X has increased the price of its API access once again, which will make it even harder for third-party platforms to justify their X data access.
API access enables third-party apps to facilitate functions like post sharing to X and post scheduling, as well as more advanced offerings, like profile and post analytics.
Those can be valuable ways to enhance platform usage, but shortly after purchasing the app formerly known as Twitter back in 2022, Elon Musk reformed its API pricing, with the primary focus being to stop generative AI projects from illegally scraping X data. That move, at least in part, was fueled by Musk’s own disagreements with OpenAI, which had accessed Twitter data to build the initial language models for its projects.
The new, much more expansive API price tiers, however, meant that many third-party Twitter apps were forced to shut down, as they could no longer justify the cost of accessing the required info. Various other tools merged to dilute the impacts as best they could, but the overall effect has been that a lot of former Twitter apps, including a range of helpful analytics tools, have disappeared as a result.
And now X is increasing the costs again, with the price of what was once the free “Basic” tier doubling from $100 to $200 per month. X has also changed the pricing of its “Premium” access option, which is currently priced at $42k per month. Users will now also have to pay an additional $1 per month for each account that connects to X’s API through their app.
Which, when you multiply that by individual users of each app, could come out to a hefty price rise for many third-party platforms.
That could mean that more third-party X apps are forced to shut down, which could impact your workflow for the app.
In some ways, it’s a backwards step for the platform, which has had a checkered relationship with third-party developers. Initial Twitter management courted third-party developers, in order to expand access to the platform, before eventually cutting them off as it sought to develop its own business offerings. It then tried to mend bridges with developers back in 2015, but now, it seems that the former bird app is looking to generate profit any way that it can, in order to offset its losses in ad revenue.
Which means that API access is going to cost you. And those costs will mean that fewer apps incorporate X as a result.
Is that a good move overall? Time will tell, but again, previous Twitter management realized the error of its ways on this front, and did seek to re-establish connection on order to regain those exposure benefits.
X has also added some refinement to its API access tiers over time, including the addition of expanded, one-off access for a set price.
So it has responded to some developer concerns as well, but the overall impact is that accessing X now costs more for developers, which will further limit its ecosystem.
Will that then bring in more revenue for X as a result? History suggests that it won’t, but the age of gen AI, and the need for human input, has changed the game in many respects.
And in this sense, maybe X is just ahead of the curve. Or maybe it believes that the value of its own AI projects will be significantly boosted as a result.
