# X API pricing, explained for people who post

X's pay-per-use API has no required monthly subscription. You buy credits in X's Developer Console, and usage is paid
from them. A plain post costs a cent and a half; a post with a link costs 20 cents.

Every price here comes from X's own [pricing page](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/pricing) and its
[delete-post reference](https://docs.x.com/x-api/posts/delete-post), checked on October 25, 2026. X says its prices can
change and that the Developer Console always shows the current ones, so check there before you budget.

## What each action costs

| What you do | X bills it as | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Post without a link | Post: Create | $0.015 a post |
| Post with a link | Post: Create (with URL) | $0.200 a post |
| Add alt text to an image | Media Metadata | $0.005 a request |
| Upload an image or video | Not in X's table | Not listed |
| Read a post, such as checking it went out | Posts: Read | $0.005 a post |
| Look up an account, such as an @mention | User: Read | $0.010 an account |
| Delete a post | Content: Manage | $0.005 a request |

- **A link costs more than 13 plain posts.** X's table doesn't say what counts as a URL, so plan as if any link in the
  text does.
- **A thread is one post per part.** A five-part thread of plain text costs $0.075. Put a link in one part and that part
  costs $0.200, so the thread costs $0.260.
- **Media uploads have no listed price.** X's table has no row for uploading images or video, so the totals below leave
  it out.
- **Reads normally count once a day.** X deduplicates a post or an account within each UTC day, resetting at midnight.
  It calls this a soft guarantee: an outage or another edge case can cause another charge.
- **Owned Reads cost $0.001 a resource on eligible endpoints.** Your authenticated account must own the developer app,
  and the endpoint must be on X's list, such as `GET /2/users/{id}/tweets`. A read of an individual post by ID isn't on
  that list; don't assume every read of your own post gets the discount.
- X also lists Post: Create (summoned) at $0.010 without saying on that page which posts it covers. The totals below
  don't use it.

## What a month of posting costs

A 30-day month, one account, each post its own request:

| Posts a day | Text only | Every post has a link | With alt text and one read-back |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (30 a month) | $0.45 | $6.00 | $0.75 |
| 3 (90 a month) | $1.35 | $18.00 | $2.25 |
| 10 (300 a month) | $4.50 | $60.00 | $7.50 |

The last column is a post without a link, alt text on one image, and one read of the post afterwards: $0.025 a post.
These are usage estimates from the listed rates, excluding any media-upload charge and any other calls your app makes.
They don't assume free credits or an Owned Reads discount.

Links set the bill. Three posts a day with a link in one of them costs $6.90 a month, and $6.00 of that is the links.

## Keeping the bill in check

- **Set a spending limit** in the Developer Console. Once it's reached, X blocks every request, posts included, until
  the next billing cycle.
- **Watch the balance.** Credits are taken as you go. A balance can dip slightly below zero, and then X blocks requests
  until you add credits.
- **Promotional credits aren't a lower rate.** X offers eligible accounts a one-time $20 after their first purchase
  with a qualifying saved card, and a match of their first successful auto-recharge up to $50. These offers have card
  and account conditions; promotional credits expire after three months
  ([X's free credits page](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/free-credits)). Neither offer is used in the totals.

## Posting through Flaghand

You don't buy X credits to post through Flaghand: Flaghand prepays X's API. If those credits ever run out, your approved
posts are held, not lost, and you retry them from the desk once they're topped up
([X credits and spend](https://app.flaghand.com/docs/x-ops)). After each X post, Flaghand reads it back and compares it with what you
approved ([how that works](/docs/guides/let-an-ai-agent-post-safely)).

[Get access to Flaghand](/schedule).

[All guides](/docs/guides.md)