Key takeaways
- X's developer pricing lists a post at $0.015 per request, and $0.20 per request when it contains a URL.
- Metricool sells X as a separate add-on per connected account (currently $10 or EUR 10 a month) and does not include it on Free.
- Publer excludes X on its Free plan; it is listed from its Professional plan.
- Later does not list X among its supported platforms.
- SkedCast passes X's per-post charge through with a handling fee and per-plan spend caps, and supports scheduling whole threads.
Best tool to schedule tweets: what does X publishing cost?
X's API pricing page (read 2026-09-23) describes a pay-per-usage model with credits bought upfront. Creating a post is $0.015 per request, and creating a post with a URL is $0.200 per request; a reply-style "summoned" post is $0.010. A scheduler that publishes on your behalf pays those charges on each post, which is why tools handle X differently.
The practical point: a post with a link costs about thirteen times a post without one. If you schedule many link posts, the difference dominates. The free X API cost calculator estimates it.
How do the tools handle X?
From each vendor's own pages (read 2026-09-23):
- Buffer: X is among its connected networks on the pricing page; paid plans are priced per channel.
- Metricool: not on the Free plan; a separate X add-on per connected account (currently $10 or EUR 10 a month, or $120 or EUR 120 a year) from Starter, plus an Advanced plan option for complete X analytics.
- Publer: "You cannot connect Twitter / X accounts in the free version"; X integration is listed from the Professional plan.
- Later: X is not on its supported list (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat).
- SocialBee: lists X (Twitter profiles) among its direct-posting networks.
- Planable: lists X among its networks; PDF export is available for X posts.
- Adobe Express: X is on the list of networks you can connect for free, with one account per channel.
- HubSpot: X is on its connect list, within Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise.
- Canva: lists Twitter among its scheduling platforms, on Pro, Business, Education and Nonprofit plans.
How does SkedCast handle X?
SkedCast schedules X posts and whole threads (composed once and published in order at the scheduled time), and counts characters with X's own weighting so a caption that looks short is not rejected. X's per-post charge is passed through as a line item with a 10 percent handling fee, with pre-flight estimates and spend caps that vary by plan; see pricing. It is one of 10 platforms, so the same post can fan out to the others. Free-plan and posting limits are on the pricing page. SkedCast does not have a unified social inbox for replying to comments and messages. SkedCast does not offer social listening or brand-mention monitoring.
What should you check before choosing?
Ask each vendor these questions:
- Is X included in the plan, an add-on, or excluded on my tier?
- Are links billed differently, and how is X's API charge passed on or absorbed?
- Does it schedule threads and media, and how does it count characters?
- Is there a cap on X posts per day or month?
- Can I post the same content to other networks in the same action?
How do you choose?
One brand, a few tweets a day, simplest setup: Buffer or SocialBee. An analytics-first team on a few brands: Metricool, remembering the per-account X add-on. A creator who wants a free start: check Publer's and Metricool's free plan exclusions first, since neither includes X. Agencies posting to X for many clients alongside other networks: SkedCast, where X is billed as a pass-through with spend caps. If you use Later for Instagram and TikTok, you will need a second tool for X.
Sources and how this was checked
Last reviewed 2026-09-23. Each claim about another vendor or a platform was read from that vendor's or platform's own page listed here on that date; where a page did not say something, this article says "not stated" or leaves the tool out of that list. Plans and prices change without notice, so confirm on the vendor's page before you buy. Statements about SkedCast were checked against the product's code and docs.
FAQ
- How much does it cost to post to X through an API?
- According to X's developer pricing page, creating a post costs $0.015 per request, and $0.20 per request if it contains a URL. A scheduler either absorbs that, passes it through, or excludes X on some plans.
- Which schedulers do not support X?
- Later does not list X among its supported platforms. Publer and Metricool exclude X on their free plans, and Metricool charges a separate add-on per X account on paid plans.
- Can I schedule a Twitter thread?
- SkedCast schedules a whole thread as one unit and publishes each post in order at the scheduled time. Other tools vary; check the vendor for threads.
- Why does a link make an X post cost more?
- X's pay-per-usage pricing lists $0.200 per request for a post containing a URL, against $0.015 for one without.
- Is there a free tool to schedule tweets?
- Free plans that include X are rare because of the API charge: Publer and Metricool exclude it. Adobe Express lists X among networks connectable for free, with one account per channel. Check each limit.
- What is the best tweet scheduler app or software?
- The best app to schedule tweets is one that absorbs X's per-post API cost into a flat plan rather than passing it through per request — that is how SkedCast and most flat-tier competitors price X scheduling, unlike pay-per-usage direct API access.