IMDb: scrapers and the official API, compared

Movies, TV series, episodes, ratings, vote counts, genres, cast, crew and user reviews from IMDb.

Short answer

For most IMDb jobs, start with IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search: it covers 5 of 6 core fields (title, year, type, rating and 1 more) at $0.99 per 1,000 results on Apify's Free plan. The top published score for IMDb goes to IMDb Scraper by scrapesage (88 of 100), a Store tool from another publisher, listed for reference.

From published Store listings, output schemas and the official documentation. Checked 2026-11-09. How the ranking works.

IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search: inputs, code and cost Open in Apify Store

1 catalogue Actor 8 other Store tools Official API: Limited access Lowest rate $0.05 per 1K

Route map

Each line is one way to get IMDb data; each stop is a field you probably need. Green lines are catalogue Actors, ranked by the published formula.

1 IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search 14 output fields, pay per event 5 of 6 core fields
$0.99 / 1K
+ 5 other Store tools, combined Reference only 5 of 6 core fields
from $0.05 / 1K
API IMDb API (AWS Data Exchange) and IMDb non-commercial datasets Limited access fields not compared

Stops are fields. A ring means the field is in that route's published output schema; no ring means the line passes without it. Bold labels are the core fields for this website, the rest are fields that differ between routes. A white capsule means every data line stops there. The red line is the official API; its field coverage is not compared. A crossed red line means there is no open official API.

Catalogue Actors for IMDb

IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search

Search IMDb movies and TV shows, fetch titles by IMDb ID, browse Top 250 and regional charts, or run an advanced search by genre, year, rating and…

5/6 core fields 14 output fields $0.99 per 1K Open in Apify Store

Field matrix: who returns what

Every tool with a published output schema, against the 6 fields most IMDb jobs need. A dot means the field name appears in the schema; rows can still leave it empty.

Which tools return each core IMDb field, from published output schemas
Tool	title	year	type	rating	genres	imdb	Fields
IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search	●	●	●	●	●	–	5/6
IMDb ScraperReference only, by scrapesage	●	●	●	●	●	–	5/6
IMDb ScraperReference only, by logiover	●	●	●	●	●	–	5/6
IMDB Advanced ScraperReference only, by epctex	●	●	●	●	●	–	5/6
IMDb Reviews ScraperReference only, by omkar-cloud	●	–	–	●	–	–	2/6
IMDB Reviews ScraperReference only, by scrapestorm	–	–	–	–	–	–	0/6
Tools returning it	5	4	4	5	4	0

Field dictionary: the exact keys

The same core field has a different key in each Actor's output. Map these before you merge datasets; a dash means the published schema has no matching key. Need a field that is not listed here, such as email? Search every IMDb Actor by field.

Output keys for each core IMDb field in the top catalogue Actors
Core field	IMDb Top Charts & Advanced…
title	title, seriesTitle
year	year
type	recordType, type
rating	rating
genres	genres
imdb	–

All 9 tools, scored

Catalogue Actors link to their detail pages; the score (0 to 100) is the published formula, identical for every tool. Other Store tools follow in their own table, for reference. Price is the published primary-result rate per 1,000 (the Free-plan rate where the price is tiered; higher Apify plans pay less); start events and platform usage are excluded.

Catalogue Actors for IMDb, ranked by the published method
		Sample fields
82	IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search Catalogue Actor, pay per event	title, year, rating	14	$0.99	3 runs, too few to rate	Nov 2026

Other Store tools, for reference

Scored with the same published formula and listed for comparison only; this site does not link or recommend them.

Other Store tools for IMDb, for reference
		Sample fields
88	IMDb Scraper Reference only, by scrapesage	title, year, titleType	27	$4.00	100% of 150 runs	Nov 2026
87	IMDb Scraper Reference only, by logiover	originalTitle, endYear, titleType	19	$5.00	100% of 298 runs	Nov 2026
86	IMDB Advanced Scraper Reference only, by epctex	titleText, releaseYear, scrapedType	64	$3.20	61% of 64 runs	Nov 2026
75	IMDb Reviews Scraper Reference only, by omkar-cloud	title_name, rating, title_id	14	$1.00	100% of 43 runs	Nov 2026
67	IMDB Reviews Scraper Reference only, by easyapi	No published schema	–	$4.99	94% of 51 runs	Jul 2026
66	IMDb Reviews Scraper Reference only, by coder_zoro	No published schema	–	$4.99	100% of 32 runs	Oct 2025
64	IMDB Reviews Scraper Reference only, by scrapestorm	id, authorNickname, authorUserId	11	$0.05	100% of 30 runs	Nov 2025
51	IMDb Scraper Reference only, by dtrungtin	No published schema	2	$20	87% of 257 runs	Apr 2026

Official API route

IMDb API (AWS Data Exchange) and IMDb non-commercial datasets

IMDb sells a GraphQL API with titles, names, ratings and Box Office Mojo data exclusively through AWS Data Exchange under commercial contracts. Separately, daily TSV dataset files at datasets.imdbws.com are offered for personal and non-commercial use only.

