Understanding the Recent Changes to Twitter API

Twitter has recently changed its API pricing structure, which has left many developers and Twitter app users in a state of confusion and uncertainty. The new pricing structure has raised concerns about the future of third-party Twitter apps that cannot afford to pay the hefty $42,000 monthly fee.

Twitter is building the next API generation to serve its diverse community of developers better. The Twitter API can be used to programmatically retrieve and analyze data and engage with the conversation on Twitter. If you are migrating to v2, you can learn what's new, what's staying the same, and how to make the most of the data available through the updated API.

This blog post will provide a complete guide to understanding the recent changes to Twitter API.

The new Twitter API v2

Twitter API v2 is the latest version of Twitter's API, which is now the primary Twitter API and where product investment and innovation are focused. The new API is a complete rebuild of Twitter's API since 2012. It offers more benefits to developers, allowing them to bring new features and endpoints to their applications more quickly as the platform evolves to meet the needs of developers, researchers, businesses, and people using Twitter. The new API is built with a modern, more sustainable foundation and includes improved developer experience, new features, and endpoints.

The first endpoints are now available within Early access, enabling developers to listen to and analyze the public conversation.

The new pricing model for API access includes three tiers:

• Free
• Basic
• Enterprise

Enterprise offers the highest level of access and reliability.

New access tiers for the Twitter APIs

What has changed in Twitter API pricing?

Twitter's old API pricing plans

Twitter's old API pricing plans had four legacy access plans with different features and pricing, including Essential, Elevated, Free, and Premium.

• The Essential plan allowed developers to access the full Twitter API
• The Elevated plan offered additional features such as higher rate limits and access to premium APIs.
• The Free plan had strict limitations, allowing developers to post up to 500,000 to 2 million tweets per month, depending on the plan level, and access to a limited set of APIs.
• The Premium plan was designed for businesses, offering more advanced features and higher limits.

Twitter's new API pricing plans

In contrast, Twitter's new API pricing plans include three new tiers: Free, Basic, and Enterprise.

• The Free tier allows developers to post up to 1,500 tweets a month via the API at the application level and provides access to Login with Twitter.
• The Basic tier is designed for hobbyists or students and costs $100 per month. It allows developers to post up to 50,000 tweets per month at the app level or 3,000 tweets per month at the user level. The read limit for the Basic tier is 10,000 tweets.

• The Enterprise tier is designed for businesses and offers more advanced features and higher limits, but the company has yet to announce how much it would cost. The new pricing plans replace the current three-tiered system in the current API (v1.1)

The new Twitter API pricing structure:

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Image Source: Twitter Website

But as per Platformers previous reports, a low-cost enterprise plan could cost as much as $42000 a month. Twitter is also working on an alternative access plan for academic researchers, which could provide more access.

Why did Twitter make these changes?

According to Twitter, the changes were made to ensure its API platform's sustainability and provide a better experience for developers. The new pricing structure incentivizes developers to build higher-quality applications that use Twitter's platform more efficiently.

Reducing features on free and basic plans can prevent the current platform's abuse by bots, spammers, and opinion manipulators by limiting their access to certain features that can be used for malicious purposes. By offering paid tiers, Twitter can ensure that only legitimate developers and businesses have access to advanced features that can be used for research, analytics, and marketing purposes. The changes will help prevent the spread of misinformation and harmful content on the platform.

What does this mean for third-party Twitter apps?

The new pricing structure has left many third-party Twitter apps needing help. Small developers and startups that rely on Twitter's API to power their apps may need help to afford the new pricing structure. As a result, many apps may be forced to shut down or limit their functionality.

However, Twitter has announced that it will provide a "Developer Labs" program, offering a free tier for developers who want to experiment with new features and functionality. This program will have limited access to Twitter's API, but it will provide a way for developers to continue building their apps without incurring high costs.

Which legacy endpoints have been deprecated in the new Twitter API?

There is no clear information on which legacy endpoints have been deprecated in the new API structure. However, Twitter has announced that they are deprecating two features of the legacy v1.1 streaming endpoints, which retired on October 29, 2022.

The statuses/filter endpoint in the Twitter API v1.1 has also been deprecated. The new Twitter API is built with a more modern foundation, which allows Twitter to release new endpoints, add new features, and fix issues more quickly. The new introduction unifies all access levels into one API so developers can scale up or down without changing APIs as their needs change. The functionality available within Twitter API v2 is in development. It serves adequate access for the majority of developers on the platform and soon releases additional endpoints, features, and access levels. Developers interested in migrating their current integration to the new version of the Twitter API can refer to the migration guide provided by Twitter.

What are Twitter's new API endpoints?

Twitter's new API endpoints include

• Historical search endpoints enabling Twitter developers to search for historical Tweets or Tweet counts.
• The Twitter API v2, which is the API's primary version, includes a replacement endpoint for the standard 7 days search and premium and enterprise Full-archive Search API**.**
• Many new features and endpoints, such as retrieving new data fields like advanced metrics and Tweet annotations.
• Updated endpoints, such as looking up Tweets by ID.
• The ability to select just the data you want from each object in your endpoint response using a set of parameters called fields.
• The ability to request specific objects and fields and pick and choose which data you receive in your response with the new fields and expansions functionality.

Tweeting in the New Era: Developer's Guide to Navigating Twitter API Changes

Understanding new changes and adapting to them is crucial to maintaining a Twitter presence. However, developers have responded disappointedly to Twitter's new API tiers, stating that the free and basic tiers are insufficient for most developers.

Web programmers who rely on the Twitter API should carefully evaluate the new pricing model and determine how it will affect their applications. They should consider whether they can afford the new pricing structure or if they need to explore alternative solutions. It's also essential for web engineers to consider how the changes will impact their users and to communicate any changes to their users clearly and transparently.

Developers can optimize their use of APIs by migrating to the new API structure v2, which is built with a modern and more sustainable foundation and includes many new features and endpoints.

Twitter provides a migration hub for resources to help web engineers understand the difference between v2 and previous versions, including the data formats. Developers can also explore alternative API solutions for developers impacted by the recently announced request limit changes to /statuses/mentions_timeline and /statuses/user_timeline.

An additional feature is to check out the "What to build" page on the Twitter API documentation to learn more about what they can build with the Twitter API.

The platform also provides tutorials and developer guides to help technologists get started with the new API structure and learn how to use its features and endpoints. Additionally, web developers can join the Twitter Developer Platform forum conversation to connect with other programmers and get help with their projects.

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Also read, Twitter's Recommendation Algorithm Goes Public: What It Means for Users and Marketers

Conclusion:

Use the opportunity to build what's next with the Twitter API v2. Make sure to take a look at the guide today! Stay ahead of the game and optimize your use of Twitter's API with Blaze’s complete guide on Understanding the Recent Changes to Twitter API.

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