Pexels Stock Photos and Videos Scraper

Search Pexels and export ready-to-use stock photo and video metadata without a Pexels API key.

Get direct image renditions, downloadable MP4 files, creator attribution, tags, dimensions, duration, colors, and Pexels license details in one structured dataset.

Use keywords for discovery or paste exact Pexels search, photo, and video URLs for precise collection.

What does Pexels Stock Photos and Videos Scraper do?

The Actor opens public Pexels pages in a real browser and converts their media records into clean JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or JSONL exports.

It can:

• 🔎 search photos by one or more topics;
• 🎥 search videos by one or more topics;
• 🔗 extract an exact Pexels photo or video URL;
• 📦 collect direct files and multiple renditions;
• 👤 preserve creator attribution and profile links;
• 🏷️ export tags, dimensions, colors, duration, and FPS;
• ⚖️ include the Pexels license name and URL;
• ♻️ remove duplicate media IDs across inputs.

No Pexels login or API key is required.

Who is this Pexels scraper for?

Content and social teams

Build repeatable asset shortlists for campaigns, editorial calendars, landing pages, and newsletters.

Designers and creative producers

Compare portrait, landscape, and square media and download the rendition that fits each placement.

Publishers and SEO teams

Enrich articles and content briefs with stock-media options while retaining attribution and source links.

AI and data teams

Create transparent media metadata datasets with source, creator, tag, dimension, and license provenance.

Developers and automation builders

Feed Pexels search results into DAM systems, content pipelines, spreadsheets, webhooks, or custom applications.

Why use this Actor?

The public Pexels website contains more metadata than a simple image-link collector usually preserves.

This Actor normalizes photo and video records into one stable contract.

You receive both a convenient primary download URL and a full renditions array.

Browser rendering handles the public website even when ordinary HTTP requests are rejected.

A global result limit keeps browser usage predictable.

Optional Apify Proxy settings provide a recovery path when Pexels challenges your location.

Supported Pexels inputs

Use queries for topic discovery.

Examples include:

• coffee
• remote work
• ocean waves
• sustainable energy

Use startUrls for:

• Pexels photo search URLs;
• Pexels video search URLs;
• exact Pexels photo pages;
• exact Pexels video pages;
• public Pexels photos and videos gallery pages.

Only public pexels.com media routes are accepted.

How to scrape Pexels photos and videos

1. Open the Actor input page.
2. Add one or more search keywords or Pexels URLs.
3. Choose Photos, Videos, or Photos and videos for keyword searches.
4. Set a small maxResults value for your first run.
5. Click Start.
6. Preview results in the dataset table.
7. Export the dataset or connect it to another service.

For exact asset lookup, paste a photo or video detail URL and set maxResults to 1.

Input reference

Field	Type	Default	Description
queries	string array	[]	Pexels search topics.
startUrls	URL array	[]	Public Pexels search, gallery, photo, or video URLs.
mediaType	string	photos	photos, videos, or all for keyword searches.
maxResults	integer	20	Global result cap from 1 to 1,000.
proxyConfiguration	object	none	Optional Apify Proxy settings.

Provide at least one query or URL.

Direct URLs are respected regardless of mediaType; that setting controls generated keyword searches.

Example: photo search

{
  "queries": ["coffee shop", "remote work"],
  "mediaType": "photos",
  "maxResults": 25
}

Example: photo and video search

{
  "queries": ["ocean waves"],
  "mediaType": "all",
  "maxResults": 40
}

Example: exact assets

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.pexels.com/photo/cup-of-coffee-on-saucer-459489/" },
    { "url": "https://www.pexels.com/video/sea-waves-rushing-to-the-shore-1409899/" }
  ],
  "maxResults": 2
}

What data can you extract from Pexels?

