TweetAPI vs twitterapi.io: Pricing, Rate Limits, and Features Compared
TweetAPI and twitterapi.io are different companies. Compare per-call and per-result pricing, workload costs, rate limits, posting, DMs, and MCP support.
TweetAPI (tweetapi.com) and twitterapi.io are separate, unrelated services with similar names. Both are third-party Twitter data APIs that work without an X developer account.
The main difference is how they bill: TweetAPI charges per call, and twitterapi.io charges per returned result. Search and timeline pages return many Posts per call, so for that kind of collection TweetAPI costs much less:
- 100,000 Posts from 5,000 search calls: $2.50 of TweetAPI units, against $15 of twitterapi.io credits.
- 2 million Posts in a month: $17 on TweetAPI's Pro plan, against $300 at twitterapi.io's base rate.
twitterapi.io costs less than TweetAPI's PAYG when most calls return three or fewer results, and it allows more requests per second.
See the quick comparison, compare common workloads, or check the break-even point.
We checked prices and limits on both providers' pages on October 24, 2026.
Disclosure: We run TweetAPI. This page uses both providers' published prices and documentation; we didn't buy a twitterapi.io plan or run benchmarks.
Disclaimer: TweetAPI is a third-party service. Not affiliated with X Corp.
Quick Comparison
| TweetAPI | twitterapi.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per call: 1 unit for most calls | Per returned item, with a 15-credit ($0.00015) minimum per call |
| Read prices | $0.50 per 1,000 calls on PAYG; $0.17 down to $0.0757 per 1,000 on plans | $0.15 per 1,000 Posts; profiles $0.18 per 1,000, or $0.01 in batches of 100+; followers from $0.01 per 1,000 |
| Empty results | Billed as one unit | Billed at the 15-credit minimum |
| Entry payment | $5 PAYG pack, or plans from $17/month | Top-ups, or plans from $29/month |
| Free trial | 100 one-time units, no card | Up to $1 of credits, no card, expires after 31 days |
| Credit expiry | PAYG units last 365 days; plan allowances reset each cycle | Purchased credits never expire; bonus credits expire after 31 days |
| Posting, likes, follows | Yes, 1 unit ($0.0005 on PAYG) with your account's auth token | Yes, 200 credits ($0.002) with login cookies |
| Direct messages | Yes, including encrypted X Chat | Yes |
| Account login | 50 units ($0.025 on PAYG) | 500 credits ($0.005) on its v3 login; 10,000 credits ($0.10) on v2 |
| MCP for AI agents | Hosted OAuth server with read-only tools, open source | Hosted read-only server and an npm package |
| Libraries | Node.js/TypeScript and Python SDKs | Vercel AI SDK and CrewAI packages |
| Monitoring | Separate managed alerts service | Webhook and WebSocket filter rules and account monitors inside the API |
| Throughput | 10 RPM on the trial, 60 on PAYG and Pro, up to 500 on Tera | 0.2 req/s before any payment, 20 after one, 50 on Scale, 500 on Business |
| Payment | Card and crypto | Card and crypto |
Cost for Common Workloads
These examples assume 20 Posts per dense call, no free trials, no existing balance, and no retries. Real page sizes vary, so measure your own workload.
| Workload | TweetAPI | twitterapi.io |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 search calls, 100,000 Posts in a week | $2.50 of units; a $5 PAYG pack leaves 5,000 units | $15 of credits |
| 100,000 search calls, 2 million Posts in a month | $17 Pro plan | $300 at the base rate. The $199 Pro plan supplies $250.74 with its bonus, so it needs a top-up; the $499 Scale plan covers it |
| 120,000 calls, 2.4 million Posts in a month | $27: Pro plus a $10 top-up | $360 at the base rate |
| 1,000 profiles by user ID, in batches of 100 | 10 units, $0.005 on PAYG | $0.01 at its batch rate |
| 5,000 lookups returning one Post each | $2.50 of units; a $5 pack leaves 5,000 units | $0.75 of credits |
For a wider comparison that includes GetXAPI, TwexAPI, the official X API, and six other providers, see Best Twitter API Alternatives.
How the Pricing Models Differ
TweetAPI meters requests. A search page, a timeline page, or a batch lookup costs one unit whether it returns one result or the full page. Only a few operations cost more: login is 50 units and sending an X Chat message is 10. Requests rejected with 400, 401, 403, 409, 422, or 429 aren't billed, and neither are server errors. Empty results are. See the pricing page for every plan.
twitterapi.io meters results. Each Post returned costs 15 credits, and $1 buys 100,000 credits, so 1,000 Posts cost $0.15. Every call is charged at least 15 credits, including calls that return nothing. Profile and follower prices fall as batches and pages get bigger.
