Pexafy is a semantic image search engine for free, royalty-free stock photos, with a REST API on top. One key searches nine free-photo libraries at once — Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Kaboompics, Burst, StockSnap, Picjumbo, Skitterphoto and NegativeSpace — and every photo it returns is free to use, with no attribution required. Search by text, by image, or by both at once. The search is semantic: you describe the scene you have in mind — the light, the mood, the moment — instead of guessing which keywords the photographer typed when they uploaded the shot.

Try Search on Pexafy.com

Run a real semantic search right now — no account, no key needed.

Get Free API Key

Create your key in the dashboard. The free plan needs no credit card.

API Quickstart

Your first search request, in under five minutes.

Why Pexafy

Semantic search vs keyword stock search — the three modes explained.

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What a semantic search looks like

Pexafy semantic image search results for the sentence ‘the quiet after a summer thunderstorm, everything dripping and still’ — wet awnings, dripping branches and rain-soaked streets under an overcast sky
Nobody tags a photo with that sentence. Pexafy ranks on the meaning of the scene, which is why full descriptive sentences work better here than bare keywords. Run this search yourself →

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Your first API call

Pass your key in the x-api-key header: 
curl "https://api.pexafy.com/api/v1/search/photos?q=the+quiet+after+a+summer+thunderstorm%2C+everything+dripping+and+still" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
Get your API key at pexafy.com/dashboard/api-keys/create — it works on your first call, and the free plan needs no credit card. The Quickstart walks through the whole flow.

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Where to go next

Use Pexafy from an AI assistant

A remote MCP server with OAuth — no API key to paste.

API Reference

Search, photos, facets, collections and usage — every endpoint, with examples.

Pagination

Cursor-based paging through large result sets.

Errors & rate limits

Error codes, quota headers and what to do when you hit a limit.