Social Media API Costs in 2026: LurkAPI vs Alternatives
Compare social media API costs for LurkAPI, ScrapeCreators, TwitterAPI.io, and X, with billing units, prepaid pack prices, and practical workload examples.
A social media API advertised at $0.15 per thousand can cost more for a page of posts than one advertised at $0.50 per thousand. The difference is what gets counted: requests, credits, or returned records. Here is how to compare the bill for the work your application actually needs.
Prices checked September 30, 2026, in USD, before taxes. LurkAPI is part of our product portfolio. This is a comparison of published pricing and documented capabilities, not a latency or reliability benchmark. Promotions, bonus credits, and negotiated discounts are excluded.
LurkAPI is a strong starting point for a small project across several platforms: its entry pack is $10, and a one-credit request uses $0.0005 of that pack. For individual X tweet lookups, TwitterAPI.io has a lower published unit rate. For reply searches, archives, or writes, choose a provider that actually supports those operations before comparing prices.
Social media API pricing at a glance
| Provider | Published rate | What is counted | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| LurkAPI | $0.199–$0.50 / 1,000 credits | Endpoint credits per request or page | Public data across 14 platforms |
| TwitterAPI.io | $0.15 / 1,000 tweets | Returned tweets; call minimum applies | X-focused post collection |
| ScrapeCreators | $0.994–$1.88 / 1,000 credits | Most endpoints: 1 credit per request | Broader platform and endpoint coverage |
| Official X API | $5 / 1,000 standard Post reads | Returned resources | First-party search, archives, and writes |
These rates are not equivalent units. A request that returns 20 posts can use one request credit while a per-record service counts 20 records. Endpoint multipliers, partial pages, and extra profile reads can change the result. Source links appear beside each provider below.
1. LurkAPI — Best starting point for mixed-platform public data
LurkAPI uses one API key for public data from platforms including X, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. Each endpoint states its credit cost. Its three X endpoints currently cost one credit each: tweet, profile, and user tweets.
| Pack | Cash purchase | Credits | Value used by 1,000 one-credit calls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $10 | 20,000 | $0.50 |
| Growth | $49 | 150,000 | $0.3267 |
| Scale | $199 | 1,000,000 | $0.199 |
The $0.199 rate requires buying the $199 pack. You cannot purchase just $0.199 of credits. Purchased credits never expire; new accounts receive 100 credits, and a balance below 25 is topped up to 25 once a day. The top-up does not add 25 to an already higher balance. Published LurkAPI pricing.
Pros
- $10 entry pack for mixed-platform projects
- One balance across supported platforms
- Per-page billing can reward multi-record responses
- Endpoint docs and playgrounds show the contract before integration
Cons
- X replies, search, and follower lists are not current endpoints
- Cache hits still consume credits
- Timelines can be ranked samples for large accounts
- Low unit rates require buying larger packs
2. TwitterAPI.io — Low published cost for individual X posts
TwitterAPI.io publishes $0.15 per 1,000 returned tweets and $0.18 per 1,000 profiles. Its minimum is $0.00015 per API call, with an exception for bulk data responses. Empty calls can therefore still cost money. Recharged credits do not expire; bonus credits have a separate expiration. Official pricing.
Pros
- Lower rate than LurkAPI for one returned tweet per call
- Billing follows returned tweet volume
Cons
- X-specific rather than a shared cross-platform balance
- A multi-post page is billed for its returned tweets
- Minimum call charges matter for empty polling
3. ScrapeCreators — Broader endpoint coverage and free cached results
ScrapeCreators lists $47 for 25,000 credits and $497 for 500,000. That is $1.88 and $0.994 per 1,000 credits; the website rounds the latter to $0.99. Most endpoints use one credit per request, with exceptions documented separately. Its paid credits do not expire and cached responses are advertised as free. Its catalog is broader than LurkAPI's, so check whether it covers an operation LurkAPI lacks. Official pricing and catalog.
