Startpage Images Scraper

Startpage Images Scraper

Scrape image search results from Startpage, the leading Google Images alternative that returns tracking-free image results without ads or search history logging. The Startpage Images Scraper is a Google Images alternative API for developers — enter one or more queries and get back structured original image URLs, thumbnails, source pages, and dimensions, ready for visual research, mood boards, or AI agent workflows.

Run unlimited queries with pagination and automatic duplicate removal, filter by 63 regions, 82 languages, safe search level, and time period — get clean image data without ads or personalization noise.

Copy to your AI assistant

Copy this block into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any LLM to start using this actor.

Startpage Images Scraper (parsebird/startpage-images-scraper) — Scrapes image search results from Startpage, a Google Images alternative with no tracking. Input: {"queries": ["sustainable architecture timber"], "maxItems": 10, "region": "all", "language": "english", "safeSearch": "moderate", "timePeriod": "any"}. Fields: queries (string array, required — each query is fully paginated before the next starts), maxItems (integer, required — max image results across all queries combined, 0 = unlimited), region (63 supported locales, e.g. en_US, de_DE, es_ES; default all), language (82 supported languages; default english), safeSearch (strict/moderate/off; default moderate), timePeriod (any/day/week/month/year; default any). Outputs per result: query, position, page, pagePosition, title, imageUrl, thumbnailUrl, sourceUrl, width, height, thumbnailWidth, thumbnailHeight, format, fileSize, anonymousImageUrl (conditional). API: POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parsebird~startpage-images-scraper/runs?token=YOUR_TOKEN. Get token: https://console.apify.com/account#/integrations

What does Startpage Images Scraper do?

Startpage Images Scraper turns any Startpage image query into structured JSON, CSV, or Excel data — the same image results you see at startpage.com, but machine-readable. Startpage is a Google Images alternative that surfaces Bing Images results through a tracking-free proxy, making it a practical source for privacy-conscious visual research. Enter your queries, set your filters, and the scraper:

• 🔍 Runs one or more image search queries, each fully paginated before the next starts
• 🖼️ Extracts original image URLs, thumbnails, source pages, and titles
• 📐 Captures full image and thumbnail dimensions, file format, and file size
• 🔗 Includes Startpage's Anonymous View proxy link for each image, when present
• 🌍 Filters by region (63 Startpage-supported locales) and language (82 supported languages)
• 🛡️ Controls explicit-content filtering with strict, moderate, or off safe search
• ⏱️ Restricts results to a recent time window — past day, week, month, or year
• ♾️ Paginates automatically up to your maxItems limit, with built-in duplicate image removal
• ⚡ Runs on lightweight infrastructure (128–512 MB) — fast and cost-efficient

Because Startpage is a Google Images alternative, this scraper is a practical way to pull image search data for design research, mood boards, and dataset building without dealing with Google's own bot defenses directly.

What data can you extract from Startpage image results?

Field	Description
query	The original search query that produced this result
position	Overall rank across all pages saved for this query
page	Startpage result page number
pagePosition	Rank within that specific page
title	Image title returned by Startpage
imageUrl	Original, full-resolution image URL
thumbnailUrl	Image preview URL
sourceUrl	Page that publishes the image
width / height	Original image dimensions in pixels
thumbnailWidth / thumbnailHeight	Thumbnail dimensions in pixels
format	Reported image format (e.g. jpeg, png)
fileSize	Reported file size
anonymousImageUrl	Startpage's Anonymous View link for the image, when present

How to scrape Startpage image results

1. Open the Startpage Images Scraper on Apify
2. Enter one or more Image Queries — keywords like sustainable architecture timber
3. Set Max Results to control how many image results to collect across all queries (default: 10)
4. Optionally choose a Region and Language to localize results
5. Set Safe Search and Time Period if you need filtered or recent-only images
6. Click Start and wait for results
7. Export your data as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the dataset tab

Quick start input:

{
    "queries": ["sustainable architecture timber", "biophilic office design"],
    "maxItems": 100,
    "region": "en_US",
    "language": "english",
    "safeSearch": "moderate",
    "timePeriod": "year"
}

Recent product imagery:

{
    "queries": ["electric SUV concept interior"],
    "maxItems": 250,
    "region": "de_DE",
    "language": "deutsch",
    "safeSearch": "strict",
    "timePeriod": "month"
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
queries	string array	Yes	—	Image search keywords. Each query is fully paginated before the next starts
maxItems	integer	Yes	10	Maximum image results to save across all queries combined. Set 0 for unlimited
region	string	No	all	Preferred result region — choose all or a supported locale such as en_US, de_DE, es_ES
language	string	No	english	Preferred result language, selected from Startpage's 82 supported languages
safeSearch	string	No	moderate	Explicit-content filtering: strict, moderate, or off
timePeriod	string	No	any	Recency filter: any, day, week, month, or year

