Twitter API will no longer be free

Access to Twitter’s Application Programming Interface will no longer be free, according to an update from the social media platform and its CEO Elon Musk

File photo of the Twitter logo on a smartphone | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Access to Twitter’s Application Programming Interface (API) will no longer be free, according to an update by Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk. The API is used to create alt text readers and animal picture bots, to name a few.

The verified Twitter Dev account tweeted that access to the free API would stop from February 9, to be replaced by “a paid basic tier.”

Mr. Musk also said on February 3 that free access to the API was being abused. He instead proposed a monthly $100 fee along with verification.

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Yeah, free API is being abused badly right now by bot scammers & opinion manipulators. There's no verification process or cost, so easy to spin up 100k bots to do bad things.

Just ~$100/month for API access with ID verification will clean things up greatly.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2023

Following his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform and the departure of thousands of workers due to layoffs and resignations, Mr. Musk has been trying to explore new revenue streams for Twitter.

While Twitter previously introduced verified tick marks for Twitter Blue subscribers in order to clamp down on bots, a number of accounts impersonating others exist even today.