Reading a follower count for a public X account used to be a one-line request. Today it means registering a developer account, creating an app, and working out which access tier actually permits the reads you want. If your project needs a couple of public numbers, that is a lot of process to sit through, and a lot of surface area to maintain afterwards.
What the official API asks of you
The X API is built around apps and authenticated projects. You register, you get keys, you pick an access tier, and you keep an eye on the terms, which have moved more than once in recent years. None of that is unreasonable for an application that posts, streams, or acts on behalf of users. It is simply heavy if all you want to do is read something the profile page already shows to anyone.
What Metrika gives you for X
Send a public handle and get back the datapoints we hold for it: follower count, following count, and verified status.
$ curl -X POST https://metrika.run/api/v1/resources/search \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"resources": [{"platform": "x", "type": "account", "identifier": "nasa"}]}'Followers and following come back under metrics, verified
status under attributes. One bearer token, no OAuth flow, no
app review, no token refresh job to babysit.
The same request shape everywhere
X is one of seven platforms Metrika supports, alongside Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Threads. The request you write here is the request you write for all of them, which starts to matter the moment your project tracks more than one network. You can ask for up to ten accounts in a single call, mixing platforms freely.
What Metrika is not
Metrika is read-only and public-only. It will not post, read replies, stream timelines, or manage an account you own. If you need any of that, the official API is the right tool. Metrika covers the analytics case: public numbers, clean JSON, one integration.
Getting started
Create an account, generate an API key from your dashboard, and you get up to 500 requests per month at no cost, no credit card required. The docs cover authentication, response formats, and the datapoints available for each platform.
Get started with Metrika
Create a free account and start pulling social media datapoints in minutes. The free tier includes 500 requests per month, no credit card required.