Free credit incentives for X API pay-per-use accounts

Earn up to $70 in free X API credits by saving your first eligible payment card and completing your first auto-recharge. Eligibility rules, examples, and FAQ.

X API pay-per-use accounts can earn free API credits two ways:

Add a payment card

A one-time $20 in free credits when an account saves its first eligible card.

Turn on auto-recharge

A one-time free credit matching the first automatic recharge, up to $50.

Both incentives are one-time per account, are applied automatically (no code, voucher, or form), and appear in the Developer Console within a minute of the qualifying action. A new account that earns both receives $70 in free credits in total.

Free credits from these incentives expire 3 months after they are granted. They are spent before your purchased credits, so normal API usage consumes them first. See How the free credits behave.

These incentives are currently rolling out. Until they are fully enabled for an account, saving a card or enabling auto-recharge behaves exactly as before and no credit is issued.

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Incentive 1: $20 for adding a card

What you get

$20 of free API credits, added to your account’s free-credit balance as soon as the card is saved.

Who qualifies

The credit is for accounts that are new to paying. All of the following must be true at the moment the card is saved:

Requirement	Detail
First card on the account	The saved card must be the only payment method on the account. Accounts that already have a card on file do not qualify, even if that card is later removed and re-added.
No previous payments	The account must never have made a successful payment before (one-time purchase or auto-recharge).
Eligible card type	Credit and debit cards qualify. Prepaid cards do not, and cards whose type cannot be determined are not eligible. The card can still be used for purchases; it just does not earn the credit.
Card not previously rewarded	Each physical card can earn the credit once, across all accounts. Re-adding a card that already earned the credit, on this or any other account, earns nothing.

Two ways to save a card

1. Billing information → Add payment method. The card is saved without a purchase and evaluated immediately.
2. Buying credits and keeping the card on file. The card is saved as part of the purchase. The purchase itself does not count against the “no previous payments” rule, so a brand-new account’s first purchase can still earn the $20.

Examples

Scenario	Result
New account, adds a Visa credit card on the billing page	$20 credit
New account, buys $10 of credits and keeps the card on file	$20 credit (plus the $10 purchased)
New account, adds a prepaid card	No credit; card is saved and usable
Account that bought credits last month without saving a card, now adds a card	No credit (prior payment)
Account removes its card and adds the same card again	No credit (card already rewarded)
Second account adds a card that earned $20 on a first account	No credit (card already rewarded)

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Incentive 2: Auto-recharge match, up to $50

What you get

When your first automatic recharge succeeds, you receive free credits equal to that recharge amount, capped at $50.

First auto-recharge amount	Free credit
$5 (the minimum)	$5
$20	$20
$50	$50
$100	$50
$500	$50

When it is granted

Turning auto-recharge on does not grant anything by itself. The credit is issued when the first automatic recharge actually charges your card successfully, that is, when your balance drops below your recharge threshold and the recharge goes through. If the charge fails (declined card, expired card), nothing is granted; the credit is issued when a later first recharge succeeds.

See Auto-recharge for how to configure the recharge amount and trigger threshold.

Who qualifies

• Accounts that have never had a successful automatic recharge before. Accounts already using auto-recharge do not qualify when the incentive launches.
• The card charged must be a credit or debit card (same eligibility as above).
• One grant per account, and one per physical card across all accounts.
• Only the first successful auto-recharge is matched. Later recharges are regular purchases with no bonus.

Stacking with the card-add credit

The two incentives are independent. A new account that adds a card ($20), enables auto-recharge, and then has its first $50 recharge go through receives $70 in free credits in total.

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How the free credits behave

Where they appear	Developer Console → Billing → Credits, under Free credits, within about a minute of the qualifying action. They also appear in Billing → Payments as a transaction.
What they pay for	X API usage billed to the pay-per-use account, the same as purchased credits.
Spend order	Free credits are consumed before purchased credits.
Expiry	Free credits from these incentives expire 3 months after they are granted. Unused free credits are removed from your balance at that point; purchased credits are unaffected.
Cash value	None. They cannot be withdrawn, refunded, or transferred to another account.
Refunds and disputes	Free credits are not affected by refunds or disputes of the purchase that triggered them.

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Frequently asked questions

I added a card but did not receive $20.

Check the eligibility table above. The most common reasons: the account already had a card on file; the account had made a payment before; the card is prepaid; or the card was used to earn the credit before, on this or another account. Removing and re-adding a card never changes the outcome.

I turned on auto-recharge but see no credit.

The credit is granted when the first automatic recharge succeeds, and turning the setting on by itself does not grant it. It will appear about a minute after your first recharge goes through. If a recharge failed, check the card on file under Billing information.

My first recharge was $100. Why did I only get $50?

The match is capped at $50.

Can I get the credit again on a new account?

No. Each card can earn each incentive once across all accounts, and each account can earn each incentive once.

Will I be charged for the free credits?

No. The incentive credits are free; only your own purchases and auto-recharges are charged to your card.

Does the incentive change my recharge amount or threshold?

No. Your auto-recharge settings are unchanged; the free credit is added on top of the recharge.

When do the free credits expire?

3 months after they are granted. Free credits are spent before purchased credits, so any usage on the account consumes them first. Unused free credits are removed from your balance when they expire; purchased credits are unaffected.

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Summary

	Add a card	Auto-recharge match
Amount	$20	Equal to the first successful auto-recharge, up to $50
Granted when	First eligible card saved	First automatic recharge succeeds
Eligibility	First card, no prior payments, credit/debit card, card not rewarded before	No prior successful auto-recharge, credit/debit card, card not rewarded before
Limit	Once per account and once per card	Once per account and once per card
Credits	Free, spent first, expire after 3 months, non-withdrawable	Free, spent first, expire after 3 months, non-withdrawable

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Next steps

Developer Console

Add a payment method, enable auto-recharge, and view your free-credit balance.

Pricing

Per-endpoint rates, auto-recharge settings, spending limits, and xAI API credit rewards.