X is testing a pay-per-use pricing model for its API

After two years of revamping its developer programs and pricing, X is expanding the closed beta of its API pay-per-use plan to more developers.

The social network is accepting applications from developers who want to be part of the program, the company’s developer account wrote in a post on X.

“We are expanding the closed beta for both new and pro users who want to ship amazing apps on the X,” the post read.

X’s new API page shows costs for different types of requests, such as reading, creating posts, direct messages, trends, and checking out bookmarks. The page also contains a calculator that allows developers to estimate how much an API usage package might cost. This is different from the older X system, where all orders cost the same.

A section on the new API page compares the new prices to the old tier-based system. It is not yet clear whether X eventually wants to do away with the old plan-based system. We’ve asked X to clarify the matter and will update this story if we hear back.

The closed beta comes two years after X overhauled its API pricing. In early 2023, the company began blocking third-party clients of the app, and in February 2023, the company said it would end free access to its API, shutting down several apps.

Then in March 2023, the social network introduced a $100 per month Basic tier (which now costs $200 per month) as well as a $42,000 per month Enterprise tier. A few months later, it launched a $5,000 per month Pro plan that gave developers the ability to fetch 1 million tweets per month, publish 300,000 tweets per month, and gave them access to the full archive search endpoint.

However, the plans proved inadequate or were simply not affordable for many developers. To mitigate this, last year the company released additional packages for apps that reached the limits of its API layer.

With this new usage-based plan, X could win back developers who wanted to integrate their apps with the social network, or intended to create apps that worked with it.