Pixabay API

by pixabay.com

Image and photo Added on October 31st, 2026 Checked and working on November 1st, 2026

What it does

The Pixabay API lets you search millions of royalty-free images, illustrations, vector graphics and videos from Pixabay by keyword, category, colour, orientation and more. Each result comes with links to several sizes and details about the creator. Responses are JSON. Free with a free API key; results must be cached and hotlinking full images is not allowed.

API
HTTP-GET
JSON
REST

At a glance

API key: Needed, free · More APIs with a free key
Pricing: Free with a free API key; results must be cached and hotlinking full images is not allowed.
From the browser: Yes (CORS)
Formats: JSON
Interface: REST, HTTP-GET
Provider: pixabay.com
Last checked: Working on November 1st, 2026

More information: https://pixabay.com/api/docs/

Compare: Pexels API vs Pixabay API

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/images/pixabay-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/images/pixabay-api.html)

Example request

curl

curl 'https://pixabay.com/api/?key=YOUR_API_KEY&q=london'

JavaScript

const response = await fetch("https://pixabay.com/api/?key=YOUR_API_KEY&q=london");
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://pixabay.com/api/?key=YOUR_API_KEY&q=london",
    timeout=30,
)
print(response.json())

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your own key. The JavaScript works in a web page as well as in Node.js 18 or newer.