Social Media APIs for Developers: 7 Options Compared

The social media APIs most developers integrate for posting are the Instagram Graph API, the Facebook Pages API, the TikTok Content Posting API, the YouTube Data API, the X API, and Bluesky's AT Protocol. Each one has its own developer app, review gate, cost model, and token rules. Below, each one gets the same four checks. One entry is a unified API: Adeli, which we build.

How did we compare these?#

Every entry answers the same four questions, from the platform's own docs:

• What it does. What you can publish and read for an account that authorizes your app.
• Access gate. What stands between a new developer app and posting to real users' accounts.
• Cost model. How the platform meters usage: per request, by quota, or by rate limit.
• Gotchas. The limits and token rules that break integrations after launch.

The list covers organic posting APIs. It leaves out ads APIs, data-scraping services, and platforms you can only read from.

At a glance#

1. Instagram Graph API#

What it does. Meta's API for Instagram professional accounts. It publishes single images, videos, Reels, carousels of up to 10 items, and Stories, and it reads insights, comments, and messages. It comes in two versions, with Instagram Login or with Facebook Login. Our Instagram API guide explains the difference.

Access gate. You create a Meta app, request permissions such as instagram_business_content_publish, complete Business Verification, and pass App Review with a screencast for each permission. Until then, only accounts with a role on your app can use it.

Cost model. Meta's rate limiting docs meter calls by volume, with no per-call fee listed. Calls scale with each account's impressions.

Gotchas.

• Personal accounts can't connect. Only Business and Creator accounts work.
• A publishing cap. Meta's content publishing docs allow 100 API-published posts per account in a moving 24-hour window, though one section of the same page says 50.
• Media must be hosted. You pass a public URL, not a file upload.

2. Facebook Pages API#

What it does. The part of the Facebook Graph API that publishes to Facebook Pages, reads and moderates comments, and pulls Page insights. It can't post to personal profiles. Our Facebook Graph API guide has the endpoints.

Access gate. The same Meta app and review as Instagram, with Page permissions such as pages_manage_posts and pages_read_engagement. Each permission that needs Advanced Access goes through App Review on its own.

Cost model. Rate limits, with no per-call fee listed. Meta's docs give Page tokens 4,800 calls per 24 hours times the Page's engaged users.

Gotchas.

• The right token. Page actions need a Page access token, taken from a long-lived user token. Store a short-lived one and the integration stops within hours.
• Page roles. The person who connects must be able to create content on and manage the Page.
• Shared review. Facebook and Instagram usually share one Meta app and one App Review queue, so plan both sets of permissions together.

3. Adeli (ours)#

What it does. Adeli is a unified social media API that publishes to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky through one REST API. It also reads analytics and handles comments and messages on the networks that support them. Bluesky is connect and publish only. LinkedIn, Threads, Reddit, and Google Business Profile are coming soon.

Access gate. None on your side. Adeli maintains the developer app on every supported network, completes each platform's review, and manages OAuth connections and token refresh. You sign in, create an API key, and your customers connect their accounts through Adeli's hosted OAuth flow. Each request names one platform:

curl https://app.tryadeli.com/api/v1/posts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ADELI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "platform": "bluesky",
    "accountId": "'"$ACCOUNT_ID"'",
    "text": "Shipped a new release today."
  }'

Change platform and the account, and the same call publishes to the other networks. The posting API page covers the rest.

Cost model. Per connected account per month. Your first 3 connected accounts are free, then $5 each for accounts 4–10, $3 each for 11–50, $2 each for 51–100, and $1 each up to 2,000. There are no per-post fees, except on X, where X's API usage fees are passed through at X's published rates. Details are on pricing.

Gotchas.

• You depend on us. Adeli holds the developer apps, so a platform change reaches you through Adeli's API rather than directly.
• Coverage is six networks. If you need LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Reddit now, you'll build those yourself for the time being.
• X still costs per request. The pass-through means X's per-post pricing applies either way.

