Twitter To Charge $100 for Basic Tier Access to Its API

Twitter's third-party app developers may have to pay quite a fee to access Twitter's API.

Twitter recently announced that third-party app developers who wish to gain access to its API would need to pay a monthly fee for them to do so.

The company previously announced it is it would no longer offer API access to third-party developers for free in favor of a new monetization scheme that requires them to pay for continued access.

Twitter API Access Fee Details

Twitter mentioned on its Twitter Dev account that its third-party app developers would need to pay $100 monthly to avail of its basic access tier that offers low-level API usage and access to Ads API.

Unfortunately, the company didn't specify what it meant by "low-level API usage."

The company mentioned that this move is a new chapter for its API to increase in quality, reduce spam, and "enable a thriving ecosystem."

Meanwhile, Twitter's announcement also stated it would depreciate its Premium API, and as such, those who are subscribed to Premium can apply for Enterprise to continue using the endpoints they availed.

Enterprise is one of Twitter's APIs that offers the highest level of access and reliability to those who depend on Twitter data, unlike Twitter's other API, per its official webpage.

Twitter previously planned to shut down free access to its API on Feb. 9 but changed its mind and announced it is extending its deadline to Feb. 13, per Tech Crunch. With this new monetization scheme, the extension may have been meant to give third-party developers time to plan their changes.

Regardless, many third-party developers were angered by Twitter's decision to ban them from accessing its API for their apps out of the blue due to them creating or attempting to "create a substitute or similar service or product to the Twitter Applications."

Craig Hockenberry, principal at Iconfactory, said that Twitter didn't give any advance notice to its creators and that no one is explaining what happened.

Why Monetize APIs?

The company's use of this new monetization scheme is in line with its current efforts to create a positive cash flow and turn itself into a profitable company under Elon Musk's management.

You may remember that the company previously put many of its properties to auction, including a bird statue, a six-foot decorative planter shaped like an "@" sign, and a blue electric light show like the Twitter bird emblem to pay rent for its many offices worldwide.

Additionally, Musk mentioned that bot scammers and spammers had been abusing Twitter's free API access, along with threatening Twitter's ad business in the process.

Bots and spammers can affect Twitter's ad business and revenue as they can artificially inflate both engagement and user growth levels on the app, as well as create fake accounts - the reason why Musk abruptly pulled the plug on its purchase of Twitter in 2022.

Interestingly, Twitter will still retain its free API access, but in a new form. This new access will provide limited Tweet creation of up to 1,500 tweets per month for a single authenticated user token, including Login with Twitter.