snscrape alternative
snscrape is a free, open source Python scraper for social networks. Its Twitter scrapers started failing on June 30, 2023, when X moved content behind a login wall, and the issue is still open. ChatterAPI is a hosted API. You call X tweet search and Reddit endpoints with one key, and you have no scraper to maintain.
What snscrape is
- snscrape is a GPL-3.0 licensed scraper for social networking services. Its README lists Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Reddit, Telegram, Twitter, VKontakte and Weibo, and it needs Python 3.8 or higher. source
- Issue #996, opened June 30, 2023, reports that every Twitter scrape except trends was failing with blocked (404), probably because Twitter locked content behind a login wall that day. The issue says there was no known workaround. It was still open when we checked. source
- The most recent commit on the main branch is dated June 22, 2023. source
- The latest release on PyPI is version 0.7.0.20230622. source
When snscrape is the better choice
- You need one of the non-Twitter scrapers, such as Mastodon, Telegram or VKontakte, and it still works for what you're doing.
- You want free, open source code you can read, fork and run on your own machine.
- You maintain an older research pipeline built on snscrape output and only need the parts that still run.
When ChatterAPI fits
- You used snscrape for Twitter search, profiles or followers and need to get that data from code again.
- You don't want to maintain a scraper that breaks whenever X changes its site.
- You want X and Reddit through one key, over REST or a hosted MCP server for agents.
- You're fine paying per call. X tweet search costs 3 credits per page of about 20 tweets.
Side by side
| Topic | snscrape | ChatterAPI |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Open source scraper for social networks (source) | Reddit and X data through one API, plus free tools |
| Platforms | Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Reddit, Telegram, Twitter, VKontakte, Weibo; Twitter scrapes failing since June 2023 (source) | Reddit and X |
| REST API | No. A Python library and command line tool you run yourself | Yes, one key for both platforms |
| MCP server for agents | Not stated publicly | Yes, a hosted MCP server |
| Alerts and monitoring | Not offered | Not offered yet. You can poll X search on a schedule |
| Data export formats | Command line output, including JSONL with the --jsonl flag (source) | JSON from the API. CSV and JSON from the dashboard playground |
| Pricing model | Free, GPL-3.0 (source) | Credits per call, from $19 a month for 25,000 credits. 100 free credits on signup |
| Setup needed | Python 3.8 or higher, then pip install (source) | Sign up with Google and create an API key. No X developer account |
| Who it suits | Researchers who want self-hosted, open source scraping | Developers and teams building with code or AI agents |
- Primary job
- snscrape
- Open source scraper for social networks (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit and X data through one API, plus free tools
- Platforms
- snscrape
- Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Reddit, Telegram, Twitter, VKontakte, Weibo; Twitter scrapes failing since June 2023 (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Reddit and X
- REST API
- snscrape
- No. A Python library and command line tool you run yourself
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, one key for both platforms
- MCP server for agents
- snscrape
- Not stated publicly
- ChatterAPI
- Yes, a hosted MCP server
- Alerts and monitoring
- snscrape
- Not offered
- ChatterAPI
- Not offered yet. You can poll X search on a schedule
- Data export formats
- snscrape
- Command line output, including JSONL with the --jsonl flag (source)
- ChatterAPI
- JSON from the API. CSV and JSON from the dashboard playground
- Pricing model
- snscrape
- Free, GPL-3.0 (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Credits per call, from $19 a month for 25,000 credits. 100 free credits on signup
- Setup needed
- snscrape
- Python 3.8 or higher, then pip install (source)
- ChatterAPI
- Sign up with Google and create an API key. No X developer account
- Who it suits
- snscrape
- Researchers who want self-hosted, open source scraping
- ChatterAPI
- Developers and teams building with code or AI agents
Last checked . Sources: snscrape on GitHub, snscrape issue #996: All Twitter scrapes are failing, snscrape commit history, snscrape on PyPI.
Moving from snscrape's Twitter search
- Start with the query you passed to twitter-search. X search operators such as from:, to:, quoted phrases and -word all work in the q parameter.
- Call X tweet search with sort=latest for the newest tweets or sort=top for the most engaged.
- Use since and until (YYYY-MM-DD) to set a date window, and follow page.nextCursor to get more results.
- Map the fields you used, such as text, date, like and retweet counts and author, to the JSON response.
curl "https://chatterapi.com/v1/x/tweets/search?q=%22your+brand%22&sort=latest" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $CHATTERAPI_KEY"Questions
Does snscrape still work for Twitter?
Not when we checked. Issue #996 on the snscrape repo, opened June 30, 2023, reports that all Twitter scrapes except trends fail after X added a login wall, and it is still open.
Is snscrape still maintained?
The repo isn't archived, but its most recent commit is from June 22, 2023, and the latest PyPI release is 0.7.0.20230622.
Does snscrape work for Reddit?
Its README lists Reddit as a supported service. If you'd rather have hosted Reddit search, thread exports and user lookups, ChatterAPI covers those alongside X.
How much does X tweet search cost on ChatterAPI?
3 credits per page of about 20 tweets. Signing up with Google gives you 100 free credits, and you don't need a card.