Findings
- Only 4 read others’ public content self-serve: X, YouTube, Zhihu and Telegram.
- 6 need approval or are limited: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest and Reddit. TikTok’s Research API is only for academic and not-for-profit researchers; Reddit has taken no new requests for public API access since 2026-10-31.
- The official docs of 8 offer no API for others’ public content: LinkedIn, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo, WeChat Articles, Bilibili, Kuaishou and WeChat Channels.
- Chinese platforms differ most: of 8, only Zhihu offers an official API for public content.
- Only X states a price per item read: $0.005 a post. YouTube is free within its quota; Zhihu has a daily free quota and then charges per call; the pages checked for the others state no public reading price.
- 1,000 X posts: $5.00 officially, $0.20–$0.33 per call, a factor of 15–25. That is reading cost only: the official API also gives you the platform’s own permission and terms, as “When to use the official API” explains.
Platform by platform
“—” means the page checked does not state this. Dates are the day checked, all in 2026.
| Platform | Reads others’ public content? | Who can use it, what it requires | Official price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | Yes, self-serve | Any developer: sign up in the developer console and buy prepaid credits | $0.005 per post read, $0.010 per user read; up to 3 million posts per billing cycle, then an Enterprise plan; X says prices may change | docs.x.com, 10-29 |
| YouTube | Yes, self-serve | A Google Cloud project and an API key | Free within the quota: by default 100 search.list calls a day and 10,000 units for the other endpoints. Captions only for videos you can edit | developers.google.com, 10-29 |
| Zhihu | Yes, self-serve | A Zhihu user creates an access key; search, the hot list, answers under a question | A daily free quota, then paid per call | developer.zhihu.com, 10-17 |
| Telegram | Yes, self-serve | Any account can get an api_id or make a bot. A bot receives messages only from channels it is in; an api_id signs in as a user under the API Terms | The api_id page states no fee | core.telegram.org, 10-30 |
| TikTok | Review, no business use | The Research API is for approved academic and not-for-profit researchers in eligible regions; the Display API reads only users who authorise the app | The page states no price | developers.tiktok.com, 10-17 |
| Review | Through Business or Creator accounts; serving accounts you don’t manage needs App Review and Business Verification; at most 30 hashtags per account in a rolling 7 days | The overview states no price | developers.facebook.com, 10-17 | |
| Approval | Public Page content needs Page Public Content Access, App Review and business verification, and maybe more contracts | — | developers.facebook.com, 10-17 | |
| Threads | Approval | Mainly for users who authorise the app; keyword search of public posts needs approval | — | developers.facebook.com, 10-17 |
| Review | For creators, advertisers and merchants; Trial access, then a further review for Standard; the docs describe no public content search | — | developers.pinterest.com, 10-17 | |
| New requests closed; agreement for business use | Under its Data API Terms, commercial use and research beyond the rate limits need a separate agreement; public access closes in March 2027 | The terms state no price; commercial terms are agreed with Reddit | Reddit’s post, 11-05 | |
| No | Self-serve permissions cover signing in and posting on a member’s behalf; other APIs need partner program approval | The page states no price | learn.microsoft.com, 10-30 | |
| Xiaohongshu | No | The open platform offers login only, with the basic profile of users who authorise the app | The page states no price | openaccount.xiaohongshu.com, 10-17 |
| Douyin | No | Video data for users who authorise the app, with a permission applied for in the console | — | open.douyin.com, 10-17 |
| No | OAuth; returns only the authorised user’s own posts | — | open.weibo.com, 10-17 | |
| WeChat Articles | No | The APIs manage your own account’s content | — | developers.weixin.qq.com, 11-05 |
| Bilibili | No | Returns only the videos and stats of users who authorise the app, each scope applied for | — | openhome.bilibili.com, 10-17 |
| Kuaishou | No | Video endpoints return only users who authorise the app | — | open.kuaishou.com, 10-17 |
| WeChat Channels | No | The docs describe no API for public posts; mini programs read live-stream info only for the same or an associated entity | — | developers.weixin.qq.com, 10-17 |
| Meta Ad Library | Yes, within a scope | A Facebook account, identity and location checks, a developer account; ads about social issues, elections or politics anywhere, and all ads delivered in the UK and EU | — | facebook.com, 10-17 |
| Google Ads Transparency | Partly | A free public dataset for the EEA and Turkey; an API for EEA ads; other regions may be open only to regulators and self-regulatory organisations | The dataset is free | Google Cloud, 10-17 |
The last two rows are ad libraries and are not among the 18 social platforms.