Price. The AWS Marketplace listing for IMDb and Box Office Mojo (API) shows $400,000 for a 12-month contract plus $0.00000093 per 100 bytes of data returned. A separate free listing, IMDb Complete Dataset Free Trial (API), is also on AWS Marketplace.

Limits. Access is through an AWS account and an IMDb subscription contract; rate limits are not published on the pages checked. Non-commercial datasets may not be used commercially.

Official documentation Official pricing

Terms and personal data

IMDb's conditions of use prohibit data mining, robots and screen scraping without express written consent. This is general information, not legal advice.

Read IMDb's terms. Keep to public data, do not bypass logins or access controls, and check whether personal data is involved before you collect it. The can-I-scrape checklist walks through it.

How to start

Open IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search and start from its default input; its Actor page has the full example input and code.
Set the IMDb search, profile, listing or URL you need and a result limit; the required input is mode.
Run it and export the dataset as JSON, CSV or Excel, or call it from the Apify API.

Call IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search from code

The example input uses the Actor's published defaults; set your own IMDb query before you run it. You need an Apify API token.

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run_input = {
    "mode": "topRated",
    "searchQuery": "inception",
    "imdbIds": [],
    "reviewSortBy": "HELPFULNESS_SCORE",
    "reviewSortOrder": "DESC",
    "excludeSpoilers": False,
    "genres": [],
    "languages": [],
    "countries": [],
    "sortBy": "RANKING",
    "sortOrder": "DESC",
    "topRatedChart": "TOP_250",
    "maxItems": 3
}

run = client.actor("nimbryxo-studio/imdb-top-charts-and-advanced-title-search").call(run_input=run_input)
if run is None:
    raise RuntimeError("The Actor run was not found.")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

pip install apify-client

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>" });
const input = {
    "mode": "topRated",
    "searchQuery": "inception",
    "imdbIds": [],
    "reviewSortBy": "HELPFULNESS_SCORE",
    "reviewSortOrder": "DESC",
    "excludeSpoilers": false,
    "genres": [],
    "languages": [],
    "countries": [],
    "sortBy": "RANKING",
    "sortOrder": "DESC",
    "topRatedChart": "TOP_250",
    "maxItems": 3
};

const run = await client.actor("nimbryxo-studio/imdb-top-charts-and-advanced-title-search").call(input);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

npm install apify-client

cURL

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/nimbryxo-studio~imdb-top-charts-and-advanced-title-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items"   -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN"   -H "Content-Type: application/json"   -d '{"mode":"topRated","searchQuery":"inception","imdbIds":[],"reviewSortBy":"HELPFULNESS_SCORE","reviewSortOrder":"DESC","excludeSpoilers":false,"genres":[],"languages":[],"countries":[],"sortBy":"RANKING","sortOrder":"DESC","topRatedChart":"TOP_250","maxItems":3}'

Waits for the run and returns the dataset items (runs over 300 seconds return HTTP 408; start an async run instead).

MCP (AI agents)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=nimbryxo-studio/imdb-top-charts-and-advanced-title-search",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Adds this Actor as a tool in an MCP client that takes a remote server URL (Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code) through Apify's hosted MCP server. OAuth sign-in also works without the header. Clients that only start local servers can wrap the URL with npx mcp-remote.

Questions people ask

What is the cheapest catalogue Actor for IMDb data?

IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search lists $0.99 per 1,000 results (pay per event), with 14 fields in its published output schema. Start events and platform usage are billed separately. Checked 2026-11-09.

Which IMDb scraper returns the most core fields?

IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search covers 5 of the 6 core IMDb fields this page tracks (title, year, type, rating, genres, imdb), based on its published output schema.

Does IMDb have an official API?

Limited access: IMDb sells a GraphQL API with titles, names, ratings and Box Office Mojo data exclusively through AWS Data Exchange under commercial contracts. Separately, daily TSV dataset files at datasets.imdbws.com are offered for personal and non-commercial use only. The AWS Marketplace listing for IMDb and Box Office Mojo (API) shows $400,000 for a 12-month contract plus $0.00000093 per 100 bytes of data returned. A separate free listing, IMDb Complete Dataset Free Trial (API), is also on AWS Marketplace.

Is it legal to scrape IMDb?

It depends on what you collect and how. IMDb's conditions of use prohibit data mining, robots and screen scraping without express written consent. Read IMDb's terms (https://www.imdb.com/conditions) before you collect, and check whether personal data is involved. This is general information, not legal advice.

More on IMDb

Retired toolGoodreads API retired: what still works for Goodreads data
Topic groupMedia and entertainment data: every website compared
ToolWhich IMDb route fits your job?
ToolIMDb cost by Apify plan, rows and runs

Goodreads1 Actor
YouTube17 Actors

Sources

Data checked 2026-11-09

Cite this page

Scraper Finder. "How to get IMDb data." https://scraperfinder.com/sites/imdb/ (data checked 2026-11-09).

Highest-scoring catalogue Actor

IMDb Top Charts & Advanced Title Search: 5 of 6 core fields, $0.99 per 1,000 results, score 82. The highest score overall is 88 (IMDb Scraper, a Store tool from another publisher); both are in the table above.

Open in Apify Store