4. TikTok Content Posting API#

What it does. Publishes videos and photo posts to a TikTok account, either straight to the profile or to the creator's drafts for them to finish in the app. It pairs with Login Kit for OAuth.

Access gate. Two reviews. First, app review on TikTok for Developers, with a demo video. Second, the Content Posting API audit, which checks your posting screen against TikTok's content sharing guidelines. Our post on getting TikTok API access walks through both.

Cost model. TikTok's Content Posting API guide publishes no usage fee. The limits are on users and posts instead.

Gotchas.

• Unaudited means private. Until the audit passes, up to 5 users can post in a 24-hour window, every account must be set to private, and posts are SELF_ONLY.
• A strict posting UI. The audit checks that your app shows the creator's privacy options and lets them choose, with no defaults set for them.
• Short-lived tokens. Access tokens last 24 hours, so a refresh job has to run for every account.

5. YouTube Data API#

What it does. Uploads videos and Shorts with videos.insert, edits metadata, sets thumbnails, manages playlists, and posts and moderates comments. Reads of public data need only an API key. Anything on a user's channel needs OAuth 2.0, which our YouTube API OAuth guide covers step by step.

Access gate. Google's OAuth verification for YouTube scopes, with a demo video and a privacy policy. To go past the default quota, or to stop uploads being locked to private, you also pass a YouTube API Services audit, which Google covers on its quota and compliance audits page.

Cost model. Quota units, not money. Google's quota cost page gives each project 100 videos.insert calls a day by default and 10,000 units a day for other endpoints combined.

Gotchas.

• One quota for all your users. The quota belongs to your Google Cloud project, so every channel you serve draws from it.
• Testing mode tokens expire. Apps left in Testing get refresh tokens that expire after 7 days.
• Uploads from a URL aren't supported. You stream the file bytes yourself. The YouTube upload guide has the resumable upload flow.

6. X API#

What it does. Creates and deletes posts, uploads media, and reads posts, users, and engagement through the X API v2 (formerly the Twitter API). OAuth 2.0 with PKCE authorizes posting on a user's behalf.

Access gate. Low. You sign up in the X Developer Console, accept the developer agreement, create an app, and buy credits. No review stands between you and posting.

Cost model. Pay per request. X's pricing page lists $0.015 to create a post, $0.20 to create a post with a URL, and $0.005 per post read. Our X API pricing post works through the math.

Gotchas.

• Links are expensive. A post with a URL costs about 13 times a plain post.
• Credits can run dry. When the balance hits zero, X blocks requests until you top up.
• Two-hour tokens. Request offline.access or users have to sign in again every two hours.

7. Bluesky (AT Protocol)#

What it does. Bluesky's API is the open AT Protocol. A post is a record you write into the account's repository with com.atproto.repo.createRecord. Our Bluesky API guide covers auth and posting.

Access gate. None. There's no developer app registration or review. You authenticate as the account with an app password or OAuth.

Cost model. No fee. Writes are rate limited in points: Bluesky's rate limits page gives each account 5,000 points an hour and 35,000 a day, and creating a record costs 3.

Gotchas.

• OAuth is strict. PKCE, PAR, and DPoP are all mandatory for atproto OAuth.
• Self-hosted accounts. Some users live on their own servers, so your sign-in has to find the right one for each handle.
• Video needs a verified email. Bluesky limits videos per account per day, and an account must verify its email before it can post one.

Which social media API should I start with?#

Start with the networks your customers already ask for, and file the slow reviews first.

• If you need Instagram or Facebook, start Meta Business Verification on day one. App Review comes after it, and both need a working screencast.
• If you need TikTok or YouTube, plan for two gates each: app review then the posting audit, or OAuth verification then the quota audit.
• If you want to ship this week, start with X or Bluesky, which have no review.
• If you need several networks for your users' accounts, a unified API such as Adeli skips the reviews and token jobs above. Our explainer on what a unified social media API is covers the trade-off, and review times by platform shows what you'd otherwise wait on.

Adeli's home page has the full list of networks and what each one supports.