Social media data APIs compared: 16 options, prices and catches (2026)
There are five kinds of tool for getting social media data into an app, a spreadsheet or an AI agent. They differ more in shape than in price: some sell live lookups, some sell a database, some sell runtime. Pick the shape first.
Pick by job
- Live lookups across many platforms (a profile, posts, comments, transcripts, now): a multi-platform API such as ScrapeIO. One schema, pay per call.
- X at very high volume: an X-only API. SocialData and TwitterAPI.io are cheaper per tweet than anything multi-platform.
- Influencer discovery with audience demographics: an influencer database such as Modash or HypeAuditor. Expect sales calls and annual contracts.
- Millions of records for a warehouse: a dataset or bulk scraper vendor such as Bright Data.
- Outreach, not data: an automation tool such as PhantomBuster.
- Acting as a user (posting, replies, DMs): the official platform API. Nothing else is allowed to.
All 16 at a glance
| Vendor | Starting price | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| ScrapeIO | $47 for 25,000 credits, 100 free | Read-only public data; no audience demographics |
| Bright Data | $1.50 per 1,000 records, or $499 a month | Each scraper has its own output format |
| EnsembleData | From $100 a month | Units reset daily at 00:00 UTC; empty results still cost |
| Data365 | From €300 a month | Asynchronous: post a task, poll, then fetch. No YouTube |
| Phyllo | Custom quote | Built for creator-consented data, not open lookups |
| Modash API | From $10,000 a year | Annual contracts only, by bank transfer; Instagram, TikTok, YouTube |
| HypeAuditor API | Not published | Sales-led access; credits separate from the app |
| Influencers Club | API from $208 a month | Weekly-refreshed database, not live lookups |
| Oxylabs | From $15 a month | Unused credits expire each cycle; no Instagram, X or LinkedIn scrapers |
| SocialData | $0.20 per 1,000 results | X only; no free plan |
| TwitterAPI.io | $0.15 per 1,000 tweets | X only; empty results still cost |
| PhantomBuster | From $69 a month | Billed by runtime hours; credits reset monthly |
| X API | $10 per 1,000 profiles, $5 per 1,000 posts | X only, no free tier for new developers |
| YouTube Data API | Free, 10,000 units a day | About 100 searches a day; failed calls use quota |
| Instagram Graph API | Free | App Review and Business Verification; reads only professional accounts |
| TikTok Research API | Not published | Academic and non-profit researchers only |
What to check before you buy
- Does unused capacity expire? Daily resets, monthly resets and expiring trials turn a cheap rate into an expensive one if your usage comes in bursts.
- Are empty and failed calls charged? Lookups for deleted or private accounts are common. Some vendors charge for them, some do not.
- Same fields across platforms? If you use more than one platform, a shared schema saves a parser per platform.
- Live or database? A database is fast and has extras like demographics, but can be a week old. A live call is current.
- Can an agent use it? Most vendors now have an MCP server. Check that it is hosted and read-only.
Our bias
We make ScrapeIO, so read this list with that in mind. Every price above comes from the vendor's own pages; each comparison page links its sources. If something is out of date, tell us at xhoantran@gmail.com and we will fix it.
Prices checked 7 and 8 November 2026.
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