# How do I get a Twitter account's follower count without the official API?

> Look up follower counts, following, post totals and verification for a list of X (Twitter) handles with one API key, no X developer account. Cost and a CSV script.

Canonical page: https://okdata.online/answers/x-follower-count-api/

**Short answer: **Send each handle to X account profile: it returns followers, following, total posts, bio, verification and avatar for $0.001 per account, with no X developer account. Ranking a list of 300 handles costs $0.30; refreshing it weekly for a quarter is $3.90.

You have a spreadsheet of 300 X handles, creators you might sponsor, and you want them sorted by followers before Monday's meeting. [X account profile](/apis/x/users/get/) takes a handle, with or without the @, and returns the numbers on the profile page as clean fields. Old Stack Overflow answers suggest no-token tricks such as reading the profile page or a widget URL. Most of them stopped working once X locked down logged-out access, so expect them to fail.

## Fields you get

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `followers` | follower count |
| `following` | accounts it follows |
| `posts` | total posts, replies and reposts included |
| `likes` | posts it has liked, when available |
| `verified` | blue or legacy verification |
| `bio`, `name`, `avatar_url`, `url` | profile basics |

With `view=full` you also get `ext.created_at`, `ext.location`, `ext.media_count` and `ext.verified_type`.

## From a CSV of handles to a ranked list

```python
import csv, os, requests

API = "https://api.okdata.online/v1"
H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['OKDATA_API_KEY']}"}

rows = []
for handle in [r[0] for r in csv.reader(open("handles.csv")) if r]:
    body = requests.get(f"{API}/x/users/get", headers=H,
                        params={"username": handle, "view": "full"}, timeout=60).json()
    if body["code"] != "ok":
        rows.append([handle, body["code"]])  # not_found: renamed, suspended or never existed
        continue
    u = body["data"]["item"]
    rows.append([u["username"], u["followers"], u["following"], u["posts"], u["verified"], u["ext"]["created_at"]])

found = sorted((r for r in rows if len(r) > 2), key=lambda r: r[1] or 0, reverse=True)
with open("ranked.csv", "w", newline="", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    csv.writer(f).writerows(found + [r for r in rows if len(r) == 2])
```

## Cost

| Job | Calls | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| One account | 1 | $0.001 |
| 300 accounts | 300 | $0.30 |
| 300 accounts weekly for 13 weeks | 3,900 | $3.90 |

A handle that does not exist returns `not_found` and is not charged.

## Things to know

- The count is a snapshot. To show growth, store each run with its date; X does not offer follower history.
- Handles change. If a creator renames, the old handle returns `not_found`, so keep the account `id` from the first lookup as your stable key.
- Follower lists (who follows whom) are not in the catalog, only the totals.
- Suspended accounts return `not_found` too, which is itself a useful flag when you vet creators.

## Other ways

X's official API returns the same counts in a user's public metrics, at $0.010 per user read under pay-per-use. Pick it if you already have a developer account or need follower lists. For a handful of accounts, opening the profiles by hand is free. For creator shortlists across platforms, see the [creator discovery guide](/solutions/creator-discovery/).

## Endpoints used

- [X account profile](https://okdata.online/apis/x/users/get/) `x.users.get`: $0.001 per call

Updated 2026-11-12