Reddit’s dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-31 | New requests for public API access are no longer accepted |
| 2026-11-13 | RSS feeds stop |
| 2027-01-12 | API access starts to close for apps and users that have not registered or responded to Reddit’s outreach |
| 2027-03 | Public access closes for all remaining apps and users (Reddit gave no day) |
Each step and whom it affects are on the Reddit API changes timeline.
What 1,000 reads cost
The official column comes from the table above. The per-call column is this site: calls = 1,000 ÷ what one call typically returns, rounded up; credits = calls × the call’s credits; dollars at the lowest purchase tier ($1 = 300 credits) and the highest ($1 = 500 credits).
| What you read | Official | One call typically returns | Calls × credits | Credits | Per call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X post search | $5.00 | 20 | 50 × 2 | 100 | $0.33–$0.20 |
| YouTube comments | Free within the quota | 20 | 50 × 2 | 100 | $0.33–$0.20 |
| Zhihu search | Free quota, then per call | 18 | 56 × 2 | 112 | $0.37–$0.22 |
| Reddit search | Agreed with Reddit | 7 | 143 × 2 | 286 | $0.95–$0.57 |
| Reddit comments | Agreed with Reddit | 8 | 125 × 2 | 250 | $0.83–$0.50 |
| TikTok comments | Researchers only | 50 | 20 × 2 | 40 | $0.13–$0.08 |
| Instagram comments | Review, no price stated | 15 | 67 × 2 | 134 | $0.45–$0.27 |
| LinkedIn posts | Not with open permissions | 10 | 100 × 2 | 200 | $0.67–$0.40 |
| Xiaohongshu search | No such API | 20 | 50 × 12 | 600 | $2.00–$1.20 |
| Xiaohongshu comments | No such API | 10 | 100 × 12 | 1,200 | $4.00–$2.40 |
| Douyin search | No such API | 8 | 125 × 12 | 1,500 | $5.00–$3.00 |
| Douyin comments | No such API | 20 | 50 × 2 | 100 | $0.33–$0.20 |
| Weibo search | No such API | 10 | 100 × 2 | 200 | $0.67–$0.40 |
| Bilibili comments | No such API | 20 | 50 × 2 | 100 | $0.33–$0.20 |
Only X can be compared directly. $5.00 ÷ $0.33 ≈ 15 times, $5.00 ÷ $0.20 = 25 times. The two dearest per-call rows in this table (Douyin search, Xiaohongshu comments) come to $4–$5 per 1,000 at the first tier, close to X’s official price.
Put your own numbers into the X API cost calculator.
When to use the official API
- YouTube, when the quota is enough. Under 100 searches and 10,000 units a day, it costs nothing. What it does not give is captions of any public video.
- Zhihu’s free quota first. Within the daily free quota, it costs nothing.
- Your own account, posting, managing content. These are what official APIs are for; this site only reads what is publicly visible on a platform.
- Anything that needs the platform’s direct permission or a contract: talk to the platform. Business use of Reddit needs a separate agreement, and LinkedIn APIs beyond the self-serve permissions need partner approval.
- Large volumes on X: count the cap. Pay-per-use stops at 3 million posts per billing cycle; more needs an Enterprise plan.
Where there is no official API or its price does not fit, a per-call API is worth a look: reading what is publicly visible on Chinese platforms, or reading across platforms in one format.
Limits
- These facts change. The oldest check is 2026-10-17, X says its prices may change, and Reddit’s dates keep arriving. Look at the source before you rely on a row.
- “Not documented” is not “does not exist”. Platforms may have private partner routes; this covers what public pages show.
- The groups are our summary. Telegram counts as self-serve, yet a bot reads only channels it is in and an api_id signs in as a user. Each platform’s own words are on its official API page and in the source links.
- The per-call sums use typical values. What one call returns varies, and a page that is not full is still one call, so fewer results make each dearer. Purchases start at $10 (3,000 credits), and the highest tier starts at $200.
- These are not the same product. Official and per-call APIs differ in fields, rate limits and terms. This table sums reading cost; it does not compare completeness.
- No other third-party service is covered. This report compares official APIs and this site’s own prices only.