Best Twitter/X Scrapers (2026): With and Without the X API

For tweets at scale without X's own API, cloud tools are the cheapest: Apify's Tweet Scraper V2 costs $0.40 per 1,000 tweets (at least 50 per query) and twitterapi.io $0.15 per 1,000; the official X API now bills $0.005 per post read with no free tier; the open-source twscrape is free but runs on X accounts you supply; and for the profile, search or tweet you have open, a Chrome extension such as InsightSocial needs no setup (50 to 300 posts per run, free up to 500 exported rows a month), though its X search runs pause while the tab is hidden. Small extensions such as TwExport (150 rows per export free) and Twitter Exporter (1,000 records per task free) cover quick one-off exports.

Checked November 2026. We make InsightSocial, so we are not neutral. This list starts with X's own API, includes open source, and says plainly where cloud tools and APIs are the better choice. We have not benchmarked the other tools: their prices and limits are what their own pricing pages, Apify listings, GitHub repositories and Chrome Web Store listings said when we checked in November 2026.

Quick comparison

Units differ: Apify and twitterapi.io bill per tweet returned, the X API per resource, and the extensions per row exported or per task.

Why X is hard to scrape

• The login wall. Since mid-2023, X shows most content only to signed-in accounts. The issue that tracked it on snscrape, once the default open-source scraper, opened on June 30, 2023 and is still open: "All Twitter scrapes are failing".
• Paid API. The official API has no free tier any more. Every post you read costs money.
• Search is special. X's search timeline will not accept a re-sent request for the next page, so tools that page search in the background need X's own code to run. In a browser, that means the search tab has to stay in front.
• Follower lists stop early. On someone else's account, X often stops loading a followers list after about 50 to 70 accounts in our extension, whatever count you pick.

How we put this list together

We looked at the tools AI assistants and Google cite for "best Twitter scraper", the X actors with the most users on Apify, the most starred open-source projects on GitHub, and the X export extensions with the most users on the Chrome Web Store, and read each one's own page in November 2026. We did not run other vendors' tools, so this list does not rank them by speed or completeness. Paid APIs get a deeper comparison in best Twitter/X data APIs.

1. The official X API

X's API is now pay per use. Its pricing page lists no subscriptions and no free tier: you buy credits, and new accounts get $20 of credits when they save their first eligible payment card. Reads cost $0.005 per post, $0.010 per user, $0.010 per follower or following record and $0.001 per like. Reading your own account's data costs $0.001 per resource. The same resource requested twice in one UTC day is charged once. Pay-per-use plans are capped at 3 million post reads a month; above that X points you to Enterprise.

What it reaches: a user's timeline returns up to the 3,200 most recent posts, recent search covers the last 7 days, and full-archive search goes back to March 2006 for pay-per-use and Enterprise customers.

At $5 per 1,000 posts, reading other people's tweets is the most expensive route on this list. It is also the only one that can post, reply or send DMs, and the only route to X data that X itself sells.

Best for: apps that post or act as a user, analytics on your own account, and teams that need a first-party source.

2. Apify: Tweet Scraper V2 and Twitter Scraper Unlimited

Both actors are published by API Dojo, a community developer on Apify.

• Tweet Scraper V2 is the most used X actor we found: about 130,800 users in total and about 10,600 in the last 30 days, rated 3.86 out of 5. It costs $0.40 per 1,000 tweets. Each query must return at least 50 tweets, it does not fetch single tweets or reply conversations, and on Apify's free plan it is limited to 5 runs a month of 10 items each. Its listing quotes 30 to 80 tweets per second.
• Twitter Scraper Unlimited is the same publisher's answer for small queries, single tweets and reply conversations: $0.016 per query (about 40 tweets), $0.05 per single-tweet query, plus $0.0004 to $0.002 per item. About 59,400 users in total, rated 4.76.

Apify adds scheduling, storage and an API around both; see InsightSocial vs Apify.

Best for: thousands of tweets on a schedule, from searches or lists of accounts, without running your own accounts.

3. twitterapi.io and other third-party APIs

twitterapi.io sells read access to X data from its own infrastructure. Its pricing page lists tweets at $0.15 per 1,000, profiles from $0.01 per 1,000, and followers or following from $0.01 per 1,000, with a minimum charge of $0.00015 per request. New accounts get up to $1 of free credits, no card, valid for 31 days.

Other vendors resell X data in a similar way, InsightSocial's own Twitter/X API among them, priced in credits per call. We compare them side by side in best Twitter/X data APIs.

Best for: developers who want X data in their own code without managing accounts, at the lowest per-tweet price.

4. Open source: twscrape, Scweet, twikit (and why not snscrape)

All of these log in to X with accounts you provide, usually by copying the session cookies from a browser. X's terms discourage that, and an account used for heavy scraping can be limited or suspended.

• twscrape (Python, MIT, about 2,900 stars). Released v0.21.0 on November 6, 2026, so it is actively maintained. It covers search, tweet details and replies, user timelines, followers, following, lists and communities, and rotates a pool of accounts when one hits a rate limit. Its README notes that X's terms discourage multiple accounts.
• Scweet (Python, MIT, about 1,700 stars). Version 5.8.2, October 22, 2026. It calls X's GraphQL endpoints with your account cookies and also runs as a hosted Apify actor, so you can start without managing accounts.
• twikit (Python, MIT, about 4,800 stars). Logs in with a username and password. The last release was February 2025 and the last code change March 2026, so check its open issues before you depend on it.
• snscrape (about 5,500 stars) still lists X in its README, but its tracking issue for X has been open since June 2023 and its last code change was November 2023. Treat its X module as broken.

Best for: developers who want free, self-hosted collection and accept the account risk.

