Answers
Is there a free trial for a social media data API so I can test before paying?
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
findanddescribeat https://api.okdata.online/mcp, which let an agent look up endpoints and prices before spending anything. See the MCP guide.
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 | 1 | $0.002 |
| Today's Weibo hot list | Weibo hot search | 1 | $0.002 |
| Your keyword on TikTok, ten pages | TikTok video search | 10 | $0.02 |
| Twenty X accounts you follow | X account profile | 20 | $0.02 |
| Total | 32 | {{cost:douyin.trends.list1+weibo.trends.list1+tiktok.videos.search10+x.users.get20}} |
Calls that fail are not charged, so a typo in a parameter does not eat the credit.
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, if YouTube is all you need.
- X API. Prepaid pay-per-use credits; X offers promotional credits on a first purchase.
- Scraper marketplaces. Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly usage, 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 has the cost of scaling it up.
Updated