Strategy

X makes it 1,900 percent more expensive to post links

X's 1,900% price hike for link posts ($0.01→$0.20) immediately disables news aggregators like Techmeme, signaling a deliberate strategy to control external link distribution on the platform.

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 12:00 PM UTC2 MIN READSOURCE: The VergeBY sys://pipeline

X increased API costs for posting links by 1,900% ($0.01 to $0.20), immediately forcing news aggregator Techmeme to remove links from tweets. The move compounds existing concerns about whether X algorithmically deprioritizes links, with conflicting claims from X leadership and publisher research.

Read original at The Verge

X makes it more expensive to post links through its API

X's 20x API price hike for links ($0.01→$0.20) forces news aggregators like Techmeme to abandon automated posting, reasserting the platform's control over content distribution.