Google Images API - $0.10 per 1,000 - Fast Image API

Scrape Google Images in bulk and get clean, structured JSON: the full-size image URL with width and height, a thumbnail, the source site and domain, the page the image appears on, and Google's reference URL. Search many queries at once and export thousands of images. Pay per image from $0.10 per 1,000 results, with no setup or per-run fee.

This is the fast, cheap option. It talks to a structured image search API instead of driving a slow, breakable headless browser, so it is quick and reliable, and it is 10x cheaper than the cheapest mainstream alternative. If you need reverse-image search, visual de-duplication, or downloading the raw image files, this is not the tool, see the comparison below.

What you get

One clean row per image:

• title of the image as shown on the results page
• imageUrl to the full-size file, plus imageWidth and imageHeight
• thumbnailUrl with thumbnailWidth and thumbnailHeight
• source site name and domain
• link to the page where the image appears
• googleUrl reference link, plus the query and position it was found at

What you do NOT get

• Downloading or re-hosting the raw image files
• Reverse-image search (find where an image appears)
• Visual de-duplication or perceptual hashing
• EXIF metadata extraction or face/object detection

Need those? hooli/google-images-scraper is the deep-feature incumbent for reverse-image and bulk-download workflows. This Actor is the fast, cheap complement for everyone who just needs the image search data in bulk.

How this compares

Actor	Price per image	Per 1,000 images
This Actor	$0.0001	$0.10
crawlerbros/google-images-scraper	$0.001	$1.00
hooli/google-images-scraper	$0.00125 to $0.0035	$1.25 to $3.50
easyapi/google-images-scraper	$0.005	$5.00

Rule of thumb: bulk image search at the lowest price, MCP-ready -> this Actor; reverse-image search and raw file downloads -> hooli/google-images-scraper.

Use cases

• Build large image datasets for computer-vision or AI training pipelines
• Pull product, brand, or competitor imagery for SEO and marketing research
• Source reference images for content, design, and moodboards at scale
• Feed an AI agent image results for a topic in one MCP call
• Monitor how a brand or product appears in image search over time

🔌 Integrations: Automate Google Images API Data Collection

A single run answers one question ("what images rank for vintage road bikes right now?"). The real value comes from running the Google Images API on a schedule, so fresh image results and rankings land in your stack automatically. See the full list of Apify platform integrations.

Tasks and Schedules (the core recipe). Save one task per thing you track (a product line, a brand, or a keyword watchlist), then attach a schedule from the actor's Actions, then Schedule menu. Useful cron strings: 0 7 * * * (daily 7 AM), 0 */6 * * * (every 6 hours), 0 9 * * 1 (Mondays). One schedule can trigger many tasks at once, so a single daily job can refresh every query you care about.

n8n. This API ships an n8n community node (see the n8n integration section below). A four-step monitor: Schedule Trigger, then the Google Images API node, then a Filter on domain or imageWidth, then Slack or email.

Make and Zapier. The same pattern works no-code with Make and Zapier: trigger on a schedule, run the actor, route the new image rows where you need them.

Store the history (Supabase). Send each run's rows into a table so an image ranking history builds up over time. No-code: the n8n Actor node, then a Supabase node. Or in Python (each row carries query, position, title, imageUrl, imageWidth, imageHeight, source, domain, and link):

from apify_client import ApifyClient
from supabase import create_client

apify = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
supabase = create_client("YOUR_SUPABASE_URL", "YOUR_SUPABASE_KEY")

run = apify.actor("johnvc/google-images-api").call(run_input={
    "queries": ["golden retriever puppy", "eiffel tower at night"],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
    "gl": "us",
    "hl": "en",
})
rows = list(apify.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items())
supabase.table("image_results").upsert(rows).execute()

MCP and AI agents. Add the Google Images API as a tool in Claude or Cursor through the Apify MCP server so an agent can pull image results for any topic in one call (see the Use this API from Claude section below).

Webhooks. For anything custom, fire an Apify webhook on ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED to push each run's dataset into your own service.

