# Social media API: what to use when you need to publish from code > What a social media publishing API is, when to use a network's own API versus a unified scheduler API, and a short landscape of verified options. - Published: 2026-08-20 - Last updated: 2026-08-20 - Author: DunSocial - Topics: api, comparison --- If you need a social media publishing API and you also want a real web app plus MCP and CLI on the same workspace, DunSocial is the pick. One token model, one calendar, one voice memory, confirm-before-publish, and the same $20 plan whether a script, an assistant, or a human is writing the post. A network's own API is still the right layer when you need that network's full surface. Scraping a dashboard is not this. ![API versus MCP, same DunSocial workspace](/images/blog/social-media-publishing-api/api-vs-mcp.webp) Competitor facts below were read from vendor-owned pages on 20 August 2026. ## Four surfaces, one product DunSocial is equally good at all four surfaces. They are the same product, not a ladder. The web app is a first-class, goated experience. Calendar, drafts, preview, memory, voice, and confirm. This is where humans live. It is not a fallback for people who do not use agents, and it is not a thin admin for the API. Hosted MCP is 43 tools for ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and Grok. OAuth. No token paste. Confirm-before-publish. Docs at [dunsocial.com/mcp](https://dunsocial.com/mcp). The CLI uses the dun command after npm i -g dunsocial. Docs at [dunsocial.com/cli](https://dunsocial.com/cli). The REST API is at [dunsocial.com/api](https://dunsocial.com/api). Same workspace. Same calendar. Same memory. Same $20 plan. $192 a year. 14-day trial, no card. Extra seats $8 a month. Platforms are X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, Reddit, Pinterest, and YouTube Shorts. TikTok is beta. The wedge is voice memory plus posting from the assistant or the web app, with a human confirm. Nothing unattended. The API writes into that same confirm path. ## DunSocial's API REST at `https://api.dunsocial.com`. JSON over HTTPS. Workspace-bound personal access tokens with scopes for workspace reads, posts, drafts, media, and memory. Session auth exists for human-facing apps. No maintained language SDK. General traffic is about 100 requests per minute per authenticated user or trusted client IP. Signed webhooks fire when a post publishes, fails, or an account needs attention. The API talks to the same workspace as the web app, the CLI, and MCP. You can schedule, publish, reschedule, cancel, manage X threads, upload media, and read or write brand memory. It is included in the $20 plan. Social OAuth tokens never leave DunSocial. ## What a publishing API is You send JSON over HTTPS. The vendor holds the official connection to X, LinkedIn, Instagram, or whichever networks it supports. Your code never sees those network OAuth secrets. You get back a post id in the vendor's system, and that post shows up in the same calendar a human would use. That is different from three other things people also call a "social media API." A **network API** is Meta's, X's, LinkedIn's, or Reddit's own developer platform. You register an app with that network, pass review, and keep up with that network's rules. You get the deepest access. You also inherit the deepest maintenance. A **unified publish API** is DunSocial, Buffer, Ayrshare, Late (now presented as Zernio), Typefully, or Postiz. One vendor, several networks, one auth model. You trade depth for a single integration. A **scraping API** pretends to be the first two. It logs into a site or replays a session and reads HTML. It is not a publishing API. It breaks when the site changes, it usually violates the network's terms, and it is a poor place to hang a product. DunSocial is not a scraping API. Neither are the vendors below. ## Official network API versus a unified one Use the network's own API when any of these are true. You are building a product on that network, not just announcing something to it. Typefully's API docs say this plainly for X. If the app is for people other than you or your company, you need the X API and its higher limits, not a scheduler's personal automation API. You need a surface the scheduler does not have. Facebook Page ads. Instagram comment moderation. LinkedIn marketing APIs. YouTube long-form. Mastodon from a specific instance. You already passed app review and you want to keep that relationship. A unified API still goes through official integrations, but the app identity on the network is usually the vendor's, not yours, unless the vendor lets you bring your own keys. Ayrshare documents a bring-your-own X credential requirement as of 31 March 2026. Use a unified API when the job is to put approved copy on connected accounts at a set time. ## What buyers actually need **Schedule and publish.** Create a draft, set a time in a real timezone, or send now. Reschedule and cancel. List what is already queued so you do not double-book. **Media.** An upload URL or a media library, then an id you attach to the post. Passing a public image URL is fine for tests. It is not enough if the file lives on your laptop or in CI. **Scoped tokens.