Twitter API Pricing and Limits

Today, many people have already heard about the API, but not everyone understands how it works. So, complicated things need to be explained simply.

From the article, you will learn what the Twitter API is, why you need it, what limits it has, and what packages it currently comes with. Also, you will discover the features of API, tariff plans, and successful real-world examples of using the solution.

What Is Twitter API?

In simple terms, an API is an interface thanks to which programs or services can request and collect publicdata from other services.

The Twitter API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of tools and protocols that allow developers to access and interact with Twitter (“X”) data and functionality. Twitter provides special HTTP addresses where clean data is available. Data for such addresses is provided in a structured format, most often in JSON. Thus, the first service "packages" the data into JSON format, and the other, which follows the data, "unpacks" it from JSON and uses it for internal display. 

The purpose of this API is to provide convenient access to Twitter data. Thus, developers can make programs that read and record tweets, search for tweets by keywords, extract user information, and more using the Twitter API.

Moreover, this API is used both by Twitter itself in mobile apps and by third-party services that manage Twitter. For example, marketers work with services that automatically post tweets in the prescribed mode.

In a word, the Twitter API is an interface through which a website or application can interact with the social media platform. By the way, Twitter itself uses its API, including widgets that can be embedded on any internet platform to display a specific tweet or tweet feed.

Why do you need the Twitter API?

The functionality of the Twitter API is very wide. That's what the Twitter API allows you:

1. Data Analysis and Research: Collect large amounts of TW data to analyze sentiment, track trends, and view public opinion.
2. Application Integration: Developers integrate Twitter functionality into various apps so that users can share content, view tweets, or interact with TW directly from other platforms.
3. Social Media Management: Tools created using the Twitter API help companies and individuals plan Twitter posts, track mentions and replies, and manage interactions with several accounts.
4. Customer Service: Companies use the API to view mentions of their brand and quickly respond to client requests, complaints, or praise.
5. Marketing and Campaign Tracking: Marketers monitor the effectiveness of launched campaigns, identify the level of engagement, reach, and audience growth on X (formerly known as Twitter).

And here is what you can do with the Twitter API:

1. Receive and post tweets: Automate sending tweets, receive tweets from a specific account, or search for tweets containing specific keywords.
2. Account Management: Manage your profile data, subscribe to or unsubscribe from accounts, and change account configuration.
3. Analytics: Get access to comprehensive analytics of tweet effectiveness, account engagement, and subscriber demographics.
4. Streaming: Listen to tweets in real time based on established criteria, which is ideal for live broadcasts of events or monitoring of certain topics or hashtags.
5. Data mining: Use the API to process large amounts of data for pattern recognition, machine learning projects, or to collect large datasets for analysis.
6. Effective use of the Twitter API requires compliance with X (formerly known as Twitter)'s rules of use and often involves responsible handling of large amounts of data, ensuring compliance with privacy and data protection laws.

Twitter API Limits: What Should You Know?

Like any other service, there are some Twitter API limits to ensure honest and secure user interaction. One of these restrictions is the speed limit, which shortens the number of API requests one can make over a certain period. Thus, when the user exceeds the speed limit, he receives an error notification: "Exceeded the speed limit".

The limit defines the maximum number of requests for each API endpoint allowed for a certain time, often 15 minutes. For example, if an endpoint has a limit of 900 requests in 15 minutes, up to 900 requests can be completed in any 15-minute interval.

Depending on the authentication method, some restrictions may be set. If these limits are exceeded, an error message will show up.

You cannot bypass the restriction, as this may lead to time constraints.

Twitter recently introduced its new API access formats. From now on, we can choose between four levels: Free, Basic, Enterprise, and Pro. Each option has its own limitations and to mind. So, below more details on Twitter API fees.

Twitter API Cost or Pricing Packages Provided

Free

You do not need to pay at all. However, there are many limitations here. With this data plan, you can post up to 1,500 tweets per month via the API at the application level.

It means that users of your app can send a total of 1,500 tweets per month using your app. In addition, access to tweets and media downloads is limited at the free level. Different speed limits will apply to other API endpoints.

Basic

The basic version costs $100 per month, but increases the monthly publication limit at the application level to 50,000 tweets. The reading limit is limited to 10,000 tweets per month, and there is a limit for each user to post 3,000 tweets per month.