Input

Field	Type	Description
queries	array of strings	One or more image search queries, e.g. golden retriever puppy. Each is searched independently. Required.
maxResultsPerQuery	integer	Images per query. Minimum 1, default 100.
gl	string	Optional two-letter country code, e.g. us, gb, de. Default us.
hl	string	Optional two-letter language code, e.g. en, es, de. Default en.

Example input

{
  "queries": ["golden retriever puppy", "eiffel tower at night"],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 100,
  "gl": "us",
  "hl": "en"
}

Sample output

{
  "query": "golden retriever puppy",
  "position": 1,
  "title": "Golden Retriever Puppy",
  "imageUrl": "https://images.example.com/products/57215/golden-retriever-puppy.jpg",
  "imageWidth": 1047,
  "imageHeight": 699,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9Gc...",
  "thumbnailWidth": 275,
  "thumbnailHeight": 183,
  "source": "Photowall",
  "domain": "www.photowall.com",
  "link": "https://www.photowall.com/us/golden-retriever-puppy-wallpaper",
  "googleUrl": "https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=..."
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: you are charged a flat $0.0001 per image returned, which is $0.10 per 1,000 images. No per-run fee, no setup fee, no monthly minimum. You only pay for the images you receive.

That is 10x below the cheapest mainstream alternative and up to 50x below the premium tiers, so bulk image search stops being a budget line.

How to get started

1. Open Google Images Scraper on the Apify Store.
2. Enter one or more queries.
3. Set maxResultsPerQuery (and optionally gl / hl), then run the Actor.
4. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel, or pull it from the API.

Prefer code? See johnvc's GitHub for setup guides and code examples. For a ready-to-run Python and MCP quick-start, see the Google Images API example repo.

Run from the API

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/johnvc~google-images-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"queries":["golden retriever puppy"],"maxResultsPerQuery":50,"gl":"us","hl":"en"}'

🔌 Use this API from Claude (MCP)

This Actor is compatible with the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so AI agents can call it as a tool. Add it through the hosted Apify MCP server using this Actor-specific URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/google-images-api

If you run agents from Claude Code (free trial) or Claude Cowork (free trial), add the Apify MCP server and call this Actor directly with requests like "get me 100 image results for vintage road bikes."

Setup walkthrough:

Apify MCP integration docs: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp

MCP setup, step by step

Visual setup guides for each client (source and more assets: ApifyPublicData on GitHub):

Claude Cowork Desktop (free trial)

Claude Code (free trial)

Claude (website)

Cursor

ChatGPT

🔗 Related Tools

Building a visual search or image data pipeline? These tools from the same catalog pair well with bulk Google Images scraping:

• Yandex Reverse Image Search API: the reverse-image complement this API does not cover, find where a given image already appears online.
• Google Shopping API: product imagery with prices and sellers when you need shopping results rather than open-web images.
• Naver Search API: image, web, news, and video results from Korea's Naver for the same research in another market.
• Google Short Videos API: Shorts, Reels, and TikTok results when the visual media you want is video rather than still images.

Older alternatives such as scrapestorm/google-images-scraper market themselves as the cheapest option, yet charge about $0.0035 per image (roughly 35x the per-image cost here), show no monthly active users, and have not been updated in months. This Google Images API is actively maintained, returns clean structured JSON, and is pay-per-result with no start fee.

FAQ

Does it download the actual image files?

No. It returns each image's imageUrl and thumbnailUrl. Follow the link to fetch the file yourself.

Does it do reverse-image search?

No. For reverse-image lookups and bulk file downloads, use hooli/google-images-scraper.

How many images per query?

Set maxResultsPerQuery (minimum 1, default 100). Results come in pages and a query stops early when it runs out of images, so you only pay for what exists.

Why did I get fewer results than I asked for?

maxResultsPerQuery is a ceiling, not a guarantee. Niche queries simply have fewer matching images.

Can I search many queries at once?

Yes. Pass multiple queries; each is searched independently and tagged with its source query in the output.

Can I localize results?

Yes. Set gl (country) and hl (language) to localize the image results.

Can I schedule the Google Images API?

