Discovering content in the Netflix app should be easier. If the Netflix algorithm only looks at your sci-fi binges, you’ll never see the romcoms you’re in the mood for. Independent developers could offer an alternative in their apps or websites by building recommendation engines and other streaming-aware features. But without a Netflix API for developers, they’re stuck.
Is there a Netflix API?
In Netflix’s early days, the company relied on independent developers to make their service more accessible. The company introduced a public Netflix API in 2008. They saw what developers had built on top of Netflix’s RSS feeds and created a free API that developers could use commercially.
Six years later, Netflix changed its mind. In a letter to developers, Netflix explained that “To better focus our efforts and to align them with the needs of our global member base,” the company would shut down its public API.
For most developers, turning back the clock to 2008 is not an option. Today’s Netflix catalog is larger, more dynamic and more complex. You can count on Netflix’s original content to be there, but much of the Netflix catalog is licensed, coming and going at random. Scraping the website for metadata is a full-time project that requires pulling resources from developers’ core mission.
We created the Flixed APIs for on-demand content to give developers an affordable alternative. Find out more about the Flixed API.
The Flixed API enhances your development project
Flixed does the heavy lifting needed to compile — and maintain — a streaming metadata catalog for Netflix. We do the same for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and other top streaming services. Within a single Flixed API for on-demand content, you can develop streaming-aware features that enhance your projects and make them more profitable.
Our mission to serve the cord-cutting community led us to create informative content and develop unique data services such as the Flixed Live TV Streaming Guides. Letting developers access our on-demand metadata catalog makes it that much easier for cord-cutters to discover where to watch their favorite content.
Our RESTful API gives you a simple, performant way to give your users streaming availability notifications, universal search, recommendations and other advanced features. No matter where in the world you are, the Flixed API lets you build Netflix metadata into your app.
Surface Netflix metadata in your app with the Flixed API
Rather than divert essential resources to creating their own Netflix metadata catalog, most developers have simply done without. Now, you have a better option. Learn more about the Flixed API and how you can start offering streaming-aware features in your development projects.
Kelsey Reynolds is the Content Lead at Flixed.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota, and has spent her career writing and editing content about marketing, education, emergency preparedness, science, cannabis, and entertainment.
When she’s not at her computer, Kelsey can usually be found working in her garden or walking her two dogs in the park.
