Waifu.im

Overview

Waifu.im serves curated anime images by tag — waifu, neko, maiko, and more — with source/artist attribution. Free and keyless.

Note (verified 2026-08): from datacenter IPs the API is fronted by a Cloudflare challenge (HTTP 403 “Just a moment…”) — browser/real-IP requests work normally. Retry from a residential network if you hit this.

Quick Start

Search by tag:

curl "https://api.waifu.im/search?included_tags=waifu"

{
  "images": [
    {
      "url": "https://cdn.waifu.im/xxxx.png",
      "source_url": "https://...",
      "artist": { "name": "...", "pixiv_id": 12345 },
      "tags": [{ "name": "waifu", "description": "..." }]
    }
  ]
}

Multiple tags / amounts:

curl "https://api.waifu.im/search?included_tags=maiko&excluded_tags=nsfw&gif=true&limit=5"

Authentication

None — keyless.

Rate Limits & Notes

• Free; no hard documented limit — be polite.
• Tags: waifu, neko, maiko, husbando, etc.; gif=true filters animated images.
• Every image carries source_url and artist attribution — great for proper crediting.
• CORS-enabled for browser use.

FAQ

Is Waifu.im free? Yes — free and keyless.

Why 403 from my server? The API sits behind a Cloudflare challenge (verified) — residential/browser requests work; datacenter IPs may be challenged.

Can I filter by tag? Yes — included_tags= / excluded_tags=.