Yes. Any run can be automated. Save a task with your queries, then attach a schedule from the actor's Actions, then Schedule menu. Handy cron strings are 0 7 * * * (daily at 7 AM), 0 */6 * * * (every six hours), and 0 9 * * 1 (Mondays), and one schedule can trigger many tasks at once. See the Integrations section above for the full Tasks and Schedules recipe, and the Apify schedules docs.

Should I use the Google Images API or a web scraper?

Both, and this actor is both. A first-party image API is usually rate limited, quota bound, and missing fields, while a raw web scraper returns messy HTML you have to parse yourself. This Google Images scraper gives you the clean, structured result of a purpose-built API: call it yourself, pay per image, no quotas, and get the same JSON whether you run one query or thousands.

How much does it cost to scrape Google Images?

You pay per image returned, with no per-run or setup fee, so a small query costs a fraction of a cent and bulk Google Images scraping stays cheap and predictable. See the Pricing section above for the exact per-result rate.

Can I use the Google Images API programmatically?

Yes. The Apify API runs the actor, schedules it, and fetches datasets, and the apify-client package exists for both Node.js and Python. See the Run from the API section above, or the actor's API tab.

Can I use the Google Images API through an MCP server?

Yes. Add it as a tool in any MCP client (Claude, Cursor, and others) through the hosted Apify MCP server with the actor-specific URL https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/google-images-api. In Claude Code (free trial) or Claude Cowork (free trial) your agent can then answer requests like "get me 100 image results for vintage road bikes." See the Apify MCP docs.

Can I integrate the Google Images API with other apps?

Yes. It connects to almost any cloud service through Apify integrations: Make, Zapier, Slack, the n8n community node, and webhooks on ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED for custom actions. See the Integrations section above for full recipes.

Does the API return AI-generated images?

It returns whatever appears in the live Google Images results for your query, which can include AI-generated pictures when those rank. There is no separate flag for AI images, so filter on domain or source if you want to keep or drop specific sites.

Can the API get images for a location or place?

Yes, indirectly. Put the place in the query text (for example "eiffel tower at night" or "downtown austin skyline") and the API returns the image results Google shows for that phrase. It reads the image search results and does not run object or landmark recognition on the files themselves.

Is there a free Google Images API key?

There is no official free image search API key with meaningful quota. This actor is the practical alternative: no key to request, no quota tier, and you pay only for the images you receive. See the Pricing section above.

How else can I collect image and search data?

Pair this API with related tools in the same catalog: the Yandex Reverse Image Search API for reverse-image lookups this API does not do, the Naver Search API for image and web results in Korea, and the Google Shopping API for product imagery with prices.

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n8n integration

Available as an n8n community node, n8n-nodes-google-images-api. In n8n: Settings, Community Nodes, install n8n-nodes-google-images-api, then use it in any workflow (it also works as an AI Agent tool).

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Featured Tasks

Ready-to-run examples that show this API solving a specific problem. Each opens its own setup so you can run it on your account in one click.

• Get Google Images results without an API key - Search Google Images with no API key or quota setup.
• Download Google Images results to CSV - Export Google Images results to CSV in one run: image URL, width, height, thumbnail, source site, domain, and page link for every result, ready for sheets.
• Run image SERP research in Claude via MCP - Do Google Images SERP research inside Claude via MCP.
• Build an image dataset for machine learning - Build an image dataset from Google Images for machine learning.
• Get Google Images results in Python - Get Google Images results in Python by API for any keyword.
• Pull Google Images into n8n by API - Pull Google Images results into n8n by API for any keyword.
• Find high-resolution images by keyword - Find high-resolution images on Google by keyword.
• Track Google Images rankings for a keyword - Track which images rank on Google for a keyword.
• 批量导出谷歌图片搜索结果(CSV) - 按关键词批量获取谷歌图片: 原图链接、宽高、缩略图、来源网站与页面链接, 导出 CSV/JSON。
• 为 AI 训练构建图片数据集(按关键词) - 按关键词批量收集谷歌图片的原图 URL 与尺寸, 快速搭建机器学习训练数据集。

Last Updated: 2026.07.14