X / Twitter follower count without the API — free profile metrics from any URL

How-to

X / Twitter follower count from any public profile — without the $100/mo API

The official X API now starts at $100/month just for basic read access. For a simple lookup — "how many followers does this account have?" — Pulse gives you a single free GET request and returns the live number. No API key, no OAuth, no $100/month charge.

One call, live numbers

curl "https://pulse.walls.sh/profile?url=https://twitter.com/elonmusk"

{
  "platform": "x",
  "handle": "elonmusk",
  "name": "Elon Musk",
  "followers": 240188009,
  "following": 1352,
  "posts": 104071,
  "verified": true,
  "avatar": "https://pbs.twimg.com/…",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-06-11T17:05:40.520Z"
}

Real numbers from Elon Musk's profile, fetched live. followers, following, and posts are the public counts visible on any profile page. verified is true if the account has the gold or blue X checkmark. Both twitter.com and x.com URLs work.

What URLs work

Pass the profile URL directly — both domains work:

# Both resolve to the same profile
https://twitter.com/elonmusk
https://x.com/elonmusk

Track followers over time

Every /profile call saves a snapshot. The history_url in the response lets you retrieve the full series:

curl "https://pulse.walls.sh/history?url=https://twitter.com/elonmusk"

{
  "url": "https://twitter.com/elonmusk",
  "platform": "x",
  "kind": "profile",
  "history": [
    { "followers": 240188009, "posts": 104071, "fetchedAt": "2026-06-11T17:05:40Z" },
    { "followers": 240000000, "posts": 104000, "fetchedAt": "2026-06-10T09:00:00Z" }
  ],
  "velocity": { "followers_per_hour": 800, "posts_per_hour": 0.04 }
}

Request the profile on a schedule and Pulse accumulates the growth curve automatically — no database setup, no separate cron job.

Batch: check multiple X profiles at once

curl "https://pulse.walls.sh/profile/batch?urls=https://twitter.com/elonmusk,https://twitter.com/sama"

Returns an array with one object per profile (or { url, error } for failures). Up to 25 profiles per request. Partial failures don't fail the whole batch.

In Python

import requests
r = requests.get("https://pulse.walls.sh/profile", params={"url": "https://twitter.com/elonmusk"})
p = r.json()
print(f"@{p['handle']}: {p['followers']:,} followers, {p['posts']:,} posts")

Use in an AI agent (MCP)

The pulse-mcp server adds a profile tool to Claude Desktop or Cursor:

npx -y pulse-mcp

Then ask: "How many followers does @elonmusk have?" — no API key, no X developer account needed.

Why this works without the X API

Pulse fetches X's own public pages from a residential IP address — the same request any browser makes. Public profile data (follower count, following count, post count, verified status) is visible to anyone without authentication. Pulse normalizes the response into clean JSON so you don't have to parse the page yourself.

Caveats

Post metrics vs. profile metrics — this endpoint returns follower counts. For likes, retweets, and replies on a specific tweet, use /metrics instead.
Private accounts — returns content_unavailable.
Suspended accounts — returns content_unavailable.
Likes — X removed public like counts from profiles; the likes field is null.

Rate limits and pricing

Free: 120 calls/minute, no account or signup needed. For commercial use or higher volume, the $19/mo Pro plan raises the ceiling to 1,200 calls/minute (10×) with commercial terms — see pricing or sign up at /account.

More: full API docs · OpenAPI spec · X/Twitter post metrics · Instagram follower count · Bluesky follower count · all supported platforms.