Free Twitter API alternatives

#Which free Twitter API tiers expire, and which don't

Free starts on third-party Twitter APIs come in three kinds: trial credits that expire on a fixed day, monthly allowances that reset, and one-time credits that stay on the account until you use them. The kind matters more than the size, because a trial that lapses before your project is ready gives you nothing.

Four of the seven free starts below never expire. Sorsa API's also runs at the same 20 requests per second as every paid plan, while two of the trials hold new accounts to one request every 5 seconds until they pay.

• Sorsa API

  Free start

  100 requests on every endpoint, up to 10K tweets

  Expires

  Never

  Card at sign-up

  No

  Speed on the free start

  20 requests per second

• GetXAPI (opens in a new tab)

  Free start

  $0.10 in credit, about 100 calls by its own count

  Expires

  Never

  Card at sign-up

  No

  Speed on the free start

  Not published

• TwitterAPIs (opens in a new tab)

  Free start

  $0.50 in credit, about 625 calls by its own count

  Expires

  Never

  Card at sign-up

  No

  Speed on the free start

  Not published

• Xpoz (opens in a new tab)

  Free start

  500 credits once, 2 per X query

  Expires

  Never refreshed, kept until used

  Card at sign-up

  No

  Speed on the free start

  Not published

• TwtAPI (opens in a new tab)

  Free start

  300 calls a month

  Expires

  Resets every month

  Card at sign-up

  Not stated

  Speed on the free start

  100 calls per hour

• TwitterAPI.io (opens in a new tab)

  Free start

  Up to $1 in credit after a bot check

  Expires

  After 31 days

  Card at sign-up

  No

  Speed on the free start

  1 request every 5 seconds

• TwexAPI (opens in a new tab)

  Free start

  20K credits, 5 per typical read

  Expires

  After 7 days

  Card at sign-up

  No

  Speed on the free start

  1 request every 5 seconds

• Official X API

  Free start

  No free tier

  Expires

  Not applicable

  Card at sign-up

  Card and prepaid credits

  Speed on the free start

  Not applicable

Every row quotes the provider's own pricing page as it read on November 2, 2026. Sizes stay in each provider's own unit, because a dollar of credit, a credit and a request buy different amounts of data on each API.

#Sorsa API: 100 free requests that wait for your test

For a free Twitter API that is still there when you get to testing, use Sorsa API, a Twitter (X) API and scraper: every new account gets 100 free requests on every endpoint, with no card, and they never expire. One request is one call on any endpoint, so the free start reads real jobs, not a demo:

• up to 10K tweets through POST /tweet-info-bulk (opens in a new tab), 100 tweets per request, each with its author's full profile;
• up to 20K followers of a public account through GET /followers (opens in a new tab), 200 per page;
• up to 10K profiles through GET /info-batch (opens in a new tab), 100 per request;
• about 2,000 search results through POST /search-tweets (opens in a new tab), with X's search operators and history back to 2006.

Failed requests are never charged, so a mistyped handle costs nothing. Sorsa API never asks for your X login, so the test puts no X account at risk, and the same key keeps working when you move to a plan.

Good to know

Count a free start in your job's unit, not in dollars or credits. $1 of credit, 20K credits and 100 requests can each mean a few hundred results or many thousands, depending on what one call returns and how each API bills it. On Sorsa API the math is fixed: one call is one request, whatever it returns.

#How to run a free test without wasting a request

A first test takes about three minutes, and none of the steps asks for a card or an X account.

1. Get a key. Sign up and copy your API key from the dashboard. The 100 free requests are already on it.

2. Check the balance. GET /key-usage-info (opens in a new tab) returns remaining_requests for your key and never counts against them, so call it as often as you like.

   curl "https://api.sorsa.io/v3/key-usage-info" -H "ApiKey: YOUR_API_KEY"
   

3. Read up to 100 tweets in one request. Put tweet links or IDs in tweet_links; the whole batch costs one request.

   curl -X POST "https://api.sorsa.io/v3/tweet-info-bulk" \
     -H "ApiKey: YOUR_API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"tweet_links": ["1853240118463918207", "1853262907318521871"]}'
   

   {
     "tweets": [
       {
         "id": "1853240118463918207",
         "full_text": "Free tier test: 100 tweets in one call.",
         "created_at": "2026-10-30T09:12:44Z",
         "lang": "en",
         "likes_count": 48,
         "retweet_count": 6,
         "reply_count": 9,
         "view_count": 3920,
         "user": {
           "id": "1601873350216417280",
           "username": "quiet_data_tester",
           "display_name": "Quiet Data",
           "followers_count": 712
         }
       }
     ]
   }
   

   Show full response

4. Size the job before you run it. This script counts the requests a list of tweet IDs needs, compares them with the balance and stops before it would run dry, so a test never ends halfway.