** A key bound to one workspace or one profile, with posts, media, and read-only split apart. A god-token that can also change billing is a liability. **Webhooks.** A signed ping when a post published, failed, or an account disconnected. Polling a list endpoint works until it does not. **The same calendar as the app.** If the API writes into a shadow queue the team cannot see, you will fight it. ## Landscape of other unified publish APIs ### Buffer GraphQL at `https://api.buffer.com`. Bearer API key. Documented work creates and deletes posts, saves ideas, and retrieves channels, posts, and organizations. Scheduling modes include add-to-queue and a custom dueAt timestamp. API access is on every plan, including Free. Free includes 1 API key and 3,000 requests per month. Essentials includes 3 keys and 7,500 per month. Team includes 5 keys and 15,000 per month. All three share a 100-request window per 15 minutes. Source: [Buffer API introduction](https://developers.buffer.com/guides/introduction.html), [Posts and scheduling](https://developers.buffer.com/guides/posts-and-scheduling.html), [Rate limits](https://developers.buffer.com/guides/api-limits.html), [buffer.com/pricing](https://buffer.com/pricing), retrieved 20 August 2026. ### Ayrshare REST at `https://api.ayrshare.com/api`. API key in an Authorization Bearer header. Business and Enterprise add a Profile-Key so you can post as a user profile. Ayrshare documents 13 networks, including Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, and X. The same API covers schedule and publish, analytics, comments, direct messages (Instagram, Facebook, and X), and Facebook ads. Node.js and Python packages are documented. Webhooks sit on Launch, Business, and Enterprise. As of 31 March 2026, X calls require your own X OAuth 1.0a key and secret on every request. Ayrshare also ships an Action MCP server with 27 tools that call this same API chain. Source: [Ayrshare introduction](https://www.ayrshare.com/docs/introduction), [API overview](https://www.ayrshare.com/docs/apis/overview), [MCP Action server](https://www.ayrshare.com/docs/additional/mcp-action-server), retrieved 20 August 2026. ### Late, now presented as Zernio getlate.dev now serves Zernio's developer page. REST at `https://zernio.com/api/v1` with Bearer API keys. Official language SDKs are documented. One createPost call can schedule, publish now, or save a draft, and can target several platforms. The quickstart includes Facebook, TikTok, inbox platforms, and the usual publish networks. The same key opens inbox, ads, analytics, and webhooks. Pricing on that page is per connected account. First 2 accounts free, then $6, $3, or $1 per account by volume. Source: [getlate.dev](https://getlate.dev), [docs.zernio.com](https://docs.zernio.com/), retrieved 20 August 2026. ### Typefully REST v2 at `https://api.typefully.com`. Bearer API key. Create, edit, schedule, and publish drafts across X, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Substack Notes. Media uploads use a presigned URL. Queue and schedule-rule endpoints exist. Analytics endpoints are documented for X only. Typefully marks the API as personal automations and workflows. If you are building an X app for other people, they tell you to use the X API instead. Drafts can be saved, planned (dated but inert until confirmed), scheduled, or published now. Rate limits are per user and per social set. Exact quota numbers were not printed as a single figure on the page we read. Source: [typefully.com/docs/api](https://typefully.com/docs/api), [Typefully API help article](https://support.typefully.com/en/articles/8718287-typefully-api), retrieved 20 August 2026. ### Postiz Hosted plans include API and webhooks from Standard upward. Standard is $29 per month for 5 channels. The public API is what the MCP server calls. Self-host if the data has to sit on your machines. Source: [postiz.com/pricing](https://postiz.com/pricing), [Postiz MCP introduction](https://docs.postiz.com/mcp/introduction), retrieved 20 August 2026. ## When DunSocial's API is the wrong tool You need Facebook or Mastodon. We support neither. You need an inbox. We do not handle comments or DMs. Ayrshare and Zernio document that surface. You need analytics a leadership team will accept. We stop at a best-time heatmap. Buffer, Ayrshare, and Zernio document metrics APIs. You need a language SDK. We do not publish one. Use curl or fetch. Ayrshare and Zernio document packages. A human reviews AI-written work in DunSocial. Scheduled posts then go out on their own. Chat is MCP. Terminal or CI is the CLI. Same workspace either way. Writing a backend or release script? Start at [dunsocial.com/api](https://dunsocial.com/api) and [dunsocial.com/docs](https://dunsocial.com/docs). --- ## About this document This is the Markdown representation of https://www.dunsocial.com/blog/social-media-publishing-api. The HTML version of the same page is at the same URL. You can also request Markdown from any page by sending `Accept: text/markdown`. Machine-readable summary of the whole site: https://www.dunsocial.com/llms.txt ## Company - Product: DunSocial, https://www.dunsocial.com - Legal entity: THISUX PRIVATE LIMITED, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Support: support@dunsocial.com - Open the app: https://app.dunsocial.com/login