--- title: "X API Cost Calculator: Plan Posting Volume and Limits" description: "Estimate what your posting volume means for X API usage and limits, with every figure linked to X's developer documentation and dated." url: https://kairopost.com/tools/x-api-cost-calculator --- # X API cost calculator The X API is pay per use: each request is charged, from $0.015 to create a post to $0.005 per post read. Set your volume to see a monthly estimate and your headroom under X's rate limits. - Runs in your browser - Nothing uploaded - No sign up Live. Everything runs on your device. Nothing is uploaded ## How to use the calculator 1. No. 1: ### Describe your publishing: Set accounts, posts, threads, link share and media uploads. 2. No. 2: ### Describe your reading: Set mention checks, new mentions and other posts or profiles read. 3. No. 3: ### Check the limits: Each bar compares your volume with a published X limit. 4. No. 4: ### Read the estimate: The invoice prices each line; type over any unit price that differs. ## How X API access works 1. 1: ### Sign in and create an app: Sign in at console.x.com, accept the developer agreement and create an app. See X's [getting access guide](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/getting-access). 2. 2: ### Buy credits: No subscription. You prepay credits, per X's [pricing page](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing). 3. 3: ### Each request draws them down: Writes are charged per request. Reads are charged per resource returned. - Spending cap per billing cycle - Optional auto recharge - 3 million post reads per cycle on pay per use - Above that: Enterprise Published prices, checked 30 September 2026 | Post: Create | $0.015 | | --- | --- | | Post: Create (with URL) | $0.200 | | Media Metadata | $0.005 | | User Interaction: Create | $0.015 | | DM Interaction: Create | $0.015 | | Interaction: Delete | $0.010 | | Bookmark | $0.005 | | Posts: Read | $0.005 | | --- | --- | | User: Read | $0.010 | | Following/Followers: Read | $0.010 | | DM Event: Read | $0.010 | | Like: Read | $0.001 | | Owned reads (your own data) | $0.001 | Source: [X API pricing, docs.x.com](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing). X lists no separate price for media uploads and does not define "with URL"; the calculator leaves the first blank and applies the second to posts with a link. ## What counts as a post and what counts as a read Each example is one account over a 30 day cycle. **Each post is one request** A thread of six posts is six create requests. 150 posts×$0.015=$2.25 **Posts with a link are their own line** X lists Post: Create (with URL) separately, at a much higher price. 150 posts×$0.200=$30.00 **Reads count per resource returned** A call that returns 20 posts is 20 post reads, not one. 6,000 posts×$0.005=$30.00 **Your own data is cheaper** Owned reads of your own posts, mentions or followers. 600 mentions×$0.001=$0.60 ## Rate limit windows, explained Prices decide what you pay; limits decide how fast you can go. X's [rate limits page](https://docs.x.com/x-api/fundamentals/rate-limits) sets a limit per endpoint over a window, usually 15 minutes or 24 hours. Two kinds of limit Per user One bucket per X account, using its own token. Per app One bucket for everything your app sends. It can fill while each account is fine. One 15 minute window for one account. Each mark is a create request; the tall stacks are threads. The window allows 100; this account used 28. Every response carries three headers - `x-rate-limit-limit` - `x-rate-limit-remaining` - `x-rate-limit-reset` Go over and X answers with HTTP 429. The reset header is a Unix timestamp. | Endpoint | Per app | Per user | | --- | --- | --- | | Create a post | App: 10,000 per 24 hours | User: 100 per 15 minutes | | Delete a post | App: Not listed | User: 50 per 15 minutes | | Upload media (/2/media/upload) | App: 50,000 per 24 hours | User: 500 per 15 minutes | | Mentions timeline (/2/users/:id/mentions) | App: 450 per 15 minutes | User: 300 per 15 minutes | | Recent search | App: 450 per 15 minutes | User: 300 per 15 minutes | | Look up users (/2/users/by) | App: 300 per 15 minutes | User: 900 per 15 minutes | | The authenticated user (/2/users/me) | App: Not listed | User: 75 per 15 minutes | Separate from the API: X's help center describes a [limit of 2,400 posts per account per day](https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-limits), split into smaller intervals, whichever app posts. ## How to stay within the X API limits Design around the limits from day one. Never get around them by splitting one workload across extra apps or accounts. - ### Queue every write: Let a worker send posts at a steady pace. - ### Read the headers: Slow down before x-rate-limit-remaining hits zero. - ### Back off on 429: Wait for the reset time, then longer each retry. - ### Never retry a post blindly: A timed out create may have worked. Check first. - ### Poll less, cache more: Repeat reads are free only within the same UTC day. - ### Set a spending limit: So a bug in a loop cannot drain your credits. Kairo Post publishes through the official X API from durable queues, respects rate limits across every worker and never repeats a public action on retry. Build on the same rules with the [Kairo Post API and webhooks](https://kairopost.com/features/developers), or see [all tools](https://kairopost.com/tools). ## X API cost questions - [X API pricing](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing) - [X API rate limits](https://docs.x.com/x-api/fundamentals/rate-limits) - [Getting access to the X API](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/getting-access) - [Understanding X limits](https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-limits) ### How much does the X API cost? As of 30 September 2026, X documents pay per use pricing with no subscription. You buy credits and each request is charged, for example $0.015 to create a post and $0.005 per post read. Check X's pricing page first, because it changes. ### Is there a free tier of the X API? X's pricing page, checked on 30 September 2026, describes pay per use pricing and lists no free tier. You pay for what you use from prepaid credits. ### How many posts can I publish through the X API? X's rate limits page lists 100 post creations per user every 15 minutes and 10,000 per app every 24 hours. X's help center also describes 2,400 posts per account per day, however you post. ### Do I pay again if I read the same post twice? Not within the same day. X's pricing page says resources are deduplicated within a 24 hour UTC day, so a post you were already charged for that day costs nothing extra. ### What are owned reads? Requests your own developer app makes for your own data, such as your posts, mentions, followers and bookmarks. X prices them at $0.001 per resource. Reading other accounts' data costs the standard rates. ### What happens when I hit a rate limit? X answers with HTTP 429. The x-rate-limit-reset header says when the window resets. Wait until then and retry, with exponential backoff if errors continue. Do not try to get around the limit. ### Can I set a spending limit? Yes. X's pricing page describes a spending limit per billing cycle, after which requests are blocked, and optional auto recharge that tops up credits below a threshold you set. ### Does this calculator call the X API? No. It runs in your browser from the published figures on this page, with no sign up and no cost. Nothing is sent to X or to us. Written by Jonas Ben , founder of Kairo Post. Updated 30 September 2026 . ## More tools [All tools](https://kairopost.com/tools) - [UTM link builder Tag links so you know which posts drive visits.](https://kairopost.com/tools/utm-builder) - [Webhook signature verifier Check an HMAC SHA256 signature privately.](https://kairopost.com/tools/webhook-signature-verifier) - [X character counter Count characters exactly the way X does.](https://kairopost.com/tools/x-character-counter) ## Post at the right moment. Starting today. Connect an account, describe your voice and let Kairo Post do the legwork. [Get started](https://app.kairopost.com/signup) [See pricing](https://kairopost.com/pricing)