API guide

The X API in 2026.No review, but every post is billed.

X's API has been pay-per-use since February 2026: no free tier for new developers, credits bought upfront, $0.015 per post and $0.20 for a post with a link. Getting access is quick: sign in at console.x.com, create an app and buy credits, with no review. Posting is POST /2/tweets, after uploading any image to /2/media/upload.

Checked October 6, 2026. Breakreach is our product.

# 1. Upload the image (OAuth 2.0 user token, media.write)curl -X POST https://api.x.com/2/media/upload \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $USER_TOKEN" \  -F "media=@launch.jpg" \  -F "media_category=tweet_image" # 2. The post: $0.015 from your prepaid credits,#    $0.20 if the text contains a linkcurl -X POST https://api.x.com/2/tweets \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $USER_TOKEN" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "text": "Morning Light is out tomorrow. Honey, orange and cocoa, our lightest roast yet.",    "media": {"media_ids": ["'$MEDIA_ID'"]}  }'

1/2 POST /2/media/uploadSending

Published · now

northbeam· now

Morning Light is out tomorrow. Honey, orange and cocoa, our lightest roast yet.

The X API at a glanceWhat it takes before the first post.

Price: Pay-per-use: $0.015 per post, $0.20 per post with a link, $0.005 per post read. No free tier for new developers
Access: Sign in at console.x.com, describe your use, create an app. No review
Billing: Prepaid credits. Requests fail when the balance is empty. Spending cap and auto-recharge available
Accounts you can post to: Any X account that authorizes your app
Rate limit: POST /2/tweets: 100 per 15 minutes per user, 10,000 per 24 hours per app
Access tokens: OAuth 2.0: 2 hours, refreshed with the offline.access scope
Text: 280 characters. A link counts as 23, an emoji as 2
Scheduling: None: POST /2/tweets publishes at once

Checked on October 6, 2026, from X's developer documentation and terms.

Our recommendation

To post to X from your product, use Breakreach's API.We built it, so here's the case.

See the request

No X credits to buy or watch: a post with a link costs the same as any other, inside the per-account price
No developer console or app of your own: accounts connect with X's sign-in, through Breakreach's app
Scheduling X's API doesn't have, retries on rate limits, and the same request posts to 11 other networks

When to use X's API directly. Breakreach posts one post per request: no threads, polls or quote posts. If your product reads posts at volume (search, monitoring, analytics on other accounts), X's own API is the tool, priced per read.

How to get access to the X APIFrom a developer account to your first real post.

1Sign in at console.x.comAccept the Developer Agreement and Policy, and describe how you'll use the API.
2Create an appName, description and use case. The API key and secret, the Bearer token and the access token are shown once, so store them.
3Buy creditsCredits are prepaid in the Developer Console. With none left, requests fail until you buy more. Set a spending cap and balance alerts. Since October 2, 2026, saving a first card adds $20 of credit, and X matches the first auto-recharge up to $50.
4Set up OAuth 2.0 with PKCEUsers authorize at x.com/i/oauth2/authorize. Ask for tweet.read, tweet.write, users.read, media.write and offline.access to get a refresh token.

There's no review on pay-per-use. Public Utility Apps, a separate program, still get free access.

How to post with the X APIThe requests in the demo above, one by one.

1Upload the mediaPOST /2/media/upload with the file and a media_category (tweet_image, tweet_gif or tweet_video) returns a media id. Videos go through initialize, append and finalize, then a status check.
2Create the postPOST /2/tweets with text and media.media_ids. X answers 201 with the post's id and text, and draws $0.015 from your credits, or $0.20 when the text contains a URL.

Replies are restricted: since February 23, 2026, POST /2/tweets can only reply to a post whose author summoned you, by mentioning or quoting you. Quote posts need an Enterprise plan.

Common X API errorsWhat they mean and how to fix them.

Error	What it means	Fix
`No credits left`	The prepaid balance is empty: X fails requests until you buy more.	Top up, or turn on auto-recharge with a spending cap.
`403 duplicate content`	The same text was posted moments ago.	Change the text.
`403 reply not allowed`	Since February 23, 2026, you can only reply to a post whose author mentioned or quoted you.	Post a new post instead of an automatic reply.
`403 quote_tweet_id`	Quote posts need an Enterprise plan.	Post the link to the post instead.
`429 Too Many Requests`	Over 100 posts per 15 minutes per user or 10,000 a day per app.	Wait for the time in x-rate-limit-reset.
`401 Unauthorized`	The 2-hour OAuth 2.0 token expired.	Refresh it with the refresh token from offline.access.

