2026), plus a match of the first auto-recharge up to $50 (as of October 2026) |
| Payment | Crypto (USDT or USDC on Polygon, USDT on Tron, or Litecoin); card top-ups | Card, prepaid credits in the Developer Console |
| Onboarding | Sign up, get a key | Developer Console account, Developer Agreement, use-case description, app and credentials |
| Auth | `X-API-KEY` header | Bearer token (app-only), OAuth 1.0a or OAuth 2.0 |
| Rate limits | 30 requests/s per key after the first top-up; higher tiers bookable | Per endpoint per 15 minutes, e.g. 450 recent searches per 15 minutes per app (as of October 2026) |
| Search history | What X's search tab returns | Recent search covers the last 7 days (as of October 2026); full archive on `/2/tweets/search/all` |
| Response | X's own web JSON, not documented by X | Documented 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 October 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 October 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}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/tweet-tweetid)), X job listings ([`GET /jobs/search/{searchTerm}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/jobs-search-searchterm)), account status for up to 500 handles in one call ([`GET /user/usernames/status`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/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](https://www.twittrapi.com/enterprise).

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](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/response-format) help with that, but it is more work than the v2 schema.

## Endpoints side by side

| Task | TwittrAPI | Official X API v2 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Post by ID | [`GET /simpletweet/{tweetId}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/simpletweet-tweetid) | `GET /2/tweets/{id}` |
| Post with replies | [`GET /tweet/{tweetId}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/tweet-tweetid) | search with `conversation_id:` |
| User by handle | [`GET /user/by/username/{username}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/user-by-username-username) | `GET /2/users/by/username/{username}` |
| User by ID | [`GET /user/{userId}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/user-userid) | `GET /2/users/{id}` |
| User posts | [`GET /user/{userId}/tweets`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/user-userid-tweets) | `GET /2/users/{id}/tweets` |
| Search | [`GET /search`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/search) | `GET /2/tweets/search/recent`, `/search/all` |
| Followers | [`GET /user/{userId}/followers`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/user-userid-followers) | `GET /2/users/{id}/followers` |
| Following | [`GET /user/{userId}/followings`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/user-userid-followings) | `GET /2/users/{id}/following` |
| Quotes | [`GET /tweet/{tweetId}/quotes`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/tweet-tweetid-quotes) | `GET /2/tweets/{id}/quote_tweets` |
| Reposts | [`GET /tweet/{tweetId}/retweets`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/tweet-tweetid-retweets) | `GET /2/tweets/{id}/retweeted_by` |
| List posts | [`GET /lists/tweets`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/lists-tweets) | `GET /2/lists/{id}/tweets` |
| List members | [`GET /lists/members`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/lists-members) | `GET /2/lists/{id}/members` |
| Trends | [`GET /trends/{locationId}`](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference/trends-locationid) | `GET /2/trends/by/woeid/{woeid}` |
| Communities | details, tweets, members, moderators, search | `GET /2/communities/{id}`, `/2/communities/search` |
| Spaces | not available | `GET /2/spaces/{id}`, `/2/spaces/search` |

The full mapping with parameters is in the [migration guide](https://www.twittrapi.com/guides/migrate-from-official-x-api). Our endpoint reference is in the [docs](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/reference).

## 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](https://www.twittrapi.com/start), and our [X API pricing article](https://www.twittrapi.com/blog/x-api-pricing-2026) goes deeper into the official prices.

Reading data on TwittrAPI needs no X account; optional [account actions](https://www.twittrapi.com/docs/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 October 2026), $0.010 per user read (as of October 2026) and $0.015 per post created (as of October 2026). Pay-per-use is capped at 3 million post reads per monthly billing cycle (as of October 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 October 2026), so reading the same post twice that day is billed once. TwittrAPI bills every call.


## Sources

- [X API pricing (docs.x.com)](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing)
- [X API post cap (docs.x.com)](https://docs.x.com/x-api/fundamentals/post-cap)
- [X API rate limits (docs.x.com)](https://docs.x.com/x-api/fundamentals/rate-limits)
- [X API: search recent posts](https://docs.x.com/x-api/posts/search-recent-posts)
- [X API getting access (docs.x.com)](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/getting-access)