PLANKCaptain's guide
What it costs to manage your X following list
A following list has a real API cost once you want to inspect it properly. The bill depends on how many accounts you read and how many you choose to unfollow. The math is plain enough to show before you connect an account.
For Plank, X charges $0.01 for each account returned in a following-list scan and $0.015 for each unfollow. Plank charges $0.015 per credit. One credit covers one account scanned or one account unfollowed.
What X charges for this work
X uses pay-per-use pricing. Its public price page lists User reads at $0.01 per returned resource and User Interaction creates at $0.015 per request. A following-list scan reads the accounts you follow. An unfollow is a user interaction.
The unit matters. A scan is not charged as one HTTP request. X bills the accounts returned by the scan. A response that contains 100 following accounts represents 100 user reads. Read the X API pricing page before you build against the API because X can change the rate card.
Raw X API cost = (accounts scanned x $0.01) + (accounts unfollowed x $0.015).
This guide uses the normal user-read rate that applies when a person authorizes a Plank app owned by Solutions Cay. X also advertises a reduced owned-read rate for a user reading their own data through an app that they own. That is a different setup from a customer connecting to Plank.
Three cost examples
These examples use the current public X rate card and assume one full following-list scan. They use a selected cleanup percentage only to make the arithmetic visible. Your own list and final selection decide the actual count.
500 following, remove 25%
A 500-account scan costs $5.00. Removing 125 accounts costs another $1.875. The raw API total is about $6.88. Plank needs 625 credits and charges $9.38 after cent rounding.
2,000 following, remove 50%
A 2,000-account scan costs $20.00. Removing 1,000 accounts costs $15.00. The raw API total is $35.00. Plank needs 3,000 credits and charges $45.00.
5,000 following, remove 25%
A 5,000-account scan costs $50.00. Removing 1,250 accounts costs $18.75. The raw API total is $68.75. Plank needs 6,250 credits and charges $93.75.
These are cost examples, not a reason to remove accounts blindly. A non-follower can still be a friend, client, news source, or useful reference. Review the list before you spend a credit on an unfollow.
What Plank charges
Plank charges $0.015 per credit. A scan uses one credit for each account returned. An unfollow uses one credit for each account you choose to remove. The calculator on the Plank landing page shows the credit total and the one-time price before you sign in.
The scan rate is higher than the raw $0.01 user-read price. That difference helps pay for the app, the queue that paces unfollows, payment handling, and direct support. An unfollow has the same $0.015 Plank credit price as the published raw X user-interaction rate.
Why a smaller list costs less to review
Every full scan starts with the accounts you follow today. If you reduce a 5,000-account list to 2,000 accounts, the next full scan reads 3,000 fewer accounts. At the current rate, that is $30.00 less in raw X API user-read cost before you take any new action.
Small, selective reviews can make the decision easier. You have fewer accounts to remember, fewer exceptions to protect, and a smaller list to inspect next time. A regular review also lets you stop when the list looks right instead of treating the whole cleanup as a weekend project.
There is no accounting trick here. A full scan still costs money each time you run one. Regular maintenance becomes cheaper than a later large review only after your earlier cuts make future scans small enough to offset the extra scans. The practical goal is a list you can explain and afford to revisit.
Common questions
Why does Plank count scans in credits?
Scanning a list returns a billable X user resource for each account. Plank uses one credit per account scanned so the customer can see the cost before the scan.
Does Plank charge for accounts that follow me back?
Yes. Plank has to read each account in the following list before it can determine whether that account follows you back. The review result then separates the accounts for you.
Can I save money by using X manually?
Using the X website does not use Plank credits. It also means finding and reviewing accounts one at a time. If you build your own API tool, use the current X API price page and your own developer-account setup to estimate the bill.
Reviewed September 22, 2026. X can change its prices, API behavior, and rules. Check the linked X source before you make a large API purchase.