twitterapi.io vs X API
The cheapest serious third-party X API against X’s own. One costs about a thirtieth as much per post; the other is the only access X signs off on. twitterapi.io reads X for about a thirtieth of the official price; the X API is the only sanctioned route, with full-archive search and posting.
Researched by Which Social API editorial teamLast reviewed 29 October 2026How we review
Which Social API uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative review methods, based on each provider’s documentation, published pricing and public user reviews. We never accept money in exchange for a higher ranking or a better review. Who runs this site
The quick answer
For most teams, twitterapi.io. Posts cost $0.15 per 1,000 against $5.00 on the official API, and follower records cost $0.01 per 1,000 in bulk against $10.00. There’s no X developer account to set up, no use-case review, and no 3-million-post monthly cap. For search, timelines, profiles and followers, it does the same job for a few per cent of the price.
The X API wins when the source matters more than the bill. It’s the only access X sanctions, it has full-archive search back to 2006, a filtered stream, Community Notes and an official SDK, and posting through it doesn’t depend on a third party holding your account session. If your legal team won’t sign off on scraped data, or you’re building something that posts, pay X.
Choose twitterapi.io if
Price per post decides the projectYou pull follower graphs or profiles in bulkYou don’t want an X developer account or use-case reviewChoose X API if
Your legal team needs sanctioned accessYou need full-archive search back to 2006You post, reply or send DMs from your own appHead to head
Our ratings, judged from published prices, docs and limits. The longer bar is better in every row.
For cost, the lower number gets the longer bar. How we review
Pricing compared
Both are prepaid and charge per item, with no subscription required. The gap is large: about 33 times on posts and 1,000 times on bulk follower records.
Features side by side
If you’re building on the API
The official API is the more complete product. Pay-per-use includes recent and full-archive search, a filtered stream (1,000 rules and one connection), the Activity API for webhooks, DMs, Community Notes and writes, with an official SDK (XDK), a playground and an MCP server. Rate limits run in 15-minute windows: 450 recent searches and 300 follower pages per app, for example. Auth is OAuth 2.0 or 1.0a.
twitterapi.io is a flatter, simpler API: an `x-api-key` header, about 75 REST endpoints, and 20 requests a second as soon as you’ve paid, with no daily cap. It covers search with X’s operators, replies, quotes, followers, lists, communities, Spaces and trends, and adds keyword and account pushes by webhook or WebSocket. There’s no SDK, just plain HTTP, and its response shapes differ from X’s own.
twitterapi.io API
- Endpoints
- About 75, reads and writes
- Auth
- API key header
- SDKs
- None; MCP server
- Rate limit
- 20 a second once paid, up to 500 on Business
- Real-time
- Webhook and WebSocket pushes
X API API
- Endpoints
- Full v2 API, reads and writes
- Auth
- OAuth 2.0 Bearer, PKCE or OAuth 1.0a
- SDKs
- XDK, MCP server
- Rate limit
- Per endpoint, per 15 minutes
- Real-time
- Filtered stream, Activity API webhooks
Where each falls short
twitterapi.io
It’s a small operator: Prism Digital, LLC in Delaware, a domain from December 2024, and no team or funding published. It has no guarantee of continued access to X and no compliance or deletion feeds. Its terms say it provides no data that requires authentication, yet it sells login, DM and bookmark endpoints that act on your own X account. Every call costs at least 15 credits, so polling pays for empty results.
X API
It costs 25 to 33 times the third-party rate per post and 1,000 times twitterapi.io’s bulk rate for followers. Pay-per-use stops at 3 million post reads a month, about $15,000, and expansions become billable from 22 November 2026. In 2026 X forced Basic and Pro subscribers onto pay-per-use with $200 and $5,000 initial charges, repriced posts with links to $0.20, and restricted programmatic replies. Its forum carries reports of 402 errors on positive balances and missing vouchers.
Alternatives to both
See all 8 X (Twitter) scraping APIs in our ranking
Questions
Is twitterapi.io cheaper than the official X API?
Yes, by a long way. Posts cost $0.15 per 1,000 against $5.00, about 33 times less. Follower records cost $0.01 per 1,000 in bulk against $10.00.
Is twitterapi.io affiliated with X?
No. It says it is an independent third-party service, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by X Corp. X’s terms prohibit scraping without written permission.
Does the X API still have a free tier?
No. Free was retired when pay-per-use launched in February 2026, and Basic and Pro were retired later in 2026. Only apps X classes as public utilities keep free scaled access.
Can I get full-archive search on pay-per-use?
Yes. X’s docs list full-archive search back to 2006 on pay-per-use, up to 500 posts per request. Some third-party pages say it’s Enterprise-only; X’s own docs say otherwise.
When should I pay for the official API?
When you need sanctioned access for legal or compliance reasons, full-archive search, or you’re posting from your own app at scale. For reading public data, twitterapi.io does the job for far less.