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X API Free Credits 2026: How to Get $70 and When It Expires

X gives new pay-per-use accounts up to $70 in X API free credits. How to earn the $20 and the $50 match, what they read, and why they expire in 3 months.


Published · Updated · 7 min read · 阅读中文版 · 日本語で読む

Cover image: $70 once, gone in 3 months

X API free credits are two one-time bonuses, worth up to $70, for new pay-per-use accounts that pay first.

This guide is for developers on the X (Twitter) API who want the bonus and need to know the catch. You get X's exact rules, what the credits read, and when they expire. We checked every rule on X's own pages on 26 October 2026.

See what you have left, and when each grant expires, with this call from X's API reference:

curl "https://api.x.com/2/usage/credits" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BEARER_TOKEN"
$20after your first credit purchase
$50most X adds to your first auto-recharge
3 monthsuntil each free grant expires
14,000posts that $70 reads

How to get X API free credits, step by step

X's free-credits page lists two offers. Both are "one-time per account" and "applied automatically (no code, voucher, or form)."

  1. Sign in at console.x.comX needs a verified phone number before you buy credits.
  2. Save a credit or debit cardIt must be the account's first card. Prepaid cards don't count.
  3. Buy credits once$20 appears under Billing, then Credits, in about a minute.
  4. Turn on auto-rechargeSet the recharge amount to $50 for the full match.
  5. Let the first recharge runX matches it once your card is charged.

The $20 has strict rules. Your account must never have paid X before, and the card must be its first. Each card earns the credit once, across all accounts.

Check the date on any guide you read. X's 2 October changelog entry says saving a card earned the bonus. Since 13 October 2026, it comes only after a first purchase.

How the auto-recharge match works

X matches your first successful auto-recharge, up to $50. Turning the setting on earns nothing by itself, and it needs a saved card set as your default.

The match comes when your balance drops below your trigger and the charge goes through. A declined card earns nothing until a later first recharge succeeds.

X's match on your first auto-recharge
Recharge of $5$5
Recharge of $20$20
Recharge of $50$50
Recharge of $100$50
Recharge of $500$50

So set the recharge amount to $50 before your first one runs. Later recharges get no bonus.

Accounts that already used auto-recharge when X launched the offer don't qualify.

The full $70 isn't free to reach. Here is the math on X's own example of a $10 first purchase:

  • You pay a $10 first purchase, then a $50 recharge: $60 in all.
  • X adds $20, then a $50 match.
  • You hold $130 of credit, and X spends the free part first.

What $20 and $70 in free X API credits buy

Divide the credit by X's price per item. As of October 2026, X's pricing page charges $0.005 per post read. A user profile, follower or followed account costs twice that.

$20 ÷ $0.005 per post    =  4,000 posts
$20 ÷ $0.010 per profile =  2,000 profiles
$70 ÷ $0.005 per post    = 14,000 posts
$70 ÷ $0.010 per profile =  7,000 profiles

Recent search returns up to 100 posts a page, so $20 buys 40 full pages.

Free credit Posts read Profiles read Your own data
$20 4,000 2,000 20,000
$50 10,000 5,000 50,000
$70 14,000 7,000 70,000

"Your own data" uses X's Owned Reads rate of $0.001. It covers your own posts, followers and bookmarks, read with your own user token.

The credits pay for writes too:

  • Plain posts: $20 ÷ $0.015 = 1,333.
  • Posts with a link: $20 ÷ $0.200 = 100.

Reads can stretch further. X usually bills a post once per UTC day, however many searches return it, and failed requests cost nothing. Every other rate is in our X API pricing guide.

Do X API credits expire?

Free credits do, and purchased ones don't. Two of X's own pages settle it:

  • Free credits "expire 3 months after they are granted," says X's free-credits page. Unused ones are "removed from your balance."
  • Credits you buy follow X's pay-per-use agreement: "Credits do not expire unless otherwise specified."

X spends free credits first, so normal use burns them before your own. Your two grants can expire on different days, because X grants them at different times.

Expiry mostly hurts light users. At 100 posts a day, the $20 lasts 40 days. Read fewer than about 45 posts a day, and part of it expires unused.

The call at the top shows where you stand. X's reference lists these fields:

  • free_grants: each grant's amount and expires_at, soonest expiry first.
  • free_balance: what's left across your unexpired grants.
  • total_balance: what you can spend, free and bought together.

We sent that call with a made-up token on 26 October 2026 and got a 401, so the path is live. The fields above come from X's reference, not from our account.

Is there an X API credits voucher?

No, not for new accounts. X's free-credits page says its credits come with "no code, voucher, or form."

X has named a voucher only once, when pay-per-use launched:

  • Who got it: "Recently active Legacy Free tier users," says X's changelog for 6 February 2026.
  • What they got: "a one-time $10 voucher."
  • Since then: no other voucher or promo code on X's pages, as of 26 October 2026.

Free X API credits vs free tiers elsewhere

X's $70 reads the most posts in one go, but you pay first and it comes once. We run Weir, one of the alternatives, so weigh this section knowing that.

Free X posts over three months
X API, $70 after you pay14,000
TwitterAPI.io, $1 trialabout 6,600
Weir, three monthly grantsabout 14,280

We count three months because that's how long X's credits last. Weir's line assumes you use each month's grant, since it ends with the month.

  • TwitterAPI.io gives new accounts "up to $1 of free credits," with no card, and they "expire after 31 days." At its rate of $0.15 per 1,000 tweets, that reads about 6,600.
  • Weir gives you 5,000 credits every month, with no card. Each post costs 1 credit, plus 1 per call, which reads about 4,760 posts in pages of 20.

Our free Twitter API guide covers every other $0 route.

When not to use Weir

  • You need to post, reply or DM. X's credits pay for writes, and Weir is read-only.
  • You read your own account. X's Owned Reads make $20 last for 20,000 items.
  • You need X's own terms, or a contract with X.
  • Price per tweet matters most. TwitterAPI.io lists $0.15 per 1,000 tweets, below our $5 pack's rate.

Weir isn't licensed by X, so access can change. Check X's terms for your use; this isn't legal advice.

FAQ

Do X API credits expire?

Free ones do. X's $20 and $50 bonuses expire 3 months after X grants them, and the unused part is removed. Credits you buy don't expire "unless otherwise specified," according to X's pay-per-use agreement. X spends the free credits first.

Is there an X API credits voucher or promo code?

No. X applies its free credits on its own, with "no code, voucher, or form." The only voucher X has announced was a one-time $10 for recently active Legacy Free users, when pay-per-use launched in February 2026.

Can I get free X API credits without a card?

Not from X's current offers. The $20 needs a first purchase with your account's first credit or debit card. The match needs a successful auto-recharge. Prepaid cards don't qualify, and X's agreement asks for a verified phone number before any purchase.

Why didn't I get my $20 in X API credits?

Since 13 October 2026, saving a card isn't enough: you must buy credits. Other reasons X lists: the account paid before, already had a card, or used a prepaid card. A card that earned the $20 on another account won't earn it again.

Sources

All checked on 26 October 2026, with docs.x.com read as Markdown:

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