# X (Twitter) API pricing pay per use since February 2026.

> Since February 2026 the X API bills pay per use: $0.005 per post read and $0.01 per user read, capped at 3 million post reads a month. Your options.

Canonical: https://apiforagents.dev/guides/x-twitter-api-pricing · Updated 2026-10-21

The X API is now pay per use. Since 6 February 2026, X sells credits with no subscription: as of October 2026 a post read is $0.005 and a user read is $0.010, with a cap of 3 million post reads a month before you need Enterprise. Basic and Pro plans still exist, and the old Free tier was retired.

- Post read: $0.005
- User read: $0.010
- Monthly cap: 3M post reads
- Model: Credits, no subscription

## Official API or this one

X's side is from docs.x.com, seen 21 October 2026.

|  | X API (pay per use) | API for Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Post as an account, like, follow | Yes | No |
| Read public posts | $0.005 per post | $0.000225 per record |
| Read public profiles | $0.010 per user | $0.000225 per record |
| Volume cap | 3 million post reads a month, then Enterprise | Priced per record, with a ceiling per call (maxUsd) |
| Who can get access | X developer account with a card and credits | Anyone. An agent signs itself up in one call and starts on a $0.10 trial |
| Price model | Credits per resource read or created | Pay as you go, from $0.000225 per record |
| Setup | Developer account, app, keys, credits | One API key. No X / Twitter account or app review |

## When X's own API is the right tool

If your app posts, replies, likes or follows as a user, or works with an account's own data, use the X API: only it can act for an account, and reading your own app's data is priced lower, at $0.001 per resource.

X also charges once for the same resource requested twice within 24 hours, which helps a polling app. For reading public profiles and posts across many accounts, compare the per-record cost before you choose.

## What you can get here

- **[X Profile API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/profile-api).** Bio, followers, following, post count, location and join date for up to ten accounts per call.
- **[X Posts API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/posts-api).** An account's recent posts with views, likes, reposts, replies and quotes.
- **[X Post Search API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/post-search-api).** Posts by keyword across all authors, with their engagement.
- **[X Account Search API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/account-search-api).** Accounts by name, topic or bio phrase, each a full profile card.

> **Not affiliated** API for Agents is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by X Corp.. It returns public data only: nothing behind a login.

## Operation pages

- [X Profile API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/profile-api)
- [X Posts API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/posts-api)
- [X Post Search API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/post-search-api)
- [X Account Search API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/x_twitter/account-search-api)

## Questions

### Is the X API free?

Not any more for new reads. X retired its legacy Free tier when pay per use launched on 6 February 2026, giving recently active Free users a one-time $10 voucher. New accounts can earn $20 in credits after their first purchase.

### Do Basic and Pro still exist?

Yes. X's changelog says Basic and Pro plans remain available. Check X's docs for their current prices.

### What does it cost to post through the X API?

As of October 2026, $0.015 per post created, or $0.200 for a post with a URL, per X's pricing page.

### What does X data cost here?

Priced per record, from $0.000225 per record. Quote any call first with estimateOnly, which is free.

## Sources

1. [X API: Pricing](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing), seen 21 October 2026
2. [X API: Changelog (pay-per-use launch, 6 February 2026)](https://docs.x.com/changelog), seen 21 October 2026
3. [X Enterprise API: Pricing](https://docs.x.com/enterprise-api/getting-started/pricing), seen 21 October 2026
4. [X API: About the X API](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/about-x-api), seen 21 October 2026

## Why API for Agents

- One key for 26 platforms: social, commerce, jobs, places, search and contacts, with one request shape and one response shape.
- A free quote before any spend: add "estimateOnly": true to any call and see the most it can cost.
- Pay per record in US dollars. No subscription, nothing expires, top-ups from $5.
- $0.10 free to try, no card. An AI agent can sign itself up in one request; a person claims it later.
- Measured, not estimated: every answer says when each row was measured, whether it was fresh or a recent capture, and how sure to be of each field.
- Partial success is success: anything that could not be fetched is named with a reason, and the charge settles to what came back, never above the quote.
- Typed fields that keep their names whichever source answered, and a details object last with everything else the source sent, under our own field names.
- Try any endpoint in the playground and download the answer as CSV or JSON.

## Start

The playground runs any endpoint by hand: pick a platform and what you want from it, fill a short form named in plain words (or press Use sample input), see the free quote on the Run button, run it, then read the answer as a table or JSON and download it as CSV or JSON. The same call is written out as cURL, Python and Node while you type. Open it at https://apiforagents.dev/dashboard/run (sign in first).

Agents register at https://apiforagents.dev/auth.md (one POST, $0.10 free). People: https://apiforagents.dev/docs#start. Prices: https://apiforagents.dev/pricing.md