Link Preview API for developers
One HTTPS call returns normalized metadata for any URL — title, description, image, logo, brand palette. Build Slack-style unfurls, Discord previews, iMessage cards, or your own custom layout — entirely in your own markup.
https://api.microlink.io?url=https://github.com
Fast link previews Cached at the edge, globally
2.0
secs
P95
response time
1.41
secs
average
response time
99.9
%
SLA
Guaranteed
One payload,
every preview style
The Microlink link preview API normalizes every metadata source into a single JSON response. Render it as a Slack-style hero card, a Telegram bubble, an iOS notification, a WhatsApp chat preview — same fields, your markup.
Need a ready-to-paste iframe instead? See the Embed API.
Normalized metadata, ready to render
Open Graph, Twitter Cards, JSON-LD, oEmbed, microdata, and HTML tags collapsed into one predictable JSON shape. Pull title, description, image, logo, publisher, and brand palette from any URL and ship the preview without per-site fallback logic.
Build a preview component visually
Design a link preview card in the builder — size, image, colors, fonts, border, shadow — then copy a zero-dependency component for React, TypeScript, Vue, Angular, Svelte, Astro, or Vanilla JS. It fetches metadata from the Microlink API itself; pass an apiKey to go Pro. No SDK, no build step.
Captures URLs behind Cloudflare and CAPTCHAs
Every URL is rendered through a real headless browser routed via a rotating residential proxy network. Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA — pages behind antibot walls still come back with full metadata, so your previews stay perfect even when the source would block a scraper. Proxy rotation ships with every Pro plan.
JavaScript-rendered pages, captured
React, Vue, and Next.js sites that inject metadata at runtime are captured as a real visitor sees them — no stale SSR, no empty meta tags. Smart TTL caching keeps responses fresh against source changes while delivering sub-second previews from 340+ Cloudflare edge locations.
Copy. Paste. Preview.
One API call returns every piece of metadata you need — title, description, image, logo, palette. Map those fields to your own components — Slack hero cards, Telegram bubbles, iOS notifications, WhatsApp chat previews — all from the same payload.
Last month usage
100M
reqs per month
16%
cache hit rate
6TB
data served
some clients
Start free, scale when ready
Free API key, no credit card. Preview any URL with every Pro feature, proxy rotation included, and upgrade when production traffic kicks in.
Free
Every Pro feature. No card.
$0/month
25 requests per day
Pro
For production workloads.
$49/month
≈ $1.07 per 1,000 requests
46,000 requests / month
- Everything in Free
- Automatic proxy resolution
- Configurable TTL
- Custom HTTP headers
- Custom cache key
- Priority email support
Cancel anytime · No setup fees
Business & Enterprise
Bought the way companies buy.
- Everything in Pro, plus:
- Card or invoice, PO number, net 30
- NDA, DPA & service agreement
- Vendor assessments on request
- Same named contact
- Annual billing, 10% discount
Enterprise adds
Built on open source,
trusted by developers
Microlink link previews are powered by metascraper and browserless — battle-tested libraries used by thousands of developers worldwide.
Try it live, right now
Skip the setup. Paste any URL and our interactive tool returns the link preview payload — copy the JSON, copy individual fields, or prototype your own card.
The most complete link preview API, with no compromises.
No brittle scrapers, no conflicting tag sources, no partial previews — our link preview API turns any URL into a custom-styled preview in one predictable JSON response. See the metadata API guide or generate previews with AI.
Unified Link Preview Payload
Open Graph, Twitter Cards, JSON-LD, oEmbed, microdata, RDFa, and raw HTML merged into one predictable JSON response. The same fields for every URL — no per-site fallback logic.
Brand-Ready Visuals
High-resolution image, logo, favicon, and dominant color palette returned alongside the text. Theme link previews and chat unfurls without manual art direction.
JavaScript-Rendered Pages
Full headless browser execution means React, Vue, and Next.js sites that inject meta tags at runtime are captured correctly every time — no stale SSR required.
Proxy Rotation Behind CAPTCHAs
Rotating residential proxies and real headless browsers reach pages behind Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, hCaptcha, and reCAPTCHA, included with every API key, free one too.
Global Edge Delivery
Link preview responses are cached and distributed across 340+ Cloudflare edge locations, ensuring sub-second URL previews and feed ingestion worldwide.
Plain HTTPS, No SDK Required
A single GET request returns the link preview payload. Call it from any backend, edge runtime, browser, or static site — no library install needed.
Smart TTL Caching
Configure Time-To-Live caching rules to keep your link previews fresh against source changes while maintaining sub-second API performance at scale.
AI-Friendly by Design
Paste the payload into Cursor, Claude Code, or any AI assistant and let it generate a preview component built from your own design tokens — no SDK, no wrapper.
Free to Start
Preview any URL immediately. Free API key with 25 requests per day and every Pro feature, no credit card, and pay-as-you-grow pricing once production traffic kicks in.
Unified Link Preview Payload
Open Graph, Twitter Cards, JSON-LD, oEmbed, microdata, RDFa, and raw HTML merged into one predictable JSON response. The same fields for every URL — no per-site fallback logic.Brand-Ready Visuals
High-resolution image, logo, favicon, and dominant color palette returned alongside the text. Theme link previews and chat unfurls without manual art direction.JavaScript-Rendered Pages
Full headless browser execution means React, Vue, and Next.js sites that inject meta tags at runtime are captured correctly every time — no stale SSR required.
