IGDB vs RAWG
IGDB
igdb.com
RAWG
rawg.ioSide by side
| Figure | IGDB | RAWG |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $149/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 3 |
| Spec score · Game Databases | 8.6 (#2) | 7.8 (#6) |
| API access | The IGDB API is free for non-commercial use under the Twitch Developer Service Agreement. | An API key must be included with every request. |
| Game metadata | The API exposes structured game data including release dates, platforms, genres, companies, ratings, screenshots, artworks, videos and websites. | The database includes descriptions, genres, release dates, store links, ESRB ratings, average playtime, gameplay videos, Metacritic ratings, system requirements, and DLC and franchise information. |
| 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. | RAWG names Yandex, a Discord games-search bot, a Reddit recommendations bot, a Telegram bot, and a DTF bot as apps using its API. |
| Support | IGDB directs API questions to its Discord community and bug reports to Discord or UserVoice. | The API page offers email support on the Business plan and priority email support on Enterprise, and directs other API questions to email or Discord. |
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.
RAWG
RAWG is a video game database and discovery service that provides game data, search, and machine-learning recommendations through an API, alongside its web platform. Its API page lists 500,000+ games across 50 platforms, including mobile. Records can include descriptions, genres, release dates, store links, ESRB and Metacritic ratings, playtime, gameplay videos, system requirements, and downloadable content and franchise information. RAWG says similar-game recommendations use computer vision; player activity data includes Steam average playtime and RAWG player counts and ratings. Every API request requires an API key. The Free plan is for non-commercial projects, allows up to 20,000 requests per month, and requires backlinks to RAWG where data is used. Business costs $149 a month and allows commercial use with up to 50,000 monthly requests. Terms permit free commercial use for startups and hobby projects at or below 100,000 monthly active users or 500,000 page views per month; larger projects are directed to request commercial terms. Attribution with an active RAWG hyperlink is required, and resale or redistribution to other businesses is prohibited.