X API limitsRate limits, text and media.

Posting100 posts per 15 minutes per user and 10,000 per 24 hours per app. Media uploads: 500 per 15 minutes per user.
ReadsPay-per-use stops at 3 million post reads a month. Beyond that is an Enterprise plan.
Text280 characters. Each URL counts as 23, and emoji and CJK characters count as 2.
MediaUp to 4 photos, or 1 GIF, or 1 video. Images up to 5 MB, GIFs up to 15 MB. Since September 1, 2026, videos run up to 20 minutes and 8 GB, or 125 minutes and 16 GB on Premium accounts.
OtherOne cashtag per post created through the API. Polls take 2 to 4 options and run 5 minutes to 7 days.

Is the X API free?

No. Since February 6, 2026, new developers pay per use: you buy credits upfront and each request draws on them. Creating a post costs $0.015, a post containing a URL $0.20 (since April 20, 2026), a reply when you're summoned $0.01, and reading a post $0.005. Failed requests aren't charged, and the same post read twice in one UTC day is charged once.

So 3 posts a day with a link cost about $18 a month, and the same 3 posts without a link about $1.35.

The old Basic and Pro plans are no longer on X's pricing page; volumes beyond pay-per-use go through Enterprise, with no published price. Through Breakreach, X posts are part of the per-account price: the first 2 connected accounts are free, then $5 a month each up to 20.

Ways to post to X from code

	What you set up	Price	Posts to X
Breakreach	An API key. Accounts connect through Breakreach's reviewed apps, or your users connect theirs on a hosted page	First 2 accounts free, then $5 a month per account (less from 21)	Yes, Links included
X's own API	An X developer app and prepaid credits	$0.015 a post, $0.20 with a link	Yes
Upload-Post	An API key	Free for 2 profiles and 10 uploads a month; Basic $24 a month for 5 profiles	Yes
Zernio	An API key	First 2 accounts free, then $6 per account up to 10, $3 up to 100, $1 after	Yes
Ayrshare	An API key, plus your own X developer app	From $149 a month for 1 profile, no free plan	Yes, With your own app
Outstand	An API key, plus your own X developer app	$19 a month for 3,000 posts, then per post	Yes, With your own app

Checked on October 6, 2026, from X's developer documentation and each company's pricing page. Breakreach is our product.

What the X API can't do

Post for free: every write is billed, except for Public Utility Apps
Quote posts on pay-per-use: they need Enterprise
Likes and follows: removed from self-serve access in April 2026
Reply to people who didn't mention or quote you
Schedule: POST /2/tweets publishes at once

Post to X with Breakreach's APIOne request, scheduled, with retries.

POST /v1/posts

curl https://api.breakreach.com/v1/posts \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "content": "Morning Light is out tomorrow. Honey, orange and cocoa, our lightest roast yet.",    "accountIds": ["6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4c7"],    "media": ["https://cdn.northbeam.coffee/launch.jpg"],    "scheduledAt": "2026-10-07T09:00:00"  }'

What it posts on X

Text postsYour text as sent: keep it to 280 characters, with each link counting as 23.
Images, a video or a GIFUp to 4 images, or one video or GIF. If an upload fails, the post fails rather than going out without it.
Links at no extra costA post with a link costs what any post costs: Breakreach bills per connected account, never per post.
Replies, DMs and statsRead the replies to your recent posts, list and send DMs, and read impressions, likes, replies and reposts per post.

Not yet

Threads of several posts
Polls and quote posts
Likes and follows

The full reference, webhooks and the price per connected account are on the developers page, and the OpenAPI spec is at api.breakreach.com/v1/openapi.json.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Short answers about the X API.

No, not for new developers since February 6, 2026: the API is pay-per-use, with credits bought upfront. Public Utility Apps are the exception.

$0.015 per post created, $0.20 when the post contains a URL, and $0.01 for a reply when you're summoned. Reading a post costs $0.005.

Yes. Since April 20, 2026, X's rate card lists creating a post with a URL at $0.20 per request, against $0.015 without one.

X's pricing page no longer lists them. New developers are on pay-per-use, and volumes beyond its 3 million post reads a month go through Enterprise.

100 posts per 15 minutes per user and 10,000 per 24 hours per app. The x-rate-limit-reset header says when you can post again.

Yes, through a service whose app holds the access. With Breakreach, accounts connect with X's sign-in, and posts are billed per connected account, links included.

The first 2 connected accounts are free; from the third it's $5 a month per account up to 20, $3 up to 100, then $2. You pay per connected account, never per post or per request.