Top 10 Free Movie APIs for Developers (2026)

Top 10 Free Movie APIs for Developers in 2026

Building a movie app, recommendation engine, or entertainment dashboard? You need a reliable movie API. This guide covers the 10 best free movie and TV show APIs available in 2026, with code examples for each.

Quick Comparison

API	Free Tier	Rate Limit	TV Shows	Images	Ratings
TMDB	Unlimited	40 req/10s	Yes	Yes	Yes
OMDB	1,000 req/day	1,000/day	Yes	Posters	Yes (IMDb)
TVmaze	Unlimited	20 req/10s	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trakt	1,000 req/day	1,000/day	Yes	No	Yes
JustWatch	Unofficial	Varies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Watchmode	1,000 req/month	Varies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Movie of the Night	10,000 req/month	Varies	Yes	Yes	Yes
IMDb (unofficial)	Varies	Varies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Streaming Availability	100 req/day	100/day	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kitsu	Unlimited	Moderate	Anime	Yes	Yes

1. TMDB (The Movie Database) -- Best Overall

TMDB is the gold standard for free movie APIs. It has the most comprehensive database, excellent documentation, and a generous free tier.

Key features:

• 900,000+ movies and 160,000+ TV shows
• High-resolution images and posters
• Cast, crew, and production details
• Available in 40+ languages
• Community-driven data

Get your API key

1. Create a free account at themoviedb.org
2. Go to Settings > API and request an API key
3. Choose "Developer" for free access

Code example

import requests

API_KEY = "your_tmdb_api_key"
BASE_URL = "https://api.themoviedb.org/3"

# Search for a movie
response = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/search/movie", params={
    "api_key": API_KEY,
    "query": "Inception",
    "language": "en-US"
})

results = response.json()["results"]
for movie in results[:3]:
    print(f"{movie['title']} ({movie['release_date'][:4]}) - Rating: {movie['vote_average']}")

// Node.js / fetch
const API_KEY = "your_tmdb_api_key";

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.themoviedb.org/3/search/movie?api_key=${API_KEY}&query=Inception`
);
const data = await response.json();

data.results.slice(0, 3).forEach(movie => {
  console.log(`${movie.title} (${movie.release_date.slice(0, 4)}) - ${movie.vote_average}`);
});

Get trending movies

# Get this week's trending movies
response = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/trending/movie/week", params={
    "api_key": API_KEY
})

trending = response.json()["results"]
for movie in trending[:5]:
    print(f"Trending: {movie['title']} - {movie['vote_average']}/10")

2. OMDB (Open Movie Database) -- Best for IMDb Data

OMDB gives you direct access to IMDb ratings, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and Metacritic data in a single API call.

Free tier: 1,000 requests per day

Code example

import requests

API_KEY = "your_omdb_api_key"  # Get free key at omdbapi.com

# Search by title
response = requests.get("https://www.omdbapi.com/", params={
    "apikey": API_KEY,
    "t": "The Dark Knight",
    "type": "movie"
})

movie = response.json()
print(f"Title: {movie['Title']}")
print(f"IMDb Rating: {movie['imdbRating']}")
print(f"Rotten Tomatoes: {movie['Ratings'][1]['Value']}")
print(f"Metacritic: {movie['Metascore']}")

const response = await fetch(
  `https://www.omdbapi.com/?apikey=YOUR_KEY&t=The+Dark+Knight&type=movie`
);
const movie = await response.json();

console.log(`${movie.Title} - IMDb: ${movie.imdbRating}, RT: ${movie.Ratings[1]?.Value}`);

3. TVmaze -- Best for TV Show Data

TVmaze specializes in TV show data with deep episode-level information, scheduling, and cast data. No API key required for basic usage.

Code example

import requests

# No API key needed for basic endpoints
response = requests.get("https://api.tvmaze.com/search/shows", params={
    "q": "Breaking Bad"
})

shows = response.json()
for item in shows[:3]:
    show = item["show"]
    print(f"{show['name']} - Rating: {show['rating']['average']}")
    print(f"  Genres: {', '.join(show['genres'])}")
    print(f"  Status: {show['status']}")

Get episode schedule

# Get today's TV schedule for the US
response = requests.get("https://api.tvmaze.com/schedule", params={
    "country": "US"
})

episodes = response.json()
for ep in episodes[:5]:
    show_name = ep["show"]["name"]
    print(f"{show_name} - S{ep['season']}E{ep['number']}: {ep['name']}")

4. Trakt -- Best for Watch History and Recommendations

Trakt focuses on user watch history, lists, and social features. Great for building personalized recommendation engines.

Free tier: 1,000 API calls per day

import requests

headers = {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "trakt-api-version": "2",
    "trakt-api-key": "your_client_id"
}

# Get trending movies
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.trakt.tv/movies/trending",
    headers=headers
)

trending = response.json()
for item in trending[:5]:
    movie = item["movie"]
    print(f"{movie['title']} ({movie['year']}) - Watchers: {item['watchers']}")

5. JustWatch (Unofficial) -- Best for Streaming Availability

JustWatch tracks which movies and shows are available on which streaming platforms. While there is no official free API, community-maintained libraries provide access.

# Using the justwatch-python package
# pip install justwatch
from justwatch import JustWatch

jw = JustWatch(country="US")
results = jw.search_for_item(query="Dune")

for item in results["items"][:3]:
    title = item["title"]
    offers = item.get("offers", [])
    platforms = set(o["package_short_name"] for o in offers)
    print(f"{title} - Available on: {', '.join(platforms)}")

6. Watchmode -- Best for Streaming Source Data

Watchmode provides structured data about which streaming services carry each title, including direct deep links.