Output example

{
    "query": "sustainable architecture timber",
    "position": 1,
    "page": 1,
    "pagePosition": 1,
    "title": "Timber office building with planted terraces",
    "imageUrl": "https://images.example.org/architecture/timber-office.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th/id/example",
    "sourceUrl": "https://example.org/projects/timber-office",
    "width": 2400,
    "height": 1600,
    "thumbnailWidth": 474,
    "thumbnailHeight": 316,
    "format": "jpeg",
    "fileSize": "548720 B",
    "anonymousImageUrl": "https://browse.startpage.com/av/anon-image/example"
}

Use cases

• Visual research — Collect reference imagery for design, architecture, or product research
• Mood board building — Pull large batches of on-topic images for creative projects
• Competitor imagery audits — See how competitors visually present products or campaigns
• Dataset building — Assemble labeled image URL datasets for computer vision projects
• Content sourcing — Find candidate images for articles, presentations, or social posts
• AI agent grounding — Feed structured Google Images alternative results into LLM pipelines and RAG systems
• Privacy-conscious research — Collect image data without triggering Google's own tracking or personalization
• Trend monitoring — Schedule recurring runs to track how visual coverage of a topic shifts over time

How much does it cost to scrape Startpage Images?

The Startpage Images Scraper uses pay-per-event pricing. You are charged per image result scraped — no separate compute fees on top.

Event	Price per event	Price per 1,000
result-scraped (Free)	$0.0015	$1.50
result-scraped (Bronze)	$0.0014	$1.40
result-scraped (Silver)	$0.0012	$1.20
result-scraped (Gold)	$0.001	$1.00

Each result pushed to the dataset counts as one event. For example, scraping 1,000 results on the Free plan costs $1.50, and $1.00 on the Gold plan.

Apify's Free plan includes monthly platform credits, so you can try the Startpage Images Scraper's free trial before committing to a paid plan.

Integrations and API access

Use the Startpage Images Scraper programmatically via the Apify API, JavaScript client, or Python client.

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("parsebird/startpage-images-scraper").call(run_input={
    "queries": ["sustainable architecture timber"],
    "maxItems": 50,
    "region": "en_US",
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["position"], item["imageUrl"])

JavaScript:

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_API_TOKEN" });

const run = await client.actor("parsebird/startpage-images-scraper").call({
    queries: ["sustainable architecture timber"],
    maxItems: 50,
    region: "en_US",
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => console.log(item.position, item.imageUrl));

You can also connect the Startpage Images Scraper to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, and other platforms via Apify integrations. Schedule runs daily, weekly, or at any interval for automated visual monitoring, and export results as JSON, CSV, or Excel directly from the dataset tab.

Is it legal to scrape Startpage Images?

Scraping publicly available search results is generally considered legal based on the 2022 US appeals court ruling in hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn. This actor only accesses publicly available image search results and metadata — it does not download or redistribute copyrighted images, log in, or access private data.

Always review Startpage's Terms of Service and comply with applicable copyright laws before reusing any images referenced in the results. For guidance, see Apify's guide to web scraping legality.

Related Actors

Looking for other search data sources on Apify?

• Startpage Search Scraper — Scrape Startpage organic web search results, a Google SERP alternative
• Startpage News Scraper — Scrape Startpage news search results, a Google News alternative
• Startpage Videos Scraper — Scrape Startpage video search results, a Google Videos alternative

FAQ

Is Startpage Images really a Google Images alternative? Yes. Startpage surfaces Bing Images results through a tracking-free proxy with no ads, personalization, or search history logging — making it a practical Google Images alternative for privacy-conscious visual research.

How many results can I scrape per run? Set maxItems to any number, or 0 to paginate until Startpage stops returning results. Results are shared across all queries in the queries list, and each query is fully paginated before the next one starts. Duplicate images within a query are automatically removed.

Why do my region or language filters not change every result? Startpage ranks images by relevance first. A strongly English-dominant query can keep returning results from English-language sites even with a different language filter applied. Region and language settings bias which locale of the index is queried, but don't force a specific language onto every result.

Does this actor download the actual image files? No. This actor only extracts image metadata — URLs, dimensions, format, and file size. It does not download or store image files.

What is the anonymousImageUrl field? It's Startpage's built-in Anonymous View link — a proxy URL that lets you view the image without the destination site seeing your IP address or browser fingerprint. It's only included when Startpage provides one for a result.

Can I schedule recurring runs? Yes. Use Apify's scheduling feature to run the scraper daily, weekly, or at any custom interval — useful for ongoing visual trend monitoring on this Google Images alternative.

Can I use this with my AI assistant or MCP server? Yes. Copy the AI assistant block from the top of this page into ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor. You can also use the Apify MCP server to connect this actor to any AI agent framework.

Something isn't working. How do I get help? Open an issue in the Issues tab on the actor page. Include your input configuration and any error messages.