When Each Pricing Model Costs Less
The break-even point depends on how many results a call returns:
| TweetAPI option | Cost per call | twitterapi.io is cheaper when a Posts call returns |
|---|---|---|
| PAYG | $0.0005 | 3 Posts or fewer |
| Pro | $0.00017 | 1 Post or none |
| Ultra and larger plans | $0.000114 or less | never: a TweetAPI call costs less than twitterapi.io's 15-credit minimum |
These figures assume you use your plan's full allowance; unused units raise your real cost per call, and twitterapi.io's subscription bonuses lower its price per Post a little. Dense calls such as search and timeline pages favor TweetAPI. Sparse calls, such as single-Post lookups or keyword checks that usually return nothing new, favor twitterapi.io on PAYG.
Posting, DMs, and Account Actions
Both providers support account actions with credentials for the X account you control.
- TweetAPI covers posting, replies, likes, retweets, follows, bookmarks, list and community actions, profile updates, legacy DMs, and encrypted X Chat. Most actions cost one unit; sending an X Chat message costs ten. Login with two-factor support costs 50.
- twitterapi.io covers posting, deleting, likes, retweets, follows, bookmarks, muting, blocking, profile updates, communities, and sending DMs. Most of its v2 write actions cost 200 credits ($0.002) each. Logging in costs 500 credits ($0.005) on its v3 login and 10,000 credits ($0.10) on v2.
For write-heavy workloads, TweetAPI's per-action price is lower. TweetAPI's login ($0.025 on PAYG) costs less than twitterapi.io's v2 login and more than its v3 login.
MCP and SDKs
TweetAPI runs a hosted MCP server at https://mcp.tweetapi.com/mcp with OAuth sign-in and read-only tools, and its source is on GitHub. Official Node.js/TypeScript and Python SDKs cover the REST API.
twitterapi.io offers a hosted read-only MCP server, an npm MCP package, and integration packages for the Vercel AI SDK and CrewAI.
Monitoring and Real-Time Data
TweetAPI has no monitors inside the API. You can poll any endpoint on a schedule, or use our separate managed real-time alerts service.
twitterapi.io offers webhook and WebSocket tweet filter rules and account monitors inside the same API, plus a separate stream product.
Rate Limits
TweetAPI limits requests per minute: 10 on the trial, 60 on PAYG and Pro, 120 on Ultra, 180 on Mega, 300 on Giga, and 500 on Tera.
twitterapi.io allows more requests. One purchase raises an account from 0.2 to 20 requests per second, which is 1,200 per minute, and its Scale and Business plans allow 50 and 500 per second. Its rate-limit page lists each tier. If your job needs bursts of many requests per second, twitterapi.io's limits are higher on every paid tier.
When TweetAPI Is the Better Fit
- You collect search or timeline data at volume: a full page costs the same as a single result, and 2 million Posts a month fit in the $17 Pro plan.
- You want predictable monthly plans, from 100,000 units for $17 up to 10 million for $757.
- You post, like, or follow often: most actions cost one unit instead of $0.002.
- You need encrypted X Chat messages or batch lookups of up to 100 profiles or 200 Posts per call.
- You want official Node.js and Python SDKs and a hosted OAuth MCP server for AI agents.
When twitterapi.io Is the Better Fit
- Most of your calls return few or no results, such as single lookups or frequent checks for new Posts.
- You need more than a few requests per second without a large plan.
- You want filter rules and webhooks inside the API rather than a separate service.
- You need trending topics from the API today.
- You want purchased credits that never expire.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is TweetAPI the same company as twitterapi.io?
No. TweetAPI (tweetapi.com) and twitterapi.io are independent services with similar names. Neither is affiliated with X Corp.
Which one is cheaper?
It depends on how many results each call returns. For dense search and timeline pages, TweetAPI costs much less: 2 million Posts in a month cost $17 on its Pro plan, against $300 at twitterapi.io's base rate. When calls return three or fewer Posts and you're on TweetAPI's PAYG, twitterapi.io costs less. Use the break-even table with your own page sizes.
Do I need an X developer account for either one?
No. Both give you their own API key. Posting or sending DMs needs your own X account's credentials.
Can I try both for free?
Yes. TweetAPI gives 100 one-time units without a card. twitterapi.io gives up to $1 of credits without a card, and they expire after 31 days.
Sources
TweetAPI prices, limits, and billing rules come from its pricing page, pricing.json, and terms. twitterapi.io figures come from its pricing page and its subscription, rate-limit, and API documentation pages.
To test TweetAPI with your own workload, the 100-unit trial needs no credit card.