Threads API in 2026: Official Limits vs Alternatives

November 8, 2026

Meta's Threads API has grown since launch. It now covers publishing, replies, insights, keyword search and a limited profile lookup. Whether it fits you depends on one question: are you working with your own account, or studying other people's? This guide lays out the official limits from Meta's docs and compares them with the alternatives.

What the official API does

The Threads API docs describe it as a way to create and publish posts, retrieve media and profiles, moderate replies and read insights. It also has webhooks, oEmbed and keyword search. Every call needs the threads_basic permission and a user access token from an account that authorized your app.

The limits that matter

Two details stand out. First, the Profile Discovery API returns profile fields and 7-day engagement totals, but not posts. Second, keyword search results never include the owner field, per the keyword search page, though you can request username.

A keyword search call

Once approved, a search looks like this. The host is graph.threads.com.

curl "https://graph.threads.com/v1.0/keyword_search?q=coffee&search_type=RECENT&fields=id,text,permalink,timestamp,username&access_token=TOKEN"

Set search_mode=TAG to search topic tags instead of text. You can also filter by media_type or an exact author_username.

Getting access, step by step

1. Create a Meta app with the Threads use case and add the permissions you need, starting with threads_basic.
2. Send the account owner through the authorization window. Meta's token guide says the authorization code is valid for 1 hour and can be used once, so exchange it for a token right away.
3. Build and test against your own account. Keyword search works on your own posts at this stage.
4. Submit for app review to get threads_keyword_search or threads_profile_discovery on public data.

Plan for the review step in your timeline. Your product cannot search public posts until it passes.

Where the official API fits

• You publish to your own Threads accounts or your clients' accounts.
• You need insights on accounts that authorized your app.
• You moderate replies or listen for mentions of your account.
• You want keyword search and can pass Meta's app review for it.

Where it falls short

• Reading other accounts' posts. There is no endpoint that returns another creator's post history.
• Discovery at scale. Profile lookups are capped per user, limited to Meta accounts until you get more access, and return totals only.
• Getting started. You need a Meta app, an authorized Threads account and app review for the search permission.
• Cross-platform work. The fields follow Meta's naming, so mixing Threads with TikTok or YouTube means another mapping layer.

Alternatives

A good split for many teams: use the official API for your own accounts, where it is free and sanctioned, and a third-party API for competitor and creator research. More detail is in our Threads scraper comparison.

Doing it with ScrapeIO

No Meta app or review is needed. Look up anyone with the Threads profile API, read their recent posts with the Threads user posts API, and search public posts with the Threads search API. Responses use the same handle, followers and likes fields as every other platform on ScrapeIO.

curl "https://scrapeio.com/v1/threads/profile?handle=zuck" -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY"

Sources

Checked on 8 November 2026 from each vendor's own pages. Prices and limits change; follow the links before you decide.

• https://developers.facebook.com/docs/threads/
• https://developers.facebook.com/docs/threads/keyword-search
• https://developers.facebook.com/docs/threads/troubleshooting
• https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/threads/threads-profiles.md
• https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/threads/get-started/get-access-tokens-and-permissions.md
• https://brightdata.com/products/web-scraper/threads
• https://ensembledata.com/pricing