Twitter is closing free access to its APIs

Free services that rely on Twitter's software tools are under threat of losing their raison d'être after the online service said it would only offer paid access to its APIs from February 9.

Developers have always had access to the platform's APIs for free, at least to a limited extent, while deeper integration costs money.

In yesterday's tweets, Twitter initially didn't provide any details about the future pricing model, only holding off the possibility of getting more information over the next week.

"Starting February 9th, we will no longer support free access to the Twitter API, and versions 2 and 1.1 will instead have a paid base layer," the tweet said yesterday morning.

With access to the interface, a system of useful applications and services has been developed in recent years.

For example, screenshots are taken of tweets, making it easier to read threads from several posts, or to collect tweets that have subsequently been deleted.

Charging Twitter to access its interfaces could mean that services would need to charge users.

These business models are challenging because the willingness to pay online is rather low.