Free tier: 1,000 API calls per month

import requests

API_KEY = "your_watchmode_key"

response = requests.get(f"https://api.watchmode.com/v1/search/", params={
    "apiKey": API_KEY,
    "search_field": "name",
    "search_value": "Stranger Things"
})

results = response.json()["title_results"]
for title in results[:3]:
    print(f"{title['name']} ({title['year']}) - Type: {title['type']}")

7. Movie of the Night API -- Best for Discovery

Movie of the Night focuses on content discovery with curated recommendations and filtering.

Free tier: 10,000 requests per month

import requests

headers = {"x-rapidapi-key": "your_rapidapi_key"}

response = requests.get(
    "https://movie-of-the-night.p.rapidapi.com/search",
    headers=headers,
    params={"query": "sci-fi", "type": "movie"}
)

for movie in response.json()[:5]:
    print(f"{movie['title']} - Streaming on: {', '.join(movie.get('services', []))}")

8. IMDb Unofficial APIs -- Best for Raw IMDb Data

Several unofficial IMDb APIs are available on RapidAPI that scrape or mirror IMDb data.

import requests

headers = {
    "x-rapidapi-key": "your_rapidapi_key",
    "x-rapidapi-host": "imdb8.p.rapidapi.com"
}

response = requests.get(
    "https://imdb8.p.rapidapi.com/auto-complete",
    headers=headers,
    params={"q": "Oppenheimer"}
)

results = response.json()["d"]
for item in results[:3]:
    print(f"{item['l']} ({item.get('y', 'N/A')}) - {item.get('s', '')}")

Warning: Unofficial APIs may break without notice. Use TMDB or OMDB for production applications.

9. Streaming Availability API -- Best for Multi-Platform Search

This API aggregates streaming data across 150+ services in 60+ countries.

Free tier: 100 requests per day on RapidAPI

import requests

headers = {
    "x-rapidapi-key": "your_rapidapi_key",
    "x-rapidapi-host": "streaming-availability.p.rapidapi.com"
}

response = requests.get(
    "https://streaming-availability.p.rapidapi.com/shows/search/filters",
    headers=headers,
    params={
        "country": "us",
        "catalogs": "netflix",
        "genres": "action",
        "order_by": "rating",
        "output_language": "en"
    }
)

for show in response.json()["shows"][:5]:
    print(f"{show['title']} - Rating: {show.get('rating', 'N/A')}")

10. Kitsu -- Best for Anime

Kitsu is the best free API for anime and manga data. No API key required.

import requests

response = requests.get("https://kitsu.io/api/edge/anime", params={
    "filter[text]": "Attack on Titan",
    "page[limit]": 5
})

for anime in response.json()["data"]:
    attrs = anime["attributes"]
    print(f"{attrs['canonicalTitle']} - Rating: {attrs['averageRating']}")
    print(f"  Episodes: {attrs['episodeCount']}, Status: {attrs['status']}")

How to Choose the Right API

Use this decision tree:

• Building a general movie app? Start with TMDB -- it has everything.
• Need IMDb/RT ratings? Use OMDB as a supplement.
• Building a "where to watch" feature? Use Streaming Availability or Watchmode.
• TV show scheduling? TVmaze is unbeatable.
• Anime app? Kitsu is purpose-built for this.
• Recommendation engine? Combine TMDB data with Trakt user behavior.

Building a Complete Movie App

For most projects, you will want to combine two or three APIs:

import requests

class MovieService:
    def __init__(self, tmdb_key, omdb_key):
        self.tmdb_key = tmdb_key
        self.omdb_key = omdb_key

    def get_movie_details(self, title):
        # Get rich data from TMDB
        tmdb = requests.get("https://api.themoviedb.org/3/search/movie", params={
            "api_key": self.tmdb_key,
            "query": title
        }).json()["results"][0]

        # Get ratings from OMDB
        omdb = requests.get("https://www.omdbapi.com/", params={
            "apikey": self.omdb_key,
            "t": title
        }).json()

        return {
            "title": tmdb["title"],
            "overview": tmdb["overview"],
            "poster": f"https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w500{tmdb['poster_path']}",
            "tmdb_rating": tmdb["vote_average"],
            "imdb_rating": omdb.get("imdbRating"),
            "rotten_tomatoes": next(
                (r["Value"] for r in omdb.get("Ratings", [])
                 if r["Source"] == "Rotten Tomatoes"), None
            ),
        }

# Usage
service = MovieService("tmdb_key", "omdb_key")
movie = service.get_movie_details("Dune: Part Two")
print(movie)

Adding AI-Powered Features

Want to go beyond basic movie data? You can use AI APIs to add intelligent features to your movie app:

• AI-generated movie summaries from plot descriptions
• Poster style transfer or AI-enhanced thumbnails
• Voice narration of movie reviews

Hypereal AI offers image generation, video creation, and text-to-speech APIs that pair well with movie data. For example, generate custom movie poster variations or create AI-narrated review videos. Sign up for free starter credits to experiment.

Conclusion

TMDB is the clear winner for most use cases -- it is free, comprehensive, and well-documented. Supplement it with OMDB for ratings data and a streaming availability API for "where to watch" features.

All 10 APIs on this list offer free tiers sufficient for development and small-scale production. Start with TMDB, add others as needed, and you will have a complete movie data stack without spending a dollar.