IGDB

Overview

IGDB brings together video-game information in a community-contributed database and pairs it with an API for game and related data. It is a strong fit for players searching across titles, companies, and characters, and for developers building game-data features. The API’s free non-commercial access is appealing, but commercial projects need a partnership and browser clients need a backend proxy.

Key features

Search covers games, companies, and characters, with sorting by relevance, title, release date, or rating. That range helps players explore beyond a single title and gives developers useful dimensions for discovery interfaces. Community contributions broaden the database, though IGDB may remove or restrict content that fails its submission criteria or violates Twitch Community Guidelines.

The API exposes game data and related entities through endpoints where requests can select fields, apply filters, sort results, and set other options in the request body. It permits 4 requests per second, up to 8 open requests at once, and at most 500 results per request. Those limits suit bounded lookups and integrations, but developers serving heavier workloads will need to account for request pacing and result caps.

All endpoints are also available as daily-updated CSV data dumps, and export formats include CSV and Protocol Buffers. The dumps offer a bulk-data route, while the API is better suited to targeted queries. IGDB documents Apicalypse wrappers for NodeJS, JVM/Kotlin/Java, Swift, and Python, alongside third-party wrappers for PHP/Laravel, Go, Ruby, C#/.NET, and Deno.

API access uses OAuth2 application credentials. Developers need a Twitch account with two-factor authentication and an application Client ID and Client Secret, so setup is more involved than a public unauthenticated feed. Direct browser requests are not supported because the API does not provide CORS headers; a backend proxy is required. IGDB provides a guide for deploying one in the user's AWS account, with token rotation handled by the stack, but AWS charges may apply.

Commercial API use is allowed through a partnership, and products integrating the API are expected to show visible user-facing attribution. The IGDB MCP Server is in beta testing, with its features, tools, and authentication flows subject to change without notice, so it is not a stable foundation for a production dependency.

Pricing

IGDB has no paid plan or free trial. The IGDB API (non-commercial) costs nothing and is limited to non-commercial usage, 4 requests per second, and up to 8 open requests. It is the clear choice for qualifying hobby and community projects that can operate within those limits.

The IGDB API (commercial partnership) is also free, but commercial use requires a partnership and user-facing attribution is expected. The published price does not remove those conditions; commercial developers should treat the partnership requirement as part of their integration decision.

Platforms

IGDB supports API and web access. Its supported game platforms span PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, iOS, Android, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, web browser, and arcade. That breadth makes it relevant to cross-platform game discovery, rather than a database focused on one device family.

Who it's for

Choose IGDB if you want a broad game, company, and character search, or need structured game data for a non-commercial app or service. Developers comfortable with OAuth2, server-side requests, and the stated rate and result caps get the strongest fit. It is less suitable for a browser-only integration, a project that needs commercial API access without a partnership, or a workload that cannot accommodate its request limits.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Search spans games, companies, and characters, with four sorting options, making the database useful for varied discovery needs.
• Pros: The non-commercial API is free and offers filters, selectable fields, sorting, related entities, and daily CSV dumps for different data workflows.
• Pros: Documented wrappers cover several common languages, including NodeJS, Python, Swift, and JVM languages.
• Cons: OAuth2 setup requires a Twitch account with two-factor authentication plus a Client ID and Client Secret.
• Cons: No CORS support means browser apps need a backend proxy, and the AWS proxy option may incur AWS charges.
• Cons: Commercial API use depends on a partnership and visible attribution, while rate, concurrency, and per-request result caps constrain integrations.

Alternatives

Game Databases is the broader category to browse when you want to compare database options. For other free databases, BoardGameGeek offers free registered membership and Android, iOS, and web access; Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Database is another free Android, iOS, and web option, with no paid plans or usage limits stated. Choose either when those platforms and database options better fit your needs.

LaunchBox is worth considering if you want to import and play games on Windows: its Starter plan is free forever, while Regular costs $30, paid once and includes a year. NostalgiaDB is another API-and-web option; its free platform access requires a registered account for play and archive downloads, and its API requires a key. RaiderZ Game Database offers a free-to-play web and Windows option with a free account.

RAWG may suit a non-commercial API project that benefits from its stated 500,000+ game data and monthly quota of up to 20,000 requests; its free plan requires backlinks to RAWG wherever the data is used. YGOPRODeck is another API option, with a 20-requests-per-second limit and a one-hour access block if that limit is exceeded. The Visual Novel Database is worth considering for non-commercial API use if its limits—200 requests per 5 minutes, 1 second of execution time per minute, and aborting requests over 3 seconds—fit the workload.

Verdict

IGDB is a strong choice for players who want searchable game, company, and character information and for developers adding game data to a non-commercial product. Its free API, configurable queries, and bulk data dumps are the main reasons to choose it. Look elsewhere if you need direct browser access, commercial use without a partnership, or fewer constraints on API throughput.