Enterprise

This tariff plan does not have a fixed Twitter Enterprise API pricing. Some companies have reported that Twitter is asking for $42,000 monthly for the most budget API access. It is the most functional data plan currently available on Twitter. If you need access to the Enterprise level, you need to contact Twitter.

This format offers customized pricing plans with commercial-level access and services managed by a dedicated customer service team. Enterprise comes with access to endpoints in real-time, as well as personalized technical support.

*Twitter launched these three tariff plans at the very start, in March 2023. However, for small companies and startups, these offers did not look particularly attractive. The basic tariff options for their applications were not enough, and Enterprise costs a lot of money. Thus, most unofficial Twitter clients just closed down, and RSS aggregators stopped showing posts from Twitter.

Pro

Therefore, after a few months, the company solved this problem by introducing another tariff plan – Pro for $5,000 per month. The plan allows you to publish 300 thousand and read up to 1 million records monthly. According to Twitter, this should be enough for startups.

Users did not meet this plan so unambiguously either. Some of them wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that they were glad to move towards the formation of more affordable plans. However, other users have noted that Twitter API cost is still too expensive and not profitable for startups.

How to Optimize Data Collection

Here are some tips for optimizing data processing:

• Use multiple Access Tokens. Scale up by creating more Twitter and app developer accounts to get extra tokens. It increases the speed limit.
• Adjust the selectivity of queries. Narrow the search area to match responses more accurately and receive more relevant data. Using a network that is too wide leads to a speed limit.
• Filtering in code. Extract all the results, then filter and select only what you need in your code. This way, you reduce unnecessary use of the speed limit.
• Plan the cleanup. Distribute requests over time, not in parts. This makes it easier to deal with.

Twitter API Use Examples

So let’s create a fictional company context named “TrendTrackers” as a Digital Marketing agency with specialties in the analysis and effective management of social media strategies for brands. Here are a few ways the Twitter API can be helpful for such a company:

1. Real-Time Engagement Monitoring: For instance, if a specific product gains some popularity because of a particular Twitter post, it may be easier for the company that creates this product to increase promotion efforts promptly. 
2. Automated Content Curation: You can also set the API to tweet with a retweet discipline to follow a given hashtag or keywords. It is very efficient in its use of time, and ensures that the brand is always a part of current conversations. For instance, during a particular trade show, the TrendTrackers will be able to ensure that their clients’ accounts have automatically tweeted the particular event. 
3. Campaign Performance Analysis: After the campaigns, the agency can use the access keys to capture the interactions, impressions, and audiences gained from the platform through the Twitter API. All these may be used to measure the effectiveness of specific strategies and as a guide when planning future advertisement campaigns. 
4. Influencer Collaboration: The agency can then choose the most suitable influencer or influencers from the list of the top Twitter influential users. Once can then help in identifying brands to offer sponsorship for their tweets as well as the twitter chats to increase brand visibility. 

Hence, with the help of the Twitter API adopted in TrendTrackers, brands can be alice in their market spaces and reach the precise audience better. 

And, these are just a few examples of the use of the API like Twitter solution.

What Are The Alternatives?

Twitter API Fees can be a huge barrier for some companies saying nothing about startups. Yet, it’s not the end. Yes, today, there are a lot of alternative tools with similar features to the official Twitter API. For instance, Data365 Social Media API that offers tools and functions for monitoring popular social networks so that you can collect and integrate the necessary publically available data required for your project. This way, you can improve your marketing or even business strategy, track trends, and many more .

So, if you are looking for the tool to extract public data from social media networks, please, contact us to learn more about whether we can help in your case. 

Twitter API Limits and Pricing: Outcome

It is clear that Twitter is an effective and in-demand data collection source that can assist in the development of projects across many fields. The official API from Twitter is a highly useful tool that can help businesses to advance their projects. However, the cost of the TW API is high, and not every company can afford it. Fortunately, there are many alternative options available.

So, if you are seeking a reliable social media data extraction tool, then we encourage you to contact our expert to learn more about Data365 features and discover details about our free trial. Our 14-day trial is an excellent opportunity to partner with us and see if the solution suits your needs.