Mashable: The platform also gave developers more time to use the current API version by saying that it would be available until February 13th.

Last week, numerous third-party Twitter clients suddenly ceased functioning. Although Twitter took some time to clarify the situation, it eventually said it would stop allowing third-party developers to utilize its application programming interface (API) to make Twitter clients. After that, Elon Musk declared that only "good bots" would be allowed to keep the API at no cost.

Responding to feedback, Twitter will enable a light, write-only API for bots providing good content that is free

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2023
People who use API-based technologies for Twitter security were freaking out over the announcement. This free API access allowed many kinds of users to make various bot accounts that posted regularly, like a fan account, a daily facts account, or sometimes a daily horoscope service, for example. However, more than that, these APIs could be used to develop useful extensions, such as ones that try to prevent dogpiling and harassment by letting a user block all of another person's followers.

To solve this problem, Twitter said it would add a free plan that lets users send up to 1,500 tweets per month "for a single authenticated user token, including Login with Twitter."

A new form of free access will be introduced as this is extremely important to our ecosystem – limited to Tweet creation of up to 1,500 Tweets per month for a single authenticated user token, including Login with Twitter.

— Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) February 8, 2023
Many of the so-called "good" bots on Twitter will be allowed to stay because of this clarification. These are the accounts that are run by machines and send out tweets with useful information and content, like pictures from the past and friendly reminders. Many bot developers have said in the past that they won't pay for API access, which threatens the long-term viability of these accounts.

However, Twitter recently said that it would start charging $100 per month for its most basic API plan. This will give developers access to the Ads API and a "low level of API usage," though the latter term is not defined.

The platform will also stop letting people use the Premium API. Former Premium subscribers who want to keep using the API will have to switch to Enterprise. There is still no word from the company about what, if any, new options researchers who are using Twitter's developer tools for their projects will have in the future.

As Twitter has said before, this change was made to "improve quality, cut down on spam, and help an ecosystem grow."

Even the most active Twitter bots might have trouble keeping up with 1,500 tweets per month, which is about 50 tweets per day. The micro-blogging platform also gave developers more time to use the current API version by saying that it would be available until February 13th.

This is Musk's latest attempt to help Twitter make more money. Also, Twitter Blue is now available in 15 more countries than before. Recent reports, though, say that only 180,000 people in the U.S. have signed up for that. At its current rate of growth, Twitter is expected to make $27.8 million in subscription fees this year.