IGDB vs Interactive Fiction Database
IGDB
igdb.com
Interactive Fiction Database
ifdb.orgSide by side
| Figure | IGDB | Interactive Fiction Database |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 0 |
| Spec score · Game Databases | 8.6 (#2) | 7.4 (#9) |
| API limits | The API rate limit is 4 requests per second, allows up to 8 open requests at once, and returns at most 500 results per request. | The APIs are intended for low-volume, user-driven applications and are not designed for high-speed crawling or large automated batches. |
| Integrations | The documentation lists Apicalypse wrappers for NodeJS, JVM/Kotlin/Java, Swift, and Python, plus third-party wrappers for PHP/Laravel, Go, Ruby, C#/.NET, and Deno. | The putific API accepts iFiction XML so authoring software can offer a “Publish to IFDB” feature. |
| Purpose | IGDB describes its goal as gathering relevant information about games in one place, with community contributions to its database. | IFDB is an interactive fiction game catalog and recommendation engine run as a wiki-style community project. |
| Support | IGDB directs API questions to its Discord community and bug reports to Discord or UserVoice. | Users can contact the IFDB committee by email or report technical issues and suggest features through its GitHub repository. |
Plans
IGDB
- IGDB APIFree
- IGDB API (commercial partnership)Free
- IGDB API (non-commercial)Free
- Commercial partnershipPriced on request
In their own words
IGDB
IGDB is a video game information database for searching games, companies, and characters. Search results can be sorted by relevance, title, release date, or rating, and the database accepts community contributions. Developers can query game data and related entities through its API, choosing fields, filters, sorting, and other request options. Non-commercial API use is free under the Twitch Developer Service Agreement. Commercial use requires a partnership, and products integrating the API are expected to show visible user-facing attribution. Access requires a Twitch account with two-factor authentication, an application Client ID and Client Secret, and OAuth2 application credentials. The API allows 4 requests per second, up to 8 open requests at once, and at most 500 results per request. Documentation provides daily-updated CSV data dumps and lists wrappers for several languages. Direct browser requests are not supported because the API has no CORS headers; a backend proxy is recommended. IGDB's API is available for free for non-commercial use, while commercial use requires a partnership.
Interactive Fiction Database
Interactive Fiction Database (IFDB) is a free community catalog that helps players find interactive fiction games and decide what to play. Members can add and edit listings, search by title, author, or description, and narrow results with filters for genre, language, authoring system, format, rating, and publication date. Discovery tools include personalized recommendations, lists, polls, reviews, ratings, competitions, and member profiles. For supported titles, a Play Online option opens a game in a browser without an interpreter download; IFDB catalogs game information rather than hosting the games. Developers can use HTTP APIs that return JSON to search, retrieve listings, edit tags, or publish iFiction XML. Those APIs are intended for low-volume, user-driven applications, not frequent crawling or high-load mirroring. Full SQL exports excluding personal information are available through the IF Archive and updated roughly quarterly. IFDB also has web access and supports Z-machine, TADS, Hugo, and executable applications. It is maintained by the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation and funded by supporter donations.