Twitter (X) API Pricing in 2026: What It Actually Costs
2026-06-16 · 1322 Team
Short version: X API v2 is priced in tiers, and the monthly post-read cap, not the per-request limit, is what makes real-time monitoring expensive. Here is the plain-English breakdown, and what the same job costs on a flat push-based feed.
The tiers, in plain numbers
| Tier | Rough cost | Reality for monitoring |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Effectively write-only, negligible reads |
| Basic | ~$200/mo | Low monthly post-read cap, hits fast |
| Pro | Low thousands/mo | Higher caps, still per-read billing |
| Enterprise | Tens of thousands/yr | Firehose, negotiated |
Figures are approximate and change often. Always confirm current pricing on X's developer site.
Why monitoring blows the budget
The trap is the read cap. "Tell me the instant any of these 100 accounts posts" sounds small, but reading every post in real time across many accounts burns through the monthly cap quickly. Once you exceed it you either pay up a tier or your monitoring goes dark. The per-minute rate limit is rarely the wall; the monthly cap is.
What the same job costs on a flat feed
A push-based service avoids per-post read billing entirely. 1322 is $250/month for 100 tracked accounts over WebSocket, with no per-post read cap on those accounts, and it covers Instagram, Truth Social, YouTube, Binance Square and news on the same connection. For the "watch these accounts" use case that is usually cheaper and faster than the official API. Full breakdown: Twitter API alternatives compared.
FAQ
How much does the Twitter (X) API cost in 2026?
X API v2 is tiered: a Free tier that is effectively write-only with negligible reads, a Basic tier around $200/month with a low monthly post-read cap, a Pro tier in the low thousands per month, and Enterprise negotiated in the tens of thousands per year. Confirm exact numbers on X's developer site, tiers change.
Why is the X API expensive for monitoring?
Because billing is built around a monthly post-read cap, not just per-minute limits. Reading every post from many accounts in real time burns the cap fast, so the effective cost of monitoring scales badly even on paid tiers.
Is there a free Twitter API?
The Free tier exists but is mostly write-only with negligible read access, not usable for real-time account monitoring. For free reads you would self-host an open-source scraper and maintain it.
What is the cheapest way to monitor accounts in real time?
For watching a fixed set of accounts, a flat push-based service is usually cheaper and faster than X API v2 at scale. 1322 is $250/month for 100 tracked accounts over WebSocket, with no per-post read cap on tracked accounts.
Does the X API support real-time streaming?
The old Streaming API was retired. The modern filtered stream is restricted to higher tiers, and full firehose access is enterprise-negotiated. Most monitoring use cases use a push-based third-party feed instead.
What are the X API rate limits?
Per-endpoint request limits plus a monthly post-read cap tied to your tier. The cap, not the per-minute limit, is what usually stops real-time monitoring at scale.
Skip the read caps
Flat, push-based monitoring across six platforms. From $250/mo.