Earlier in February, Twitter announced it was doing away with its free API platform in favor of a paid version. Originally the free version was going to shut down on February 9, but that was later extended to February 13. Now, the social network says developers will have to wait a little longer before its new platform rolls out.
In a post Monday, Twitter stated:
There has been an immense amount of enthusiasm for the upcoming changes with Twitter API. As part of our efforts to create an optimal experience for the developer community, we will be delaying the launch of our new API platform by a few more days.
The post added that more information will be released "over the coming days." Previously the new API platform was announced as costing $100 a month for low level access.
There has been an immense amount of enthusiasm for the upcoming changes with Twitter API. As part of our efforts to create an optimal experience for the developer community, we will be delaying the launch of our new API platform by a few more days.
— Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 13, 2023
More information to follow… https://t.co/FUZcwJqf9p
It"s very possible that Twitter might be reassessing its paid API plans. That"s because some companies and government organizations have used Twitter"s free API in the past to conduct valuable trend analysis. Twitter CEO Elon Musk defended turning the API from free to paid, stating that the free version was "being abused badly right now by bot scammers & opinion manipulators." He later backtracked a bit on that stance, writing, "Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free."
Regardless, we should learn more about how Twitter will handle its API platform, and whether there will indeed be some kind of free version that will be available alongside a paid edition, in the near future.