# Is there a free trial for a social media data API so I can test before paying?

> Testing a social data API before paying: what the trial credit on a new key covers for TikTok, Douyin, X and Weibo, what is free with no key at all, and other free tiers.

Canonical page: https://okdata.online/answers/social-media-data-api-free-trial/

**Short answer: **Yes. Every new okdata key starts with $0.10 of real balance, so test calls return real data from the platforms. A first test of one Douyin and one Weibo hot list, ten TikTok searches and twenty X profiles costs $0.044. Browsing the catalog, prices and fields costs nothing and needs no key, and failed calls never use the credit.

The point of a trial is to answer one question before spending money: does the data actually help with my job? That means real responses, from real platforms, for your own keywords, not a sandbox with sample data.

## Free with no key at all

- The catalog of all 51 endpoints with parameters, fields and prices: `https://api.okdata.online/v1/catalog`.
- The service status: `https://api.okdata.online/v1/catalog/status`.
- The MCP tools `find` and `describe` at https://api.okdata.online/mcp, which let an agent look up endpoints and prices before spending anything. See the [MCP guide](/mcp/).

## What the trial credit covers

A new key comes with $0.10. A sensible first test across four platforms:

| Test | Endpoint | Calls | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today's Douyin hot list | [Douyin hot search board](/apis/douyin/trends/list/) | 1 | $0.002 |
| Today's Weibo hot list | [Weibo hot search](/apis/weibo/trends/list/) | 1 | $0.002 |
| Your keyword on TikTok, ten pages | [TikTok video search](/apis/tiktok/videos/search/) | 10 | $0.02 |
| Twenty X accounts you follow | [X account profile](/apis/x/users/get/) | 20 | $0.02 |
| Total | | 32 | $0.044 |

Calls that fail are not charged, so a typo in a parameter does not eat the credit.

```bash
curl -s "https://api.okdata.online/v1/douyin/trends/list" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OKDATA_API_KEY" \
  | jq '{first: .data.items[0], cost: .meta.billing.amount, left: .meta.billing.balance_after}'
```

A trial key may have a lower rate limit than a paid one; `GET https://api.okdata.online/v1/account` shows yours. When the credit runs out, calls return `insufficient_balance`, free, until you top up with Alipay, WeChat Pay or a card.

## Other free options worth knowing

- **YouTube Data API.** Free within its [default daily quota](https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/getting-started), if YouTube is all you need.
- **X API.** Prepaid pay-per-use credits; X offers [promotional credits on a first purchase](https://docs.x.com/x-api/getting-started/free-credits).
- **Scraper marketplaces.** Apify's free plan includes [$5 of monthly usage](https://apify.com/pricing), enough to try a scraper or two.
- **Open-source tools.** Free to run, if you have the accounts and time to set them up.

When the test answers your question, the [pricing page](/pricing/) has the cost of scaling it up.

## Endpoints used

- [TikTok video search](https://okdata.online/apis/tiktok/videos/search/) `tiktok.videos.search`: $0.002 per call · about 30 videos per page
- [Douyin hot search board](https://okdata.online/apis/douyin/trends/list/) `douyin.trends.list`: $0.002 per call · about 50 board entries per page
- [X account profile](https://okdata.online/apis/x/users/get/) `x.users.get`: $0.001 per call
- [Weibo hot search](https://okdata.online/apis/weibo/trends/list/) `weibo.trends.list`: $0.002 per call · about 50 board entries per page

Updated 2026-11-12