Field	Description
mediaId	Stable Pexels media ID.
mediaType	photo or video.
title	Pexels media title or alt text.
description	Human-readable media description.
creator	Creator ID, name, profile, location, and available socials.
attribution	Ready-to-store attribution text.
tags	Search and subject tags.
width, height	Original media dimensions.
aspectRatio	Numeric width-to-height ratio.
orientation	landscape, portrait, or square.
duration	Video duration in seconds.
fps	Video frames per second.
detailUrl	Canonical public Pexels page.
thumbnailUrl	Preview image URL.
primaryDownloadUrl	Preferred direct media/download URL.
renditions	Available photo sizes or video quality files.
dominantColor, colors	Available Pexels color metadata.
licenseName, licenseUrl	License provenance.
query, sourceUrl	Input provenance.
publishedAt, scrapedAt	Publication and collection timestamps.

Output example

{
  "mediaId": "459489",
  "mediaType": "photo",
  "title": "Cup of Coffee on Saucer",
  "description": "A beautifully crafted latte with heart-shaped art in a blue cup on a wooden table.",
  "creator": {
    "id": "2659",
    "name": "Pixabay",
    "profileUrl": "https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay-2659/"
  },
  "attribution": "Photo by Pixabay on Pexels",
  "tags": ["Coffee", "Cup", "Latte"],
  "width": 1920,
  "height": 1280,
  "orientation": "landscape",
  "detailUrl": "https://www.pexels.com/photo/cup-of-coffee-on-saucer-459489/",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://images.pexels.com/photos/459489/pexels-photo-459489.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&w=750",
  "primaryDownloadUrl": "https://images.pexels.com/photos/459489/pexels-photo-459489.jpeg",
  "licenseName": "Pexels",
  "licenseUrl": "https://www.pexels.com/license/",
  "query": "coffee",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-20T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Fields unavailable for a media type are omitted rather than filled with misleading values.

Direct downloads and renditions

Photo records include small, medium, large, and original/download variants when Pexels exposes them.

Video records include direct MP4 files with their width, height, FPS, MIME type, and available download URL.

primaryDownloadUrl is convenient for simple workflows.

Use renditions when you need to choose a specific resolution or quality.

Always preserve detailUrl, creator, and license fields alongside downloaded assets.

How much does it cost to scrape Pexels media?

The Actor uses pay-per-event pricing.

A run currently has a $0.005 start fee plus a tiered price per saved media record.

The BRONZE reference price is $0.0010075 per record, with lower per-record prices on higher Apify plans.

For example, 25 records at the BRONZE rate cost about $0.0302 including the start fee.

You are charged for records successfully written to the dataset, not for duplicates that are skipped.

Actual platform usage and plan-specific prices are shown before every run in Apify Console.

Tips for reliable Pexels extraction

• Begin with 10–20 records to validate your keywords.
• Use specific multi-word topics for more relevant assets.
• Split unrelated campaigns into separate runs for clearer provenance.
• Use direct detail URLs when you already know the desired asset.
• Enable Apify residential proxy only if direct access is repeatedly challenged.
• Keep creator attribution and license URLs in downstream exports.
• Prefer rendition dimensions instead of guessing file quality from URL text.

Pagination and deduplication

Pexels search pages expose pagination metadata.

The Actor follows pages until the global result cap is reached.

Results are deduplicated by mediaType and mediaId.

If the same photo appears under two keywords, only the first occurrence is saved.

The first source/query remains available in sourceUrl and query.

Integrations

Google Sheets and Airtable

Export a campaign shortlist for review, filtering, and creative approval.

Webhooks and Make

Trigger an automation when a run finishes, then route direct asset links into a publishing workflow.

Zapier

Send new dataset records to project-management or content-planning tools.

Cloud storage and DAM systems

Download a chosen rendition and store its Pexels attribution beside the binary asset.

AI pipelines

Use descriptions, tags, orientation, and dimensions to select media before expensive vision processing.

Use the Pexels scraper API

The Actor ID is automation-lab/pexels-stock-media-scraper.

Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/pexels-stock-media-scraper').call({
  queries: ['sustainable energy'],
  mediaType: 'all',
  maxResults: 20,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient(token='YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN')
run = client.actor('automation-lab/pexels-stock-media-scraper').call(run_input={
    'queries': ['sustainable energy'],
    'mediaType': 'photos',
    'maxResults': 20,
})
items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items)

cURL

curl -X POST \
  'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~pexels-stock-media-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"queries":["ocean waves"],"mediaType":"videos","maxResults":10}'

Use with Apify MCP

Connect AI assistants to this Actor through the Apify MCP server.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http apify \
  'https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/pexels-stock-media-scraper'

Claude Desktop

Add this server in Settings → Developer → Edit Config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/pexels-stock-media-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Open Settings → Tools & Integrations → MCP Tools, add a remote HTTP server, and use:

https://mcp.apify.com?tools=automation-lab/pexels-stock-media-scraper

VS Code

Open MCP: Add Server from the Command Palette, choose HTTP, and enter the same actor-specific MCP URL.

Example prompts

• “Find 20 portrait photos about remote teamwork and return direct download links with attribution.”
• “Collect ten ocean videos and rank the available files by resolution.”
• “Extract this Pexels photo URL and summarize its creator, tags, dimensions, and license.”

Legality and responsible use

Pexels publishes media under the Pexels license, but users remain responsible for how they use each asset.

Review the current license at pexels.com/license before redistribution or commercial use.

Do not imply endorsement by identifiable people or brands.

Respect privacy, publicity, trademark, and applicable data-protection rights.

The Actor only accesses public pages and does not bypass authentication.

Limitations

Pexels can change its website structure or anti-bot controls.

A challenged location may require Apify Proxy configuration.

Search order and result counts can change as Pexels updates its catalog.

The Actor does not download binary files into the dataset; it returns direct URLs and metadata.

Pexels may expire, transform, or redirect CDN URLs over time.

V1 supports search/gallery and exact media URLs, not account-only workflows.

Troubleshooting

Why did my run return no records?

Check that at least one query or supported public Pexels URL was supplied.

Try a common query and inspect the run log for an HTTP challenge.

If repeated attempts are challenged, enable Apify residential proxy in the advanced input section.

Why is a direct URL rejected?

The Actor fails closed for non-Pexels domains and unrelated Pexels routes.

Use a public search, photos, videos, photo, or video URL.

Why is a video field missing?

Photo records do not have duration or FPS.

Optional fields are omitted when Pexels does not expose them.

FAQ

Do I need a Pexels API key?

No. The Actor reads anonymous public website data.

Can it scrape both photos and videos?

Yes. Set mediaType to all for keyword searches, or supply mixed detail URLs.

Does it download the media files?

It exports direct files and download URLs. Your workflow can download the chosen rendition afterward.

Can I use results commercially?

Usage depends on the current Pexels license and other applicable rights. Review each asset and its context.

How many results can one run collect?

maxResults accepts 1–1,000 records. Smaller runs are faster and easier to review.

Are duplicates charged?

No. Duplicate media IDs are skipped before dataset storage and per-record charging.

Related stock media and enrichment actors

Combine this Actor with other Automation Lab tools when your workflow needs broader discovery or enrichment:

• Google Images Scraper for web-wide image discovery.
• Image Metadata Extractor for technical file analysis.
• Website Content Crawler for matching media to page content.

Use only actors that fit your source, license, and data-quality requirements.

Data retention and export

Apify stores run datasets according to your account retention settings.

Download results as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, RSS, or JSONL.

For durable archives, copy datasets and selected media files into storage you control.

Retain detailUrl, attribution, and licenseUrl so every asset remains traceable.

Start collecting Pexels media

Choose a campaign topic, keep the first run small, and review the returned renditions.

Then increase maxResults or schedule repeat searches as your content pipeline grows.