Creating X accounts in 2026: the sign-up, verification and why bulk creators fail

The only account creator that X (formerly Twitter) supports is its own sign-up form at X.com/signup. You enter a name and a phone number or email address, confirm it with a code or a verification email, and you have one account. X offers no bulk route. Its authenticity policy forbids mass-registering accounts that are not “legitimate, genuine and transparent”. The tools sold as bulk creators work by scripting the website, which X's automation rules say may end in permanent suspension. This post covers the real sign-up flow, what X does and does not publish about running several accounts, and the documented ways bulk-made accounts get locked, discounted and suspended.

How to create an X account step by step

X's official sign-up creates one account at a time. You go to X.com/signup in a browser, or open the X app, give a name and a phone number or email address, and confirm it. X's help page puts it this way: “You'll be prompted to enter information such as your name and phone number or email address.” (How to create an X account, checked 18 October 2026.)

1. Open X.com/signup in a browser, or install the X app on iOS or Android, and choose to create an account.
2. Enter your name and a phone number or an email address. A third-party walkthrough from Computer Hope says the web form also asks for your date of birth and starts with a phone field, with a “Use e-mail instead” option.
3. Confirm the contact detail. For email, X says: “If you provided an email address while signing up, we will immediately send you an email with instructions so we can verify your email address.” For phone: “If you provided a phone number while signing up, we will immediately send you a text message with a code so we can verify your number.”
4. Work through the remaining screens as they appear, and follow what is in front of you rather than an old screenshot.
5. Before you post or follow anyone, turn on two-factor authentication in the security settings, and store the recovery details somewhere you will still find them in a year.

Signing up with Google

The same help page documents a Google route on iOS, Android and the web, starting with “Tap on Continue with Google.” The page had been updated within the last few weeks when it was checked, so read the current version in a browser to see which sign-in options your device offers today, rather than relying on a third-party list.

Can you use the same email or phone number for more than one X account?

X does not publish how many accounts one phone number or one email address can verify. The sign-up page asks each new account for a “phone number or email address” and says no more. In practice, if sign-up says an account already exists, the email or phone you typed is already attached to an account, as ClimbX's sign-up guide explains (a third-party guide, not an X page). Any precise figure per phone number comes from a third party, not from X.

What X does publish is how a number can be taken away from you. Its phone number FAQ says a notification “can be triggered when an account is both inactive for 45 or more days and the number attached to the account is added to a new account (and the account owner is able to verify their ownership of the number).” (Phone number FAQs, checked 19 September 2026.) A number you do not own outright, such as a rented verification number, can be verified by whoever holds it next once your account has been inactive for 45 or more days.

For what the rules say about running several accounts, and the setups from the app switcher upwards, see how many X accounts you can have.

Is a bulk Twitter account creator against X's rules?

A bulk Twitter account creator runs into two sets of X rules at once. The authenticity policy forbids mass-registering accounts that are not genuine. The automation rules list scripting the website, which is how registration bots work, as something you must not do, and name permanent suspension as a possible result. Having more than one account is not banned in itself. Making fake ones in bulk is.

The authenticity policy (page dated April 2025, checked 19 September 2026) says: “you may not create, operate, or mass-register accounts that are not legitimate, genuine and transparent as to their source, identity, and popularity.” Several of its clauses describe what a bulk tool produces:

• “Unauthorized automation: Automated or scripted accounts that do not comply with our Developer Policy.”
• Fake personas: “This may include using stock, stolen or AI-generated profile photos, copied or stolen profile bios, and/or misleading profile information for the purpose of deceiving others.” Bulk-made accounts are usually filled in with exactly this kind of profile.
• “Multiple Accounts and Coordination: We prohibit coordinated inauthentic activity that artificially influences conversations or disrupts X.”
• “Ban Evasion: You may not circumvent X enforcement actions.” This clause applies when new accounts are made to replace suspended ones.

The automation rules (page says “Updated April 2026”, checked 19 September 2026) cover the method: “Use non-API-based forms of automation, such as scripting the X website. The use of these techniques may result in the permanent suspension of your account.” They also make clear who carries the risk: “For X users: You are ultimately responsible for the actions taken with your account, or by applications associated with your account.” The software seller does not hold the suspended accounts. You do.

What automated Twitter accounts are allowed to do

An automated X account is one whose actions are carried out by software rather than by a person. X allows some of this and forbids much of it. Automation that complies with X's Developer Policy is the sanctioned form. Scripted accounts that do not comply count as “unauthorized automation” under the authenticity policy.

The automation rules then treat each action separately:

• Automated Reposts are allowed “for entertainment, informational, or novelty purposes”, but “bulk, aggressive, or spammy Reposting is a violation of the X Rules.”
• Automated likes are not: “You may not like posts or hide replies in an automated manner.”
• Following may not be done “in a bulk, aggressive, or indiscriminate manner”.
• Automated replies and mentions “to reach many users on an unsolicited basis” are called “an abuse of the feature”. Running an AI reply bot “requires prior written and explicit approval from X.”

These rules are about what an account does once it exists. For making accounts, the mass-registration clause quoted above is the one that applies, and it applies before an account has done anything at all.

