What is the Twitch Helix API base URL?

The Twitch Helix API base URL is https://api.twitch.tv/helix

Does Twitch Helix API have a free tier?

Yes. Full API access is free for registered apps

Twitch Helix API — Base URL, Auth & Endpoints

The Twitch Helix API provides programmatic access to the Twitch platform. Retrieve live streams and stream metadata, get channel and user information, list top games and categories, fetch VODs and clips, manage channel point rewards, query Twitch subscriptions, and receive real-time events (stream live/offline, channel follows, subscriptions, raids) via the EventSub webhook system. Used for stream overlays, dashboards, chat bots, and analytics tools.

Quick Reference

Base URL https://api.twitch.tv/helix Auth type Bearer Token Auth header

Authorization: Bearer APP_ACCESS_TOKEN
Client-ID: YOUR_CLIENT_ID

Rate limit 800 requests/min (app access token) Pricing Free tier available Free quota Full API access is free for registered apps Documentation https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/ Endpoint status Server online — HTTP 404 — server is online but path returned an error (may require auth)999ms (checked Mar 29, 2026) Builder score B 73% builder-friendly

Pricing

Latency

Depth

Authentication

Use OAuth2 Client Credentials flow to get an app access token, or Authorization Code flow for user-scoped actions. Pass the token as Bearer. Also requires the Client-ID header.

Authorization: Bearer APP_ACCESS_TOKEN
Client-ID: YOUR_CLIENT_ID

Pricing

Model freemium Starting price Free tier available Free quota Full API access is free for registered apps

The Twitch API is free for developers. Register your app at dev.twitch.tv to get a client ID. Rate limits apply per account tier.

Key Endpoints

Method	Path	Description
GET	`/streams`	Get live streams with filtering by game/user/language
GET	`/channels`	Get channel information by broadcaster ID
GET	`/users`	Get user info by login name or ID
GET	`/videos`	Get VODs for a user or game
GET	`/clips`	Get clips created for a broadcaster
POST	`/eventsub/subscriptions`	Subscribe to EventSub events (stream.online, channel.follow, etc.)

Sample Request

# First get an app access token, then:
curl "https://api.twitch.tv/helix/streams?game_id=509658&first=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TWITCH_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Client-ID: $TWITCH_CLIENT_ID"

Sample Response

{
  "data": [{
    "id": "40627613557",
    "user_name": "shroud",
    "game_name": "Just Chatting",
    "title": "Chill stream",
    "viewer_count": 28541,
    "started_at": "2024-03-15T09:00:00Z",
    "language": "en",
    "thumbnail_url": "https://static-cdn.jtvnw.net/previews-ttv/live_user_shroud-{width}x{height}.jpg"
  }]
}