The Threads API lets an account publish 250 posts and 1,000 replies in 24 hours. A single post allows 500 characters (an emoji counts as its UTF-8 bytes), five links, up to 20 pictures or videos in a carousel, and a poll of up to four options on a text post. This page puts the numbers a developer or a scheduler plans around in one place. Meta's documentation states limits and no price list that we have found, so the practical cost of the API is the work of respecting them.
The limits
| Limit | |
|---|---|
| Posts through the API | 250 in 24 hours per account |
| Replies through the API | 1,000 in 24 hours per account |
| Text | 500 characters, emoji counted by the byte |
| Links in a post | 5 |
| Carousel | Up to 20 items |
| Picture | JPEG or PNG, 8 MB, width 320 to 1,440 |
| Video | MP4 or MOV, up to 1 GB and 5 minutes, 23 to 60 fps |
| Poll | Up to 4 options, text posts only |
| Editing a post | Not in the API; delete and post again |
How publishing works
Two steps: create a container, wait for Threads to process it (a video takes longer), then publish. A tool that does not wait publishes nothing and reports success, which is the bug to look for in a homemade script. The status can be polled until the container is finished, and the container is not a long-term holder of a post.
The counting rule
The 500 characters are measured as UTF-8 bytes for emoji, so a post of 490 characters with four emoji is 502 and is refused. The API's error for this is covered in Threads API errors. Preflight counts the same way, so the number beside the composer is the one the API sees.
What to build around the daily caps
- Spread, do not burst. 250 posts a day is far above a normal schedule, so the cap appears when a backlog is imported at once. Queue the backlog over several days.
- Count replies separately. The 1,000 replies are a different pool from the 250 posts, which is worth knowing for a thread, because its parts after the first are replies.
- Handle the refusal as a wait. When a cap is reached the right response is to retry later and not to fail the post, because the window rolls.
- Keep the limits near the composer. A check that runs while the post is written is cheaper than a failure at the minute.
Scheduling
The Threads app has its own scheduler. Through the API, a tool keeps the post and sends it at the minute you chose. The app side is in scheduling Threads posts, the details of each format in scheduling to Threads and the table in the Threads limits page.
In Preflight
Threads is one channel on every plan, the free one included. The composer counts emoji by the byte, flags a sixth link and reads a picture's size before upload, and the same post can be created through the API.
The 250 and 1,000 daily figures are as recorded on the Threads page of this site; check them against your own account before building around the edge.
Questions people ask
- What are the Threads API limits?
- 250 posts and 1,000 replies in 24 hours per account. A post allows 500 characters, five links and up to 20 items in a carousel.
- How many characters can a Threads API post have?
- 500, but an emoji counts as its UTF-8 bytes, usually four. A post of 490 characters with four emoji is 502 and is refused.
- Can the Threads API edit a post?
- No. A post has to be deleted and published again.
- Why did my Threads API post report success but nothing appeared?
- Publishing is two steps. If the container was not finished processing before publish was called, nothing is published, so wait for the container's status first.