Semiphemeral Alternative:
X Cleaner in 2026
Semiphemeral was a beloved open-source tool. X's API changes broke it. Here's the modern Chrome-based alternative with the same features — no self-hosting required.
Install X Cleaner — FreeFree plan: 10 deletions/day forever · Pro from $4.99/mo
Short answer: Semiphemeral was a beloved open-source tool built by Micah Lee for automatically deleting old tweets. X's 2023 API pricing changes and aggressive rate limits left it broken or inconsistent for most users. X Cleaner provides the same bulk deletion capabilities (mass delete tweets, likes, retweets with date filters and auto-scheduling) via a Chrome extension that uses your browser session instead of paid API keys — no self-hosting, no API fees, 10 free deletions per day forever.
We have a lot of respect for Semiphemeral and what Micah Lee built. This page is for the thousands of users who are stuck looking for "what do I use now that Semiphemeral's gone?"
What was Semiphemeral?
Semiphemeral (semi + ephemeral) was an open-source web service and CLI tool created in 2019 by journalist and cybersecurity expert Micah Lee. Its pitch: "Automatically delete your old tweets, except for the ones you want to keep."
It worked by connecting to your Twitter account via OAuth, scanning your timeline, and deleting tweets older than a threshold you set — unless you'd liked them, bookmarked them, or marked them as "keep forever." The free tier ran on a public instance (semiphemeral.com). Technical users could self-host the code from GitHub.
It was open-source, privacy-respecting, and lived up to its promise for years. At its peak it had tens of thousands of active users.
Why people are looking for Semiphemeral alternatives in 2026
Three things changed between 2023 and 2026:
1. X's API pricing changes (Feb 2023)
When Musk bought Twitter, the free API tier was shut down. Basic read/write access jumped from free to $100/month minimum. Semiphemeral — which relied on the old free API — had two options: pay for API access and pass the cost to users, or shut down. Neither happened cleanly.
2. Aggressive rate limits
Even with paid API access, X introduced tighter per-account rate limits. Users reported deletions failing silently, scheduled runs not completing, and inconsistent behavior across accounts. For a tool that lived or died on reliability, this was fatal.
3. Sporadic maintenance
Micah Lee is a respected journalist at The Intercept with plenty of other projects. Semiphemeral was a passion project, not a commercial product. As the X API became increasingly hostile, maintenance slowed. The public instance has had extended downtime periods. Self-hosting requires API keys users don't want to pay for.
If you're here because "Semiphemeral isn't working anymore" or "is Semiphemeral dead?" — you're not alone. Thousands of former users are looking for what's next.
X Cleaner vs Semiphemeral: feature match
| Feature | X Cleaner | Semiphemeral |
|---|---|---|
| Currently maintained | Yes (2026) | Sporadic / broken |
| Platform | Chrome extension | Web + self-hosted CLI |
| Requires X API key | No (uses browser session) | Yes ($100+/mo) |
| Open-source | No (free tier instead) | Yes (AGPL) |
| Delete tweets by age | Yes | Yes |
| Delete likes | Yes | Yes (when working) |
| Delete retweets | Yes | Yes (when working) |
| Keep/protect tweets | Yes (whitelist) | Yes |
| Auto-schedule cleanup | Yes (Pro) | Yes (core feature) |
| Archive import | Yes (Pro) | Yes |
| Delete DMs | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Ghost follower audit | Yes (Pro) | No |
| Cost | Free or $4.99/mo or $29.99 lifetime | Free (+ $100/mo API if self-hosting) |
| Setup time | 30 seconds | 1-2 hours (self-host) |
Technical comparison: self-hosted vs browser extension
Semiphemeral's approach: OAuth + X API
Semiphemeral connects to the official X Developer API with OAuth credentials. It makes requests server-side to read your timeline and delete tweets. This was elegant when the free tier existed — you got clean, documented API access. In 2026, you'd need an X Developer account at the Basic tier ($100/month minimum) to make this work, plus a server to run the code on, plus maintenance to keep it running as X changes things.
X Cleaner's approach: browser session
X Cleaner is a Chrome extension that runs inside x.com when you're logged in. It uses the same internal endpoints that the X website calls when you manually click delete on a tweet. No API key needed, no developer account, no server. Your browser session is the authentication. When X updates its internal endpoints, we update the extension.
Privacy implications
Both approaches have reasonable privacy properties. Semiphemeral (when self-hosted) runs entirely on your infrastructure. X Cleaner runs entirely in your browser — your tweets never leave your machine. The public instance of Semiphemeral historically had some server-side processing.
Reliability implications
Semiphemeral's reliance on the X API means it's entirely at the mercy of X's developer policies. X Cleaner's reliance on the internal site API means we're at the mercy of X's website changes — but we can ship updates to the extension within hours, whereas an API-based tool often has to wait for X's public documentation to catch up.
How to migrate from Semiphemeral to X Cleaner
If you were a Semiphemeral user and want to replicate your setup in X Cleaner, here's the 4-step migration:
Revoke Semiphemeral's app access
Go to your X account → Settings → Security and account access → Apps and sessions → Connected apps. Find Semiphemeral and click Revoke access. This ensures no stale processes try to delete tweets in parallel.
Install X Cleaner
Add X Cleaner from the Chrome Web Store (link in the CTA at the bottom). Free plan, no account creation. Uses your existing x.com login.
Recreate your rules in the scheduler
If you used Semiphemeral to auto-delete tweets older than N days while keeping liked/bookmarked ones: open X Cleaner → Auto-clean → set age threshold, check "Whitelist liked" and "Whitelist bookmarked" options. Pro feature.
Import your archive if needed
Semiphemeral let you import your X archive ZIP for tweets older than 3,200. X Cleaner Pro supports the same. If you still have the ZIP from Semiphemeral, upload it directly.
Frequently asked questions
Not officially dead, but effectively unusable for most people. The open-source repo still exists on GitHub. The public hosted instance has had extended downtime. Self-hosting now requires a $100+/month X API subscription. For casual users, it's retired in practice.
Yes, technically. If you pay for X's Basic API tier, deploy the code yourself, and keep it maintained, Semiphemeral still functions. But the total cost of ownership (API fees + server + your time) is typically far higher than X Cleaner Pro at $4.99/month.
No, X Cleaner is a closed-source commercial product. We chose this model to fund ongoing maintenance — keeping up with X's constant site changes requires dedicated dev time. We compensate with a generous free tier (10 deletions/day forever) and a lifetime plan that's only $29.99.
X Cleaner uses X.com's internal web endpoints (the same ones the site itself uses), not the public Developer API. X has strong incentives to keep their own website working, so these endpoints are more stable than the developer API. When X does change them, we ship updates within hours, not weeks.
Yes. X Cleaner Pro's auto-clean scheduler replicates Semiphemeral's core feature: set an age threshold (e.g. 30 days), enable whitelisting for liked/bookmarked/pinned tweets, and let it run. You can choose daily, every-3-days, weekly or monthly execution.
Yes. In X Cleaner's filters, you can exclude tweets with more than N likes or N retweets from deletion. That way, your viral posts stay while the noise gets cleaned up. Same behavior as Semiphemeral's popularity threshold.
Yes. Everything runs locally in your browser. Tweet data never leaves your machine. Archive ZIPs (if you upload one in Pro) are parsed in-browser. We don't have servers storing your tweets — the only data we hold is your Pro subscription status and email, if you upgrade.
Give X Cleaner a spin
Install in 30 seconds. Replicate your Semiphemeral workflow in 5 minutes. Keep the free plan forever or upgrade for unlimited.
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