SERP API · Google Images

Google Images API

The images Google shows for a query, returned as JSON: title, thumbnail, source domain and the page the image lives on. This is the SERP API with search_type: "images": no Google Cloud project, no quota, no monthly plan. You pay per search.

Get an API key See all verticals

A Google Images search for proxy server diagram: a grid of image results with the first thumbnail, its title and its source marked, and the real images[0] JSON with rank, title, thumbnail, source and source_url. The answer came from the plain page: $0.0009 per search, $0.002 when rendered. — Google Images results as JSON: each image with its thumbnail, its title and the page it comes from.

What you get

One image, one object.

Fields of each image result
Field	What it holds
`rank`	1-based position on the results page
`title`	Title of the image as Google shows it
`image`	Full-size image URL when Google exposes it, otherwise null
`thumbnail`	Thumbnail URL served by Google
`source`	Domain of the page that hosts the image
`source_url`	URL of that page

20 images per page in our test on 30 October 2026; follow page for more. The source page comes with every result, so you can attribute or check licensing before you reuse an image.

Example

One request, one JSON answer.

curl -X POST https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/serp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"proxy server diagram","search_type":"images","country":"us","num":10}'

cURL: image results for "proxy server diagram"

import requests

r = requests.post("https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/serp",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={"query": "proxy server diagram", "search_type": "images", "country": "us", "num": 10})
for img in r.json()["payload"]["images"]:
    print(img["rank"], img["title"], img["source"], img["source_url"])

Python: print rank, title and source of each image

{
  "rank": 1,
  "title": "Proxy Server -...",
  "image": null,
  "thumbnail": "http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT_GpGe_DpzaAorsSjU77YiNP58gX8eXXyWQ5FfkzaKhyi4…",
  "source": "www.geeksforgeeks.org",
  "source_url": "https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/computer-networks/what-is-proxy-server/"
}

The first image of the real answer to this request, 30 October 2026 (long URLs shortened).

The answer is the usual envelope: payload.images holds the list above, payload.search_metadata says which tier answered and how long it took.

Parameters

What to search, where, how many.

Request parameters for search_type: images
Parameter	Meaning
`query`	What you would type in Google Images
`num`, `page`	Results per call and the page to read
`country`	Proxy exit and Google locale (`gl`), ISO code: us, gb, de, it…
`lang`	Interface language (`hl`): en, de, it…
`device`	`desktop` (default), `mobile`, `ios` or `android`

Every parameter, for every vertical, is in the API reference.

Price

Per search, nothing monthly.

A successful search costs $0.0009 when Google's plain page answers and $0.002 when the rendered page is needed; search_metadata.path in the answer says which one you got. In our test on 30 October 2026 the call answered from the plain page in 0.87 seconds.

Failed searches are not charged. There is no subscription: a $2 free credit every month covers the first calls, then you top up your balance by card, PayPal or crypto.

If you would rather pay per image than per search, the Image search collector returns the same data at $0.0003 per delivered image (up to 100 per run), with no pagination to handle.

Every price per search and per vertical: SERP API pricing.

Official API or this one

Google's own option is a programmable engine, not the results page.

Google's supported way to query images is the Custom Search JSON API: it searches an engine you configure in Programmable Search, needs a Google Cloud project and key, and is priced per 1,000 queries after a small free daily allowance, with a daily cap.

This endpoint returns what Google Images shows a person in the country you choose, with the source page of each image, and bills only successful searches.

Use cases

What teams build with it.

Visual research and moodboards: the top images for a theme, with their sources, as a list you can filter.

Brand and copyright monitoring: where your product photos or logo appear, by source domain.

Dataset building: candidate images for a label, with the page to check rights on. For many queries at once use /v1/serp/bulk.

Before you call it

Questions developers ask

Is there a free Google Images API?

Google's own option is the Custom Search JSON API, with a small free daily allowance on a programmable engine. Here the $2 monthly free credit covers the first searches; after that you pay per search with no monthly plan.

Can I get the full-size image URL?

When Google exposes it, the image field carries it; otherwise it is null and the thumbnail and the source page are there. Download from the source page if you need the original.

Can I search by image instead of by text?

Yes, that is the Lens vertical: send an image_url and get the visual matches. See the Google Lens API.

How many images do I get per call?

Up to 20 per page in our test; use page to read more pages.

Can I reuse the images?

The API gives you where each image is published; rights belong to whoever published it. Check the source page before reusing an image.

Start with the free credit.

Create an API key, run the example above and read the JSON. Pay per search after the $2 monthly credit, no subscription.

Get an API key API docs