From X (Twitter) Free API to Basic/Pro: How Postly Retired BYO Keys and Shipped a Managed “X-Pro” Integration (No Fallback)

From Free Keys to X-Pro: Why Postly Is Moving to Twitter’s Paid API (and What You’ll Get)

TL;DR — We’re upgrading Twitter/X publishing inside Postly to a new X-Pro Add-On. That means moving from “bring-your-own free keys” to the official Twitter/X Basic → Pro API path managed by us. In return, you’ll get reliability, unlimited monthly posting (with fair-use), Automations, Engagement tools, AI Inspiration, and deeper Analytics—all purpose-built for serious creators and teams.

Why we’re moving away from free keys

If you’ve ever wrestled with Twitter’s old free API flow, you know the pain:

Manual app setup (callback URLs, permissions, tokens)
Inconsistent reliability and sudden rate-limit surprises
Basic posting only; strict caps (e.g., ~100 posts/replies/day/account)
Poor support for advanced use cases (threads, delays, automations, etc.)

That model was OK for early experiments, but it held back creators and teams who need real throughput and automation. The paid API unlocks stability, performance, and feature depth. We’ll manage the sourcing, quotas, and upgrades centrally so you can focus on content and outcomes.

Meet the X-Pro Add-On (Advanced Twitter Module)

Design preview: https://postly.ai/dashboard-design/x-pro

API costs reference: https://docs.x.com/x-api/introduction

The X-Pro add-on is a premium Twitter/X publishing and engagement layer for Postly. It ships with five pillars:

✅ Basic Publishing

Publish Tweets
Auto-Threads
Polls
Alt text for media
Long tweet format (for Twitter Premium users)
Auto-numbering for threads
Tagging
Community posts
- Post with a community hashtag (e.g., #buildinpublic)
- Try to validate via Community ID/name (not in public API yet). If validation isn’t possible, we’ll fallback to hashtag only and show: “Community not validated via API, posting with hashtag only.”

✅ Automations

Auto Retweet — Retweet your own tweets automatically after set delays (e.g., 1h, 6h, 24h), with repeat and auto-stop controls.
Cross-Post to Bluesky — Mirror tweets (text, images, links) to Bluesky.
Schedule Replies — Plan replies under your tweets/threads for campaigns and conversations.
Delay Threaded Tweets — Control pacing between tweets in a thread.
Auto Delete — Automatically remove tweets after a set time (immediate, 24h, 7d, or custom rules).
Auto Plug — Auto-post a first comment under your tweet (text, links, or media).
Tweet → Carousel — Turn tweets into images and repurpose as carousels for LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook.
Automatic Reposting of Best Tweets — Detect high performers (likes, retweets, replies, CTR) and re-post to extend reach.

🤖 AI Inspiration

Browse Ideas → Select → Rewrite with AI → Publish or Schedule
AI Tweet Writer — Generate viral-style tweets.
AI Thread Writer — Create structured threads around topics.
AI Content Strategist — Recommend themes, hashtags, and formats.
Tweet Inspirations — Explore viral tweets across niches and rewrite with AI.
Viral Thread Hooks — A library of high-impact opening lines.
Tweet Templates — Fill-in-the-blank structures.
Your Best Tweets — Surface your historical top performers.

💬 Engagement

Engagement Builder — Track unlimited users & up to 50 keywords; surface new tweets for quick engagement.
Social Hub — A curated feed of niche-relevant posts with one-click engagement.
Top Followers & Interactions — Identify your most engaged followers and monitor activity.
Auto Comment System — Rule-based comments under your own or others’ posts.

📊 Analytics

Account analytics & posting streaks — Track activity and consistency.
Unlimited analytics timeframe — Store and display lifetime data (not just 30 days).
Post-level stats — Likes, retweets, replies, CTR.
Follower growth & profile clicks
Filter top tweets — Find what works, fast.
Optional public analytics profile — Share your metrics with your audience.

Plans, Billing & Availability

Twitter/X publishing inside core Postly plans is not sold per channel. It’s available exclusively via the X-Pro add-on.

Free — Twitter/X: Not available
LTD — Twitter/X: Not available
Basic — Twitter/X: Not available
Team — Twitter/X: Not available
X-Pro (Add-On) — $30/month per Twitter account
- or $288/year (20% discount)
- Unlimited posts/month per account
- Fair usage applies: soft cap of 500 posts/account/month (contact support if you need more)

Per-account billing: Limits and billing are scoped per connected Twitter account, not per workspace or brand.

API Plan & Roadmap

We are removing the legacy Free API “bring your own keys” connection and moving to Twitter/X Basic (paid by Postly). As adoption grows, we’ll graduate to Twitter/X Pro to unlock significantly higher throughput.

Basic (~15,000 posts/month total across all accounts)
Pro (~1,000,000 posts/month total across all accounts)

We’ll manage the upgrades and capacity planning so your campaigns keep moving.

Fair Usage Policy (Engineering Summary)

This is internal guidance on how we enforce limits; we won’t display these numbers publicly in the app.

Provider Limit (Basic API):
- 15,000 posts/month total across all connected accounts
- Per-account hard cap: 500 posts/month (cannot be exceeded at API level)
Enforcement Logic:
- Track monthly posting counts per Twitter account
- Default soft cap = 500 posts/account/month
- If a user exceeds 500:
- Block further posts for that account until reset, or
- Show: “Posting limit reached for this account. Please contact support.”
Escalation Path:
- As we migrate from Basic ($200, 15k posts total) to Pro ($5k, 1M posts total), support can review accounts and lift limits as capacity increases.
Data Model (suggested):
- Store counters in DB: { account_id, month, posts_count }
- Reset monthly (UTC)
- Flag accounts at 80% of cap (≥400) for monitoring

Rollout Timeline

We’re shipping this alongside the new Postly dashboard rolling out over the next couple of weeks. Early access will open first, then we’ll expand to the full waitlist.

What you’ll notice immediately

No more DIY key management — We handle the API plan so you don’t have to.
Higher reliability — Fewer failed posts and clearer error handling.
More power — Automations, AI workflows, engagement tools, and analytics all tied together.
Scalability — When you’re ready for more volume, we’ll lift the ceiling with Pro.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to re-connect my Twitter account?

A short re-auth may be required during the migration so we can move you to the managed connection. We’ll keep it simple.

Will my scheduled posts be affected?

We’ll aim for a seamless handover. If any action is required, we’ll notify you well in advance inside the app.

Can I still use my own keys?

No. We’re removing the free BYO-keys path to prevent instability and unlock new features that require our managed API.

What if I need more than 500 posts/account/month?

Reach out to support. As we migrate from Basic to Pro, we’ll be able to expand limits for qualified accounts.

Final Thoughts

This shift is about reliability and reach. The free pipeline forced trade-offs that limited your growth. With X-Pro we’re investing in a durable, feature-rich Twitter/X layer—so you can focus on shipping content, not fighting the API.

If you want to be part of the early access, keep an eye on announcements inside Postly. We can’t wait to see what you’ll build.