# Is there a TikTok API for public data? > TikTok's Research API is only for academic and non-profit researchers, and its Display API shows a creator's own videos. Where businesses get TikTok data. Canonical: https://apiforagents.dev/guides/tiktok-api-for-public-data ยท Updated 2026-10-21 Not for most businesses. TikTok's Research API returns public accounts, videos and comments, but only to academic and non-profit researchers who apply and are independent of commercial interests. Its Display API shows a creator's own profile and videos after they log in, and its Commercial Content API covers ads shown in the EU. - Research API: Academic and non-profit - Display API: The signed-in creator's own - Ads library: EU ads - Checked: Oct 2026 ## TikTok's APIs and this one TikTok's side is from TikTok for Developers, seen 21 October 2026. | | Official TikTok APIs | API for Agents | |---|---|---| | Other accounts' public profiles and videos | Research API, for accepted researchers only | Yes | | Comments on public videos | Research API only | Yes, $0.00045 per record | | A creator's own profile and videos | Display API, after Login Kit | Their public profile and posts | | Ads | Commercial Content API, EU ads | Not offered | | TikTok Shop products | Research API covers EU-based shops | Yes, by keyword | | Who can get access | Research: academic and non-profit applicants. Display: any app, with the creator's login | Anyone. An agent signs itself up in one call and starts on a $0.10 trial | | Price model | No price published | Pay as you go, from $0.00045 per record | | Setup | Developer app, application or Login Kit review | One API key. No TikTok account or app review | ## When TikTok's own APIs are right If you are an academic or non-profit researcher in an eligible region, apply for the Research API: it is the primary source and TikTok says applicants typically hear back within four weeks. If your app shows a creator their own videos, or posts for them, use Login Kit with the Display or Content Posting APIs. If you are a business that needs public numbers on creators, videos or products, the Research API is not open to you. That is the gap a data API fills. ## What you can get here - **[TikTok Profile API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/profile-api).** Followers, following, total likes, video count, bio and verification for any public account. - **[TikTok Posts API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/posts-api).** An account's recent posts with views, likes, comments, shares and saves. - **[TikTok Video Search API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/video-search-api).** Posts by keyword, hashtag or sound. - **[TikTok Comments API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/comments-api).** Top-level comments on posts by URL, with commenter, text, likes and replies. - **[TikTok Shop API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/shop-api).** TikTok Shop products by keyword: price, rating, reviews, sold count and seller. > **Not affiliated** API for Agents is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by TikTok. It returns public data only: nothing behind a login. ## Operation pages - [TikTok Profile API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/profile-api) - [TikTok Posts API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/posts-api) - [TikTok Video Search API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/video-search-api) - [TikTok Comments API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/comments-api) - [TikTok Shop API](https://apiforagents.dev/platforms/tiktok/shop-api) ## Questions ### Can a company use the TikTok Research API? TikTok says applicants must be academic institutions or not-for-profit research bodies in eligible regions, and independent of commercial interests. ### What does the TikTok Display API return? A creator's profile information and videos, for display in your product, after the creator authorises your app through Login Kit. ### Is there a TikTok ads API? The Commercial Content API is TikTok's ads library API. TikTok says it includes ads data from EU countries in this phase. ### What does TikTok data cost here? Priced per record, from $0.00045 per record. Quote any call first with estimateOnly, which is free. ## Sources 1. [TikTok for Developers: Research API](https://developers.tiktok.com/products/research-api/), seen 21 October 2026 2. [TikTok for Developers: Display API overview](https://developers.tiktok.com/docs/en/display-api-overview), seen 21 October 2026 3. [TikTok for Developers: Display API, get started](https://developers.tiktok.com/docs/en/display-api-get-started), seen 21 October 2026 4. [TikTok for Developers: Commercial Content API](https://developers.tiktok.com/products/commercial-content-api), seen 21 October 2026 ## Why API for Agents - One key for 26 platforms: social, commerce, jobs, places, search and contacts, with one request shape and one response shape. - A free quote before any spend: add "estimateOnly": true to any call and see the most it can cost. - Pay per record in US dollars. No subscription, nothing expires, top-ups from $5. - $0.10 free to try, no card. An AI agent can sign itself up in one request; a person claims it later. - Measured, not estimated: every answer says when each row was measured, whether it was fresh or a recent capture, and how sure to be of each field. - Partial success is success: anything that could not be fetched is named with a reason, and the charge settles to what came back, never above the quote. - Typed fields that keep their names whichever source answered, and a details object last with everything else the source sent, under our own field names. - Try any endpoint in the playground and download the answer as CSV or JSON. ## Start The playground runs any endpoint by hand: pick a platform and what you want from it, fill a short form named in plain words (or press Use sample input), see the free quote on the Run button, run it, then read the answer as a table or JSON and download it as CSV or JSON. The same call is written out as cURL, Python and Node while you type. Open it at https://apiforagents.dev/dashboard/run (sign in first). Agents register at https://apiforagents.dev/auth.md (one POST, $0.10 free). People: https://apiforagents.dev/docs#start. Prices: https://apiforagents.dev/pricing.md