Proxy Rotation Behind CAPTCHAs
Rotating residential proxies and real headless browsers reach pages behind Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, hCaptcha, and reCAPTCHA, included with every API key, free one too.Global Edge Delivery
Link preview responses are cached and distributed across 340+ Cloudflare edge locations, ensuring sub-second URL previews and feed ingestion worldwide.Plain HTTPS, No SDK Required
A single GET request returns the link preview payload. Call it from any backend, edge runtime, browser, or static site — no library install needed.
Smart TTL Caching
Configure Time-To-Live caching rules to keep your link previews fresh against source changes while maintaining sub-second API performance at scale.AI-Friendly by Design
Paste the payload into Cursor, Claude Code, or any AI assistant and let it generate a preview component built from your own design tokens — no SDK, no wrapper.Free to Start
Preview any URL immediately. Free API key with 25 requests per day and every Pro feature, no credit card, and pay-as-you-grow pricing once production traffic kicks in.
Already shipping in real products
How MyMahi powers its newsfeed, Luckynote unfurls links inside notes, and TechTailors adds previews to the client sites it builds: three short reads on the link preview API in production.
Product Information
Everything you need to know about
the Microlink Link Preview API.
What is a link preview API?
A link preview API takes any URL as input and returns the structured metadata behind it —
title, description, image, logo, publisher, brand palette, and more — in a single JSON response.Microlink merges Open Graph, Twitter Cards, JSON-LD, oEmbed, microdata, RDFa, and raw HTML tags into one predictable shape, so every URL returns the same fields. See the metadata API guide for the full response.
What is link unfurling, and how do I unfurl URLs?
Link unfurling is the process of expanding a plain URL into a rich preview — the way Slack, Discord, WhatsApp, Telegram, and iMessage turn a pasted link into a card with title, description, image, and logo.
To unfurl a URL programmatically, call the Microlink link preview API and render the response in your own markup. See the metadata API with custom HTML/CSS guide for a worked example.
Is there a free link preview API?
Yes. Sign up for a free API key: 25 requests per day with every Pro feature, no credit card. Cached responses served from 340+ Cloudflare edge locations do not count against your monthly limit.
For production workloads, Pro plans start at €39 per month with higher rate limits and priority response.
How is this different from oEmbed or an embed API?
oEmbed is the open spec providers like YouTube, Spotify, and Twitter implement to expose ready-to-paste embed HTML — usually an interactive iframe. The Microlink embed API wraps oEmbed and falls back to scraping where the provider does not support it.
The link preview API focuses on the underlying data: it returns the normalized metadata payload, and leaves the rendering entirely up to you. Choose link previews when you want to control the markup; choose embeds when you want the provider's native player.
How do I build a custom URL preview from the API response?
Fetch the payload from
https://api.microlink.io?url=YOUR_URL and read data.title, data.description, data.image.url, data.logo.url, data.publisher, and data.image.palette. Map those fields into your own markup — whatever HTML and CSS fits your design system.The metadata API with custom HTML/CSS guide ships a worked example. For ready-made layouts you can paste into Cursor or Claude Code, see generate custom previews with AI.
Prefer not to write the markup yourself? Design the card visually with the link preview component builder and copy a zero-dependency component for React, Vue, Svelte, Astro, and more.
Can Microlink preview URLs behind Cloudflare, antibot walls, or CAPTCHAs?
Yes. Microlink routes requests through a rotating residential proxy network and renders pages in a real headless browser. URLs gated by Cloudflare, DataDome, PerimeterX, hCaptcha, reCAPTCHA, or similar anti-bot systems are fetched and rendered the same way a real visitor sees them.
The response shape stays identical —
title, description, image, logo, palette — so URLs that would normally return 403 still come back with a perfect preview. Proxy rotation is included with every API key, free one too; see the proxy parameter for configuration.Does the link preview API support PDFs, images, and media?
Yes. Pass any URL — webpage, PDF, image, video, audio, or social media post — and the link preview API returns the matching metadata.
- PDFs: title, author, page count.
- Images: dimensions, dominant color palette.
- Audio / video: embeddable player metadata when available.
- Social posts: oEmbed-normalized title, author, image.
How does Microlink handle JavaScript-rendered pages and SPAs?
Every Microlink request runs in a real headless browser via the browserless driver. React, Vue, Next.js, Svelte, and other SPAs that inject metadata at runtime are captured correctly — the API waits for the DOM to settle before extracting tags.
This is the same architecture used by Slack and Discord for unfurl previews, but exposed as a single HTTPS endpoint you can call from your backend.
How fresh are the link previews?
Every response is cached at the edge with a configurable TTL. By default Microlink keeps previews fresh by re-fetching the URL after the TTL window expires; you can override the TTL parameter per request to balance freshness against latency.
Cached responses are served from 340+ Cloudflare locations in milliseconds and do not count against your daily quota.
Can I use AI to generate the preview component?
Yes — and we recommend it. Microlink ships a guide with the exact base prompt to paste into Cursor, Claude Code, or any AI assistant. Six ready-made recipes are bundled (hero card, inline, tweet, telegram, notification, chat bubble).
See generate custom previews with AI for the prompt and the recipes.
How fast is the link preview API?
Cold responses settle in the low-second range; cached responses return in milliseconds. We publish live P95 and average response times on the status page.
Cached responses are served globally from 340+ Cloudflare edge locations, and every plan ships with a 99.9% uptime SLA.
What happens to my data?
Microlink does not store the body of the pages it fetches — only the normalized metadata payload, cached for the configured TTL window.
Every account, free or paid, can rotate its API key at any time. Source URLs and response payloads are not used to train any model.
Other questions?
We are always available at [email protected].
Start building
Sign up, add the key to your requests, and start rendering link previews that fit your product.
Get your free API key25 requests/day · Every Pro feature · No credit card
Trusted with 100M+ requests every month