# How to let AI read X when the official API is too expensive

X's official API charges for every post and user it returns, from prepaid credits. SocialToAI reads publicly visible posts, comments, accounts and trends on X per call instead, from 1 credit a call, with no X developer account: one MCP address for your AI client, or one key over HTTP. Failed calls are free.

- Page: https://socialtoai.com/how-to/read-x-when-the-official-api-is-too-expensive/
- Last updated: 2026-10-29

## What X's official API charges

X offers an official API for posts, users and search. Developers sign up in the X developer console and pay per use with prepaid credits; higher volumes need an Enterprise plan.

Source: [X's developer documentation](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing), checked 2026-10-17.

X charges per resource returned, from prepaid credits: $0.005 for each post read and $0.010 for each user read. Pay-per-use plans are capped at 3 million post reads per billing cycle; more needs an Enterprise plan. X says its prices are subject to change.

Source: [X API pricing (docs.x.com)](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing), read 2026-10-29. Rules change; the platform's own pages are the authority.

## A thousand posts, both ways

X charges per post returned: a thousand posts are $5.00 at its price of $0.005 a post (read 2026-10-29). SocialToAI charges per call: `x.search` returns a page of up to 20 posts (typically 20) for 2 credits, so a thousand posts take about 50 calls, 100 credits, $0.33 at the first pack. An estimate: pages can hold fewer posts.

| Posts | X's own API | Calls here | Here, at the first pack |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1,000 | $5.00 | 50 | $0.33 |
| 10,000 | $50.00 | 500 | $3.33 |
| 100,000 | $500.00 | 5,000 | $33.33 |
| 3,000,000 | $15,000.00 | 150,000 | $1,000.00 |

3,000,000 posts is the most X's pay-per-use plans read in a billing cycle. To price your own mix of calls, use the [cost estimator](https://socialtoai.com/free-tools/api-cost-estimator.md) or the [X API pricing calculator](https://socialtoai.com/free-tools/x-api-cost-calculator.md).

## Reading X with SocialToAI

| Call | What it returns | Price key | Credits |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Search](https://socialtoai.com/x-search-api.md) | Find posts by keyword: text, author, likes, comment count, views and publish time. | `x.search` | 2 |
| [Search · newest first](https://socialtoai.com/x-search-api.md) | Find posts by keyword: text, author, likes, comment count, views and publish time. | `x.search:latest` | 2 |
| [Search · accounts instead of posts](https://socialtoai.com/x-search-api.md) | Find accounts by keyword: name, bio, followers, following and post count. | `x.search:user` | 5 |
| [Trending](https://socialtoai.com/x-trending-api.md) | What is trending now: title, rank and heat. | `x.trending` | 6 |
| [Detail](https://socialtoai.com/x-detail-api.md) | One post by ID or link: text, author, likes, comment count, views and publish time. | `x.detail` | 1 |
| [Comments](https://socialtoai.com/x-comments-api.md) | The comments under one post: text, likes, reply count and time. | `x.comments` | 2 |
| [User Profile](https://socialtoai.com/x-user-profile-api.md) | One account: name, bio, followers, following and post count. | `x.user_profile` | 1 |
| [User Posts](https://socialtoai.com/x-user-posts-api.md) | The recent posts of one account. | `x.user_posts` | 2 |
| [Community profile](https://socialtoai.com/x-community-api.md) | Get an X community by its ID. | `x.community` | 1 |
| [Community posts](https://socialtoai.com/x-community-posts-api.md) | Get a page of the posts in an X community by the community's ID. | `x.community_posts` | 4 |

**One call: Search**

```
curl https://api.socialtoai.com/v1/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOCIALTOAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "platform": "x",
    "query": "weather forecast"
  }'
```

## In your AI client

Add one MCP server to your AI client: `https://mcp.socialtoai.com/mcp`. Clients that sign in (Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) open a sign-in page: sign in with the code we email you and press Allow, no key to copy. Others send a key in a header. Each client's own steps are on [the MCP page](https://socialtoai.com/mcp.md).

| Ask | Price key | Credits |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Search X for posts about "weather forecast". | `x.search` | 2 |
| What has this X account posted lately: NASA | `x.user_posts` | 2 |
| Read this X post: 2108198226532708497 | `x.detail` | 1 |
| Read the comments under this X post: 2108198226532708497 | `x.comments` | 2 |

## What it costs

One `x.search` call costs 2 credits (≈ $0.004–$0.0067); a thousand cost 2,000 credits, $6.67 at the first pack and $4.00 at the largest. Failed calls are free, and every answer states what it charged. 100 free credits on sign-up, no card.

- [X (Twitter) API](https://socialtoai.com/platforms/x.md): Every call on X and its credits.
- [Does X have an API?](https://socialtoai.com/does-x-have-an-api.md): What its own API allows, with sources.
- [X API cost calculator](https://socialtoai.com/free-tools/x-api-cost-calculator.md): A month of reads at X's prices, and per call.
- [X (Twitter) MCP server](https://socialtoai.com/mcp/x.md): Recorded conversations and their cost.