X (formerly Twitter) announces new pay-as-you-go pricing model for developer APIs, officially moving away from fixed monthly fees of $200 or $5,000

Twitter (formerly Twitter) has announced a new pay-as-you-go pricing model for its API. Previously, developers had to pay a fixed monthly fee of $200 or $5,000, but now they can purchase credits and use them as they request API requests.

X Developer Platform

https://developer.x.com/#pricing

X API Pricing
https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing

Usage and Billing
https://docs.x.com/x-api/fundamentals/post-cap

Important notes:

• Only for-good Public Utility apps will continue to get Free scaled X API access

• Legacy Free (recently active) API users will move to Pay-Per-Use with a one-time $10 voucher

• Basic & Pro X API plans will remain available with the ability to opt-in to…

— Developers (@XDevelopers) February 6, 2026

In February 2023, during its Twitter days, X announced that it would end the free provision of 'Twitter API v2' and 'Twitter API v1.1' and consolidate them into paid plans.

Twitter to end free API provision, impacting account linking, etc. - GIGAZINE

However, X has been offering a pay-per-use model in closed beta since around October 2025, and has now been officially released. The key to the pay-per-use model is that you purchase credits in advance, and the balance decreases each time you call the API. The fee is not a flat rate; the unit price varies depending on which endpoint you use, and the specific unit price can be checked on the Developer Console.

The fee structure is as follows:

While retrieving the same data multiple times can easily increase costs, X explains that in principle, there is a system in place to avoid charging for duplicates when retrieving the same post or user repeatedly on the same day. However, they also state that there are exceptions and that this is not a complete guarantee.

To prevent overuse, there are settings that automatically purchase additional credits when the balance falls below a certain level, and settings that set a spending limit for each billing cycle and stop requests when the limit is reached. In other words, monitoring usage and setting limits will become the focus of operations, compared to when you purchased space at a fixed rate.

Public apps with high public interest will continue to receive free, scaled access. Developers who were previously using the old free tier will receive a one-time $10 voucher when they switch to pay-as-you-go pricing. Developers who already have a fixed-fee Basic or Pro plan can switch to pay-as-you-go pricing if needed, leaving room for existing contracts.