The Cheapest TikTok API for Developers

# A basic profile — one record, the flat basic rate, no depth to set
curl "https://apiserpent.com/api/tiktok/profile?username=zachking&country=us" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# A video with its true author, music, hashtags and stats
curl "https://apiserpent.com/api/tiktok/video?url=https://www.tiktok.com/@zachking/video/7231" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# A hashtag list. limit sets BOTH the depth and the price — 180 is the sync cap
curl "https://apiserpent.com/api/tiktok/hashtag?tag=cottagecore&limit=180&country=us" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

import os, requests

h = {"X-API-Key": os.environ["SERPENT_API_KEY"]}
p = {"tag": "cottagecore", "limit": 180, "country": "us"}

data = requests.get("https://apiserpent.com/api/tiktok/hashtag",
                    params=p, headers=h, timeout=120).json()

# Check the envelope BEFORE the items. total_count is None when TikTok
# never stated one — it is not the same fact as result_count.
print(data["result_count"], data["total_count"], data["complete"])

for it in data["items"]:
    print(it["video_id"], it["author"]["username"], it["stats"]["play_count"])

const qs = new URLSearchParams({ username: "zachking", country: "us" });

const res = await fetch(`https://apiserpent.com/api/tiktok/profile?${qs}`, {
  headers: { "X-API-Key": process.env.SERPENT_API_KEY }
});

const profile = await res.json();
// A basic profile is a single record spread at the top level — no include_* set,
// so this is the flat basic rate and there is no depth to pay for.
console.log(profile.username, profile.verified, profile.stats.follower_count);

{
  "success": true,
  "items": [
    {
      "video_id": "7301234567890123456",
      "video_url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@example/video/7301234567890123456",
      "description": "three weeks of sourdough in 40 seconds #cottagecore",
      "created_at": "2026-08-19T09:14:02.000Z",
      "author": {
        "username": "example",
        "nickname": "Example Creator",
        "verified": false
      },
      "music": {
        "music_id": "6987654321098765432",
        "title": "original sound",
        "original": true
      },
      "stats": {
        "play_count": 418200,
        "digg_count": 61400,
        "comment_count": 812,
        "share_count": 2140
      },
      "hashtags": [ { "name": "cottagecore" } ],
      "mentions": []
    }
  ],
  "result_count": 180,
  "total_count": null,
  "has_more": true,
  "next_cursor": "180",
  "truncated": false,
  "restricted": false,
  "complete": false,
  "meta": {
    "elapsed": "41830ms",
    "timestamp": "2026-09-08T11:04:31.522Z"
  }
}

# One line per tag: date, tag, items returned, and whether the list was complete.
# limit=30 is the default depth and the cheapest per call — deepen only when it pays.
while IFS= read -r tag; do
  curl -s -G "https://apiserpent.com/api/tiktok/hashtag" \
      --data-urlencode "tag=$tag" -d "limit=30" -d "country=us" \
      -H "X-API-Key: $SERPENT_API_KEY" \
    | jq -r --arg t "$tag" \
        '[$t, (.result_count|tostring), (.complete|tostring), (.restricted|tostring)] | @csv' \
    | sed "s|^|$(date -u +%F),|" >> tiktok-tags.csv
done < tags.txt