name: Smithsonian Open Access API Plans and Pricing
description: The Smithsonian Open Access API is free to use for all purposes. API
  keys are obtained through api.data.gov, the US Government's shared API management
  platform. There are no paid tiers or commercial licensing fees as all content is
  released under CC0 (public domain) license.
url: https://api.data.gov/signup/
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
plans:
  - name: DEMO_KEY (No Registration)
    description: Limited access for exploring the API without registration. Suitable
      for initial testing and evaluation only. Key is IP-address-based and shared
      across all users on that IP.
    url: https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
    free: true
    pricing: Free
    rateLimits:
      - type: requests
        period: hour
        limit: 30
        unit: per IP address
      - type: requests
        period: day
        limit: 50
        unit: per IP address
    features:
      - Search the Smithsonian Open Access collections
      - Retrieve object metadata and content
      - Browse collections by category
      - Access CC0-licensed digital assets
    authentication: None (IP-based)
  - name: Standard API Key
    description: Full access for registered developers. Free registration via api.data.gov
      provides a personal API key enabling higher rate limits. No credit card or
      payment information required.
    url: https://api.data.gov/signup/
    free: true
    pricing: Free
    rateLimits:
      - type: requests
        period: hour
        limit: 1000
        unit: per API key
    features:
      - All DEMO_KEY features
      - Higher rate limits (1,000 requests/hour)
      - Personal API key (40-character unique string)
      - Access to all 4.7M+ digitized collection objects
      - Search across art and design, history and culture, science and technology
      - Object content retrieval by ID or URL
      - CC0 metrics and statistics endpoints
      - Term browsing by culture, date, object type, media type, place, topic
      - Multiple sort options (relevancy, ID, newest, updated, random)
    authentication: API Key (via api.data.gov)
  - name: High-Volume Access
    description: For organizations requiring more than 1,000 requests per hour, custom
      arrangements must be negotiated directly with the Smithsonian Institution. No
      official pricing tiers are published; contact the Open Access team directly.
    url: https://www.si.edu/openaccess
    free: false
    pricing: Custom / Contact Required
    rateLimits:
      - type: requests
        period: hour
        limit: Custom
        unit: negotiated
    features:
      - All Standard API Key features
      - Custom rate limits above 1,000 requests/hour
      - Bulk data access (also available via AWS S3)
    authentication: API Key (custom arrangement)
    contact: openaccess@si.edu
notes:
  - All Smithsonian Open Access content is CC0 (public domain) - no licensing fees apply
  - Bulk data is also available as a free S3 dataset at s3://smithsonian-open-access (no-sign-request)
  - The S3 dataset is updated weekly and contains 2.8M+ CC0 images and metadata
  - API keys are managed through api.data.gov, the US Government API infrastructure
  - Rate limit headers (X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining) are returned with every response
  - HTTP 429 responses indicate rate limit exceeded; limits reset on a rolling hourly basis