Today, we’re sharing some major updates to our developer platform — some of the biggest changes to date. These include:

• Making it easier to get started on our platform with the introduction of Essential access and opening up more access for free,
• Updating our Developer Policy to encourage new types of innovation that will lead to greater impact on the public conversation itself, and
• Launching new features and officially making the v2 API the primary Twitter API.

Read on for more.

Get started right away, for free

For starters, we’re making it easier for you to sign up for a developer account so you can focus on building right away. We’re also introducing two new access levels that give you more data for free.

Essential access includes immediate access to the Twitter API v2 upon signup, one App environment and the ability to retrieve up to 500k Tweets per month. This should meet the majority of developers’ needs, especially early on. We also know there’s no better way to evaluate or test a platform than by sending your first request. Get started with Essential access here.

We’re also introducing a new free Elevated access level, which includes three App environments (development, staging, production) and the ability to retrieve up to two million Tweets per month. If you’re already using the Twitter API v2, you’ll automatically see your Projects upgraded to Elevated access today. Otherwise, you’ll need to apply for Elevated access. 

We’re working on a solution to enable developers whose previous applications for a developer account have been declined. We'll share a path soon to enable sign up for Essential or re-application for Elevated access.

Doubling down on developers   

We want you — our developer community — to drive the future of innovation on Twitter. We want to see developers create more solutions that:

• Improve the health and safety of the public conversation
• Enable creation and personal expression
• Measure and analyze what’s happening
• Improve community experiences
• Curate and recommend content
• Impact the greater good

We’ve already seen you build and do amazing things with our API: Tracy Chou created Block Party to help filter unwanted spam or hate, Janique-ka John built a Spaces search app for Twitter Spaces, Samir Al-Battran built a business out of Tweepsmap, and researcher Stein Monteiro used our API to better understand Twitter's impact on the farming protests in India.  

We know that when you build solutions for people who use Twitter, you often have to build or replicate some of the features that already exist on Twitter. So, to encourage more of this innovation, we’ve removed language in our Developer Policy that restricted some elements of how you build with Twitter's core features and limited the number of users you can support through your app. You can read more details about the policy update here.

Our developer community has unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that can fill gaps, solve problems, and seed new innovation on Twitter well beyond what we at Twitter can do on our own. We’re excited to continue building a better Twitter together. 

The Twitter API v2: ready for prime time

With today’s updates, the Twitter API v2 is now officially the primary Twitter API. Over the past several months, we’ve shipped lots of new features and endpoints to the API v2 that weren’t previously available on v1.1, including endpoints for Spaces, posting polls in Tweets, and pinning and unpinning Lists (see a full list here). You can follow our product roadmap for a list of v2 endpoints in development and view our mapping of v1.1 to v2 endpoints. 

Nearly all existing apps can be fully supported on v2. While the v1.1 API will continue to be available, we’ll only be supporting it for critical bug fixes. Our team will also continue to support those using the Premium and Enterprise v1.1 APIs and work to ensure a smooth transition to the Twitter API v2 in the future. 

What’s next?

We are on our way to building an open developer platform in public, and we’re excited to release more useful endpoints, expand the canvas developers can build on in Twitter, and create opportunities for developers to monetize their innovation in the future. We want to continue to drive value for the developer ecosystem and make it easier for you to build, innovate, and make an impact on the public conversation. 

Ready to get started? Sign up for Essential access and post your first API call right away. Once that’s done, sign up to stay informed about product news and tips. Don’t forget to follow @TwitterDev and Twitter Developer Insiders. We’ll be listening, learning, and further empowering you along the way, and we can’t wait to see what you build.