Openverse API

by api.openverse.org

Audio Added on November 7th, 2026 Checked and working on November 7th, 2026

What it does

The Openverse API from WordPress searches openly licensed and public-domain audio and images from sources such as Freesound, Jamendo and Wikimedia Commons, for example music or sound effects that may be reused in a video. Requests are GET calls with JSON answers that include the licence and a ready-made attribution text; license_type=commercial keeps only works that allow commercial use. Free, no key needed; a free registered application gets higher rate limits.

API
HTTP-GET
JSON
REST

At a glance

API key: Not needed · More APIs with no key
Pricing: Free, no key needed; a free registered application gets higher rate limits.
From the browser: Yes (CORS)
Formats: JSON
Interface: REST, HTTP-GET
Provider: api.openverse.org
Last checked: Working on November 7th, 2026

More information: https://api.openverse.org/v1/

Is this your service? Show that it is listed

Put this badge on your website or in your README; it links to this page. About the badge

HTML

<a href="https://free-web-services.com/web-services/media/audio/openverse-api.html"><img src="https://free-web-services.com/badge.svg" width="208" height="44" alt="Listed on Free Web Services" /></a>

Markdown

[![Listed on Free Web Services](https://free-web-services.com/badge.svg)](https://free-web-services.com/web-services/media/audio/openverse-api.html)

Example request

curl

curl 'https://api.openverse.org/v1/audio/?q=rain'

JavaScript

const response = await fetch("https://api.openverse.org/v1/audio/?q=rain");
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.openverse.org/v1/audio/?q=rain",
    timeout=30,
)
print(response.json())

The JavaScript works in a web page as well as in Node.js 18 or newer.