Pros
- Broader published platform and endpoint catalog
- Free cached results can help repeated reads
Cons
- Higher published credit price for comparable uncached one-credit calls
- Larger entry purchase
- Endpoint exceptions prevent a universal one-credit estimate
4. Official X API — First-party capabilities for a different workload
X currently lists standard Post reads at $0.005 per resource, or $5 per 1,000. User reads are separate at $0.010 each. Qualifying owned-data endpoints cost $0.001 per resource; that discount does not apply to every conversation search. X documents resource deduplication within a UTC day as a soft guarantee. Use its search and archive APIs when those capabilities matter. Official X pricing.
Pros
- First-party search and supported write operations
- Qualifying owned-data pricing and daily deduplication
Cons
- Higher standard Post read rate
- Expanded user resources can add cost
- Developer access and endpoint limits still apply
Worked example: 1,000 individual tweet lookups
Assume each successful request returns one useful tweet. With LurkAPI, 1,000 calls consume 1,000 credits: $0.50 of Starter or $0.199 of Scale. TwitterAPI.io's published tweet rate gives $0.15. Standard official X Post reads give $5 before any extra resources. In this workload, LurkAPI is not the cheapest published option.
Worked example: 1,000 posts from account timelines
Now assume every LurkAPI user-tweets page provides 20 distinct useful posts. You need 50 calls, so Starter consumption is $0.025 and Scale consumption is $0.00995. TwitterAPI.io's per-tweet rate remains $0.15 for 1,000 returned tweets. This is an arithmetic scenario, not an observed benchmark or a promise that every page contains 20 useful records.
LurkAPI timelines can contain reposts, pins, fewer items, or a ranked snapshot with no further cursor. They are not a reply feed. Deduplication and your choice of useful records affect yield. If only half of each page is useful, the request-based cost per useful post doubles.
Credit consumption versus the amount you pay today
| One-credit calls needed | Lowest LurkAPI pack outlay* | Purchased credits | Credits left after the workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | $10: 1 Starter | 20,000 | 10,000 |
| 100,000 | $49: 1 Growth | 150,000 | 50,000 |
| 1,000,000 | $199: 1 Scale | 1,000,000 | 0 |
*Calculated from the published packs, starting with zero paid credits, excluding free grants and taxes. These are purchases for a workload, not monthly subscription prices. Unused purchased credits remain available.
A budget model you can reuse
credits = Σ(requests per endpoint × credits per request)
consumed value = credits × pack price ÷ pack credits
cost per useful record = total consumed value ÷ distinct useful records
Budget pagination and repeat polling explicitly. A twice-daily refresh of 100 accounts is about 6,000 profile calls in a 30-day month, using $3 of Starter credits, while the initial purchase is still $10. Add your database, processing, and any separate AI service costs. Measure useful yield on a representative sample before scaling.
Which API should you choose?
| Your requirement | Start evaluating | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|
| Small project across several public platforms | LurkAPI | Exact endpoint coverage and response fields |
| Many independent X tweet lookups | TwitterAPI.io | Call minimums and the required endpoint |
| An operation outside LurkAPI's catalog | ScrapeCreators | Endpoint cost and cache eligibility |
| X replies, historical search, or writes | Official X API | Access, date window, resource billing |
For a project that needs public profiles, post metadata, or supported timeline pages across networks, LurkAPI's $10 entry pack makes an inexpensive starting point. Choose on capability first, then compare consumption and pack outlay. For a practical replies workflow, read our sister site's guide to getting replies from Twitter/X.
Explore the endpoint before choosing a pack
Use the docs and playground to confirm that LurkAPI returns the fields your application needs.
Check out LurkAPIFrequently Asked Questions
What does a social media API cost per 1,000 requests?+
Is LurkAPI always cheaper for Twitter/X data?+
Do LurkAPI credits expire or require a subscription?+
Can I get Twitter/X replies through LurkAPI?+
Are cache hits and failed requests free?+
How should I estimate my actual budget?+
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