5. InsightSocial (Chrome extension)

Our extension works in your own logged-in X tab. Open a profile, a list, your home feed, a search, a hashtag page or a single tweet, open the side panel, pick a count and click Scrape. It reads what X already loads for your session, so there is no developer account, no API key and no extra X account.

What it exports:

• Posts from a profile, list, community, Explore or your home feed: 50, 100 or 300 per run, with likes, reposts, replies, quotes, views, bookmarks, post type, media links, hashtags and a conversation ID.
• Search and hashtag results: 50, 100 or 300 per run, with X's own operators (since:, until:, from:, lang:, min_faves:) and the author's handle, profile URL and verified flags on every row.
• Replies under one tweet: 50, 100 or 500, with the parent reply ID for replies to replies.
• Followers or following: 50, 100 or 500 accounts, with bio, location, website, counts and join date.
• Your own likes: 50, 100 or 250.

Price: scraping is free; exporting uses one credit per row. Free includes 500 rows a month, Pro $9.99 a month (or $7.99 billed yearly) includes 10,000, Studio $49 includes 150,000. Re-exporting a row is free. Exports go to CSV, Excel, JSON or Google Sheets.

Limits, honestly:

• Search and hashtag runs pause when the tab is hidden. X's search timeline refuses a re-sent request for the next page, so the extension cannot page it in the background. Keep the search tab in front; switch away and the run waits, then carries on when you return. Explore and community pages pause the same way. Profiles, lists, your home feed, replies, followers and likes keep going in a background tab.
• One page per run. No list of handles, no bulk input, no API, no schedule for X.
• X decides the depth. A run stops at your count or when X stops serving older posts. On other people's accounts, follower lists often stop after about 50 to 70 accounts.
• You need to be logged in to X, and you only see what your account can see. Protected accounts stay hidden unless you follow them.

Best for: a clean sheet of tweets from the page you are looking at, without code or a second account.

6. TwExport

TwExport (by Yue Apps) exports one account's posts or replies to CSV: type a username, pick Posts or Replies and start. Its listing shows 5,000 users and a 5.0 rating from 755 ratings, last updated September 30, 2026. Each export is free up to 150 rows; more needs Pro, whose price is not on the listing. The listing itself suggests using a dedicated X account to avoid X's risk controls.

Best for: a quick CSV of one account's recent tweets.

7. Twitter Exporter

Twitter Exporter (by rxliuli) is the broadest X exporter we found on the Chrome Web Store: followers, following, verified followers, community members, a user's tweets (up to 1,500 per user, by its listing), bookmarks, likes, list members, retweeters, search results, DMs and block lists. The listing shows 5,000 users, rated 4.4 from 49 ratings, updated October 8, 2026. The developer's site lists a free plan of 1,000 records per task, Basic at $9.99 lifetime for 100,000 records, and Pro at $29.99 lifetime with no limits.

Best for: large follower and bookmark exports for a one-time price.

8. Instant Data Scraper and other generic extensions

Instant Data Scraper (free, 1,000,000 users on its Chrome Web Store listing) reads any list it can detect on a page, X included, as far as you scroll. It guesses columns from the page layout rather than knowing X's fields, so expect to clean the columns up afterwards.

Best for: a rough grab when nothing else is installed.

Which one should you use?

• You need to post, or you need a first-party source: the X API.
• Thousands of tweets on a schedule: Apify Tweet Scraper V2, or Twitter Scraper Unlimited for small queries and replies.
• X data inside your own app, cheapest per tweet: twitterapi.io. Compare the others in best Twitter/X data APIs.
• Free and self-hosted, and you accept the account risk: twscrape or Scweet.
• The profile, search, thread or follower list you have open, in a spreadsheet, no code: InsightSocial. Keep search tabs in front.
• One account's tweets, once: TwExport's free 150 rows.
• Huge follower or bookmark exports for a one-time fee: Twitter Exporter.

FAQ

What is the best Twitter scraper without the API? For bulk work, Apify's Tweet Scraper V2 ($0.40 per 1,000 tweets) or the open-source twscrape, which is free but needs your own X accounts. For the page you have open in Chrome, InsightSocial exports posts, searches, replies and follower lists with no API key, free up to 500 rows a month.

Is there a free Twitter/X scraper? Yes. twscrape and Scweet are free to run yourself. Among extensions, InsightSocial's free plan exports 500 rows a month, TwExport gives 150 rows per export and Twitter Exporter 1,000 records per task. X's own API has no free tier any more.

Is there a Chrome extension that scrapes X? Several. InsightSocial covers profiles, lists, searches, hashtags, replies, followers and your likes. TwExport and Twitter Exporter export an account's tweets by username. Instant Data Scraper grabs what is loaded on screen.

How much does the X API cost in 2026? X bills pay per use from prepaid credits: $0.005 per post read, $0.010 per user, $0.015 to create a post. There is no free tier; new accounts get $20 of credits when they save a payment card. Pay-per-use plans are capped at 3 million post reads a month.

Can I scrape X without logging in? Not in a browser: X shows most content only to signed-in accounts. Cloud tools and third-party APIs do not need your X account. Open-source scrapers need accounts you supply.

Why does my X search scrape stop when I switch tabs? X's search page only loads the next set of results while its tab is on screen, and it refuses a re-sent request for the next page. In InsightSocial the run waits and carries on when you return to the tab. Profile, list, reply and follower runs keep going in the background.

Will scraping X get my account banned? Tools that log in with accounts, especially many at once, risk limits or suspension, and X's terms discourage it. Reading what your own session already shows, at its own pace, is lower risk. Cloud tools and APIs do not use your account at all.

Related guides: how to export tweets to CSV, best Twitter/X data APIs, how to scrape Twitter profiles, Twitter competitor analysis, and every Twitter/X scraper.