Why accounts from bulk creators get locked, discounted or suspended

Bulk creators advertise automated phone verification, captcha solving, email confirmation and rotating IPs. Every account they make therefore starts as a scripted sign-up, often with a rented or recycled number and a profile someone else filled in. X documents several mechanisms that catch such accounts or make them worthless, even though it does not publish how it detects them.

Captcha and verification locks

X's locked-accounts page says: “If your account appears to have exhibited automated behavior that violates the X Rules, we may lock it and request that you pass a captcha challenge to confirm you are not a robot.” Other locks ask for a phone number, and the page warns: “Please note that we will associate this phone number with your account”. While an account is locked, “people who visit your profile may see a message letting them know the account has displayed unusual activity”. The page gives no duration for a lock. (Locked and limited accounts, checked 19 September 2026.)

Locked accounts stop counting

X's enforcement page says: “Note that when an account has been locked pending completion of a challenge (such as being required to provide a phone number), it is removed from follower counts, Reposts, and Likes.” (Enforcement options, checked 19 September 2026.) If an account was made to follow, like or Repost something, its contribution is removed from those counts while it stays locked pending the challenge.

Spam and fake accounts are what X suspends most

X's suspension page says: “Most of the accounts we suspend are suspended because they are spammy, or just plain fake, and they introduce security risks for X and for everyone using X.” (Suspended accounts, checked 19 September 2026.) A scripted sign-up with a generated profile is the kind of account that description covers.

Rented numbers and idle accounts

Once an account has been inactive for 45 or more days, the next holder of a number used only to pass sign-up can reclaim it. X's inactivity policy adds: “To keep your account active, be sure to log in at least every 30 days. Accounts may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity.” (Inactive accounts, checked 19 September 2026.) A batch of accounts made in one afternoon and then left untouched is exposed on both counts.

Buying accounts instead of creating them brings the same problems, plus someone else's history. See aged X accounts before you consider it. For the wider pattern of what gets accounts caught, see why X accounts get suspended.

Why a new X account gets locked, or you can't create one

If a brand-new account is asked for a captcha, a phone number or an email code straight away, it has hit one of X's ownership or automation checks. X describes three ways through: phone, email and recaptcha. X does not publish what triggers these checks, so there is no public explanation of why a particular account gets one.

1. By phone: select Start, enter the phone number, enter the code X sends, then Submit. X will associate that number with the account.
2. By email: select Start, then Send email, enter the code, then Verify.
3. By recaptcha: pass the challenge, then select Continue to X.

If sign-up itself fails, the cause third-party guides cite is a contact detail already in use on another account. X's own pages do not list causes. Claims that certain networks or regions are blocked, or are always asked for a phone number, circulate in forums but appear on no official page. To clear a lock without adding a second flag, see getting out of an X lock.

The limits a new account works under

“These limits include actions from all devices, including web, mobile, phone, API, etc.” Lower down, the same page still says “The post limit of 2,400 updates per day is further broken down into semi-hourly intervals,” which contradicts the 50 and 200. The current-limits list is the one to go by. These are technical ceilings, not safe targets for an account that is a day old. X rate limits covers the limits in more detail.

Do new X users have to pay before they can post?

No official X page found for this post says new users must pay to post today. In October 2023, X tested a $1-a-year “Not a Bot” subscription for new, unverified accounts in New Zealand and the Philippines, aimed at spam and fake accounts. Existing users were not affected (NBC Washington). Social Media Today later reported back-end code pointing to a small annual fee before new users could post, like, bookmark and reply. It said it was unclear whether all users or only some regions would be charged. There is no confirmation that this was ever rolled out widely, so treat both as history, not current policy.

Separately, X added an “About this account” page to profiles that shows an “Account based in” country. Yahoo reported that the feature was briefly pulled to deal with VPN users and then restored (Yahoo Tech, reporting from around late November 2025). In that reporting, where an account appeared to be based was something any visitor could look up. No X help page describing the feature was found for this post, so check a live profile before relying on it.

How to create several X accounts the legitimate way

X supports several accounts through the same route as one, repeated by hand. Each account goes through X's own sign-up, with contact details you control and a profile that is honest about who runs it. Each then gets a slow first few weeks.

1. Make each account yourself through X.com/signup or the app, one at a time.
2. Give each its own email address or phone number that you will control for the long term. Avoid rented numbers that can be reclaimed after 45 days of inactivity.
3. Fill in a real profile: your own photo, your own bio, and nothing designed to mislead. The fake personas clause names stock, stolen and AI-generated photos and copied bios.
4. Turn on two-factor authentication and keep the recovery details for every account.
5. Log in to every account at least every 30 days. X bases inactivity on logging in.
6. Start slowly. The published limits are technical ceilings, and the follow limit comes with “additional rules prohibiting aggressive following behavior”.
7. Do not create a new account to carry on after a suspension. That is ban evasion. Appeal the suspension instead.

flottra does not create, register or sell accounts. For accounts you have already made yourself, its warming gate refuses work past a ramp set by account age. By default this is 3 actions a day for 3 days (likes only), then 6 a day for 4 days (adding follows), then 12 a day for 7 days (adding replies), with no daily cap after 14 days. X's automation rules say “You may not like posts or hide replies in an automated manner,” so weigh that before automating any of it. The gate is a ceiling, not a recommendation, and no tool can guarantee that an account will not be locked or suspended.