   import requests
   
   BASE = "https://api.sorsa.io/v3"
   HEADERS = {"ApiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
   
   
   def remaining():
       """Requests left on the key; this call is free."""
       r = requests.get(f"{BASE}/key-usage-info", headers=HEADERS)
       r.raise_for_status()
       return r.json()["remaining_requests"]
   
   
   def read_tweets(ids):
       """Read tweets 100 per request, never past the balance."""
       batches = [ids[i:i + 100] for i in range(0, len(ids), 100)]
       left = remaining()
       if len(batches) > left:
           raise SystemExit(f"Needs {len(batches)} requests, {left} left")
       tweets = []
       for batch in batches:
           r = requests.post(f"{BASE}/tweet-info-bulk", headers=HEADERS,
                             json={"tweet_links": batch})
           r.raise_for_status()
           tweets += r.json()["tweets"]
       return tweets
   

   const BASE = "https://api.sorsa.io/v3";
   const HEADERS = { ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY" };
   
   async function remaining() {
     // Requests left on the key; this call is free.
     const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/key-usage-info`, { headers: HEADERS });
     if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
     return (await res.json()).remaining_requests;
   }
   
   async function readTweets(ids) {
     const batches = [];
     for (let i = 0; i < ids.length; i += 100) {
       batches.push(ids.slice(i, i + 100));
     }
     const left = await remaining();
     if (batches.length > left) {
       throw new Error(`Needs ${batches.length} requests, ${left} left`);
     }
     const tweets = [];
     for (const batch of batches) {
       const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/tweet-info-bulk`, {
         method: "POST",
         headers: { ...HEADERS, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
         body: JSON.stringify({ tweet_links: batch }),
       });
       if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
       tweets.push(...(await res.json()).tweets);
     }
     return tweets;
   }
   

A 401 or 403 answer means the key is wrong, missing or out of requests. A 429 means more than 20 requests in one second: wait a second and send the call again.

#How fast a free tier lets you spend it

Speed decides whether a free start can run a real job: 100 requests take 5 seconds at 20 requests per second, 8 minutes 20 seconds at one request every 5 seconds, and an hour at 100 calls per hour.

The slow starts are written into the providers' own terms. TwitterAPI.io's rate limit page (opens in a new tab) gives an account that has never topped up one request every 5 seconds; another trial in the table runs at the same 0.2 requests per second, and a monthly allowance at 100 calls an hour. At those speeds the free start checks the shape of a response, but not how a 50-page follower export or a day of search runs at the speed you will pay for.

Sorsa API has no speed tiers: 20 requests per second per key on every plan, free accounts included. A test on the free requests runs at the speed your production code will get.

#Six checks before you trust a free tier

A free tier is worth trying when it lasts until your test, asks for nothing up front, opens every endpoint at full speed and leaves your X account alone. Sorsa API passes all six checks below with a number, and the same checks work on any API you consider.

• Expiry

  Why it matters

  A test you plan for next month needs credits next month

  Sorsa API

  Never expire

• Card at sign-up

  Why it matters

  A card turns a test into a billing relationship

  Sorsa API

  No card, nothing charged when the free requests end

• Endpoints

  Why it matters

  A free start that opens a few endpoints can't test your job

  Sorsa API

  All 45 endpoints

• Speed

  Why it matters

  A throttled start tests one call, not a pipeline

  Sorsa API

  20 requests per second

• Account safety

  Why it matters

  A tool that signs in to X as you puts that account at risk

  Sorsa API

  Never asks for your X login

• Track record

  Why it matters

  Credits that never expire are worth as much as the company behind them

  Sorsa API

  In production since 2022, formerly TweetScout API

#What happens when the free requests run out

Nothing is charged: when the 100 free requests are spent, calls return 403 until you add requests, and no card is billed on its own.

You then pick how to continue. A monthly or yearly plan by card renews until you cancel it, and you can cancel anytime from the dashboard. A month or a year paid once with crypto renews nothing, so there is nothing to cancel, and we send a reminder before it ends. Plans start at 10K requests a month, and at the best plan's rate tweets cost from $0.014 per 1,000 and followers from $0.007 per 1,000.

The official X API, the usual starting point, has no free tier: it bills $5.00 per 1,000 posts and $10.00 per 1,000 users from the first read, from credits you buy upfront, after a developer account and an OAuth app. That makes Sorsa API 250x cheaper on tweets and 1,000x cheaper on followers. The full story of X's free tier is in is the Twitter API free, and a side-by-side of the paid options is in Twitter API alternatives.

#Start with free requests that wait for you

Most free Twitter API alternatives give you days, not a balance: credits lapse after 7 or 31 days, or a small allowance resets every month. Sorsa API gives every new account 100 free requests that never expire, with no card, on all 45 endpoints at 20 requests per second: enough to read up to 10K tweets or 20K followers before you decide anything. Sign up when you like and test when you're ready; the requests will still be there.

#FAQ