Pinterest Downloader: Images & Videos by Keyword

Give this actor a keyword, a profile, a board or a pin URL and it downloads each pin's media into your own Apify storage: original-size images, MP4 videos, and every page of an idea pin. Every file is hashed with SHA-256 while it streams, and every video is probed with ffprobe for duration, resolution, frame rate, codec and audio. No login, no cookies.

Who it's for

A designer or marketer building a mood board wants the actual image files for a keyword like "scandinavian living room", not a list of links. A social team archiving a brand's profile or a campaign board wants durable copies with a checksum that proves what was saved. A dataset or AI pipeline needs pin images and videos together with their title, description, alt text, board and pinner, in one flat row per file.

Why this one

• Four ways in, one output. Keywords, profile usernames, board URLs and pin URLs (including pin.it short links) all land in the same row shape, tagged with source and sourceValue.
• Originals, not thumbnails. Images come from i.pinimg.com/originals/. A video pin gets its 720p MP4 plus a cover still. An idea pin with 11 pages gives you 11 files, each with its pageIndex.
• Every file is hashed while it streams. sha256 is computed during the download, so it is the checksum of exactly what was stored.
• Real ffprobe numbers. duration_s, fps, codec and hasAudio come from running ffprobe on the downloaded bytes.
• A failed file is never charged. An over-cap file, a dead link, an HLS-only video that could not be converted, a pin you already got in this run: each is free. Only a file that landed in storage is billed.
• Media never touches the proxy. Only the small JSON requests go through Apify Proxy. The files are fetched directly.

What you get

One row per stored file by default (turn off "Expand rows" to get one row per source with the files nested under files).

Field	Type	Description
query	text	The source as submitted, prefixed with its type, for example profile:marthastewart
source / sourceValue	text	query, profile, board or pin, and the keyword, username, user/board or pin it came from
pinId / pinUrl	text	The pin's id and its pinterest.com link
kind	text	image, video, or cover (a video pin's still)
pageIndex	number	Page of an idea pin, 0 for a single-file pin
kvKey / kvUrl	text	Where the file is stored in this run's key-value store
originalMediaUrl	text	The Pinterest CDN URL the file came from
bytes / sha256	number / text	Size and SHA-256, computed while streaming
width / height	number	Pixel dimensions
duration_s / fps / codec / hasAudio	number / text / boolean	ffprobe fields; null for a still where meaningless
title / description / altText	text	From the pin; null when the pin has none
pinnerUsername / boardName / link / createdAt	text	From the pin; createdAt is null on board feeds, which do not carry it
videoSkipped	text	hls-only when a video exists only as an HLS stream that could not be converted
error	text	Why a file could not be stored. null on success

Scope and limits

• Public content only. Private boards, secret boards and logged-in-only views are not available, and there is no input for a cookie or session.
• Idea pins and videos are supported. A carousel_data pin type exists in Pinterest's data, but none appeared across about 120 logged-out pins during the build, so that shape is handled but has not been seen live.
• pin.it short links are followed to the pin when the link resolves to one.
• kvUrl needs your Apify token. The run's default key-value store is private.
• Video is MP4. When a pin only offers an HLS stream, it is converted to MP4 with ffmpeg without re-encoding; if that fails the video is skipped and flagged, not billed.

Pricing

• File stored: $6 per 1,000 files
• Megabyte downloaded: $0.005 per MB

Plus a $0.0075 start fee per run. Each event above is billed independently, only when it actually returns data — misses (found:false) are never charged.

Billing is per stored file (file event) plus per megabyte stored, rounded up per file (megabyte event). Misses, filtered pins, duplicate pins, over-cap files and HLS-only skips are never billed.

Example runs

Each is a ready-to-run input.

1. Download Pinterest images by keyword

   {"queries": ["scandinavian living room"], "maxPinsPerSource": 25, "kinds": "images"}
   

2. Download every pin from a Pinterest board

   {"boards": ["https://www.pinterest.com/marthastewart/crafts/"], "maxPinsPerSource": 50, "kinds": "all"}
   

3. Download Pinterest videos from a profile

   {"profiles": ["marthastewart"], "maxPinsPerSource": 25, "kinds": "videos"}
   

Use-case variant candidate: none

How to use

1. In the Apify Console. Open the actor page and click Start — the queries field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. Via the API. Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:

   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~pinterest-media-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"queries":["scandinavian living room"]}'
   

3. On a schedule. Save this actor as an Apify Task with the input you want, then add a Schedule (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

Input

{
  "queries": [
    "scandinavian living room"
  ]
}

One search term per line, as you would type it into Pinterest. Add profiles, boards or pin URLs in the fields below; at least one of the four is needed. Accepted formats: scandinavian living room, minimalist bathroom, cottagecore bedroom.

Sample output

query	found	status	source	sourceValue	pinCount	fileCount	truncated	files	pinId	pinUrl	kind	pageIndex	kvKey	kvUrl	originalMediaUrl	bytes	sha256	width	height	duration_s	fps	codec	hasAudio	title	description	altText	pinnerUsername	boardName	link	createdAt	videoSkipped	error	scrapedAt
scandinavian living room	true	OK						<all files (full list)>								<size (bytes)>				<duration (s)>													1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~pinterest-media-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries":["scandinavian living room"]}'

n8n. Add an HTTP Request node: Method POST, URL https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~pinterest-media-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>, Body Content Type JSON, JSON Body {"queries":["scandinavian living room"]} (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

Clay. Add an "HTTP API" column: Method POST, URL https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~pinterest-media-downloader/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>, Body {"queries":["{{source}}"]}, mapping the row's source into the queries array.

MCP. In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "Pinterest Image Downloader: Save Pins by Keyword" — the agent will find and run this actor.

Tips

• Start with maxPinsPerSource at 5 to see what a source returns before a big run.
• Use "Videos only" on a profile to skip its image pins. Pins without a video are not downloaded or billed.
• A pin that appears under two sources is downloaded once per run. Turn off "Never download the same pin twice" to get it under each.
• Lower "Max file size" to keep one long video from dominating a run's storage.

vs. alternatives

Pinterest's own downloader links hand you one pin at a time. Link scrapers return image URLs that you still have to fetch yourself. This actor does the fetching, stores the files, and gives you checksums and ffprobe data in the same row.

Data & privacy

Only publicly visible pins are read, as a logged-out visitor would see them. No account, cookie or token is used or stored. Files are saved to your own run's storage and nowhere else. You are responsible for having the right to use what you download.

FAQ

Can it download a private board? No. Only what Pinterest shows to a logged-out visitor.

Why is createdAt empty on some rows? Board feeds do not carry a pin's date. Search, profile and single-pin lookups do.

Does a video pin cost two files? Yes: the MP4 and its cover still are two stored files, each billed once.

What happens to a huge video? It is aborted at your "Max file size" and returned as an error row, free.

Related actors

• Pinterest Search Scraper: Pins by Keyword: just need the pin data for a keyword (titles, links, counts) without downloading the files.

• pinterest-search-lookup: pin metadata and image links by keyword, no files.

• ig-media-downloader: the same download-and-hash workflow for Instagram posts.