The Movie Database
The Movie Database is a user-contributed entertainment metadata platform covering millions of movies, TV shows, and people, offering free consumer access alongside a commercial API tier, serving enthusiasts, developers, and third-party media applications worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersSan Jose, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What The Movie Database does
The Movie Database (TMDB) is a community-driven entertainment metadata platform that catalogs millions of movies, TV shows, and people through user contributions. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Jose, California, TMDB is owned and operated by Xperi Inc. through its subsidiary TiVo Platform Technologies LLC. The platform serves individual entertainment enthusiasts free of charge — registered users maintain personal watchlists, log what they have watched, filter by their streaming subscriptions, and edit the underlying records, with a public leaderboard showing tens of thousands of edits per top contributor and the leading contributor alone accounting for over 4.7 million edits.
The Movie Database firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Movie Database
- Legal name
- TiVo Platform Technologies LLC
- Website
- https://themoviedb.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- The Movie Database is a user-contributed entertainment metadata platform covering millions of movies, TV shows, and people, offering free consumer access alongside a commercial API tier, serving enthusiasts, developers, and third-party media applications worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where The Movie Database is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Jose
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
The Movie Database business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Free Personal Use: TMDB is free for personal, non-commercial use. Users can join the community, maintain watchlists, rate content, and contribute to the database at no cost.
- Commercial API Licensing: Commercial use of TMDB APIs and content requires a separate written agreement with TMDB. This includes applications that generate revenue, charge users, use the content for AI/ML training, or integrate TMDB into commercial products. Fees may apply.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free tier for personal, non-commercial use |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels3 records
The Movie Database product offering
Product offeringCore offering
TMDB provides a community-driven, user-contributed database of movies, TV shows, and people, accessible for free via its website for personal use. It also offers a public API that delivers this metadata to developers and third-party applications, with commercial use requiring a separate written licensing agreement. Complementary features include personal watchlists, custom lists, and integration with JustWatch for streaming availability across major services.
Product overview
The Movie Database (TMDB) is a community-driven entertainment database offering a unified platform for movies, TV shows, and people information. The core product is the TMDB Database, which stores millions of entries with detailed metadata including cast, crew, images, keywords, translations in 47 languages, and social links. The TMDB API provides programmatic access to this data for non-commercial applications, with commercial use requiring a separate agreement. User engagement features include personalized accounts with watchlists and custom lists, and the newly launched Vibes rating system that replaced star ratings to include Moods (emotional reactions across 7 categories) and Tones (tone keywords) for enhanced community feedback.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- TMDB Database A user-contributed database containing millions of movies, TV shows, and people records with details including cast, crew, images, keywords, alternative titles, release dates, translations across 47 languages, awards, and social media links, freely accessible for personal use.
- TMDB API Public application programming interface providing access to TMDB's database for non-commercial use, with endpoints for movies, TV shows, people, keywords, translations, and more. Commercial use, including charging users, integration into commercial products, or use for AI/ML training, requires a separate written commercial agreement.
Companies that use The Movie Database
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
The Movie Database technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature4 records
The Movie Database partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- JustWatchcoreTMDB has integration with JustWatch, which provides streaming and purchase options localized to a given country. Users can access JustWatch options by clicking 'Watch Now' below any movie or TV show poster to see where