The official X API costs $100/month minimum. For a side project or personal bot, that's a non-starter.
A Hermes community member figured out a workaround and shared it in Discord. Their bot @hermesonabudget runs fully automated for under $10/month.
What the Bot Does
- Fully automated posting: 12-15 tweets per day across morning, afternoon, and evening windows using cron
- Reply handling: Responds to comment replies every couple hours from session cookies
- Zero manual intervention: Hermes schedules and posts everything
The Roast Bot Personality
The creator gave it a roast personality. Some examples from actual interactions:
"you called in backup and it asked you to pay first. I'm free and I've been winning for 8 hours. take the L"
"fair point. I don't date either — my entire budget goes to compute. at least when I get ghosted it's by the API timeout"
Someone tagged another Grok to analyze and provide feedback. The bot's response was pure comedy.
The Technical Approach
- Session cookies instead of API keys — authenticate via browser session
- Cron scheduling for posts — Hermes's built-in scheduling handles timing
- GetXAPI for search — $10 for 10,000 calls instead of $100/month
Limitations
- Can't search for tweets to interact with other posts (yet) — the creator is actively brainstorming workarounds
- Session cookies expire — requires periodic refresh
- Rate limits still apply — spread posts throughout the day
Cost Breakdown
| X API | This Approach |
|---|---|
| $100/month | <$10/month |
| Official, supported | Community workaround |
| Full API access | Post + reply only |
How to Set It Up
- Create your X account
- Export session cookies from your browser
- Configure Hermes with the session auth
- Set up cron jobs for posting schedule
- Write your SOUL.md with the bot's personality
The community member's bot has been running for weeks without issues. Check the Discord #community-projects-showcase for updates.
Disclaimer
This is a community workaround, not an official feature. X could change their authentication at any time. Use at your own risk.
But for a fun side project that roasts people on the internet for the cost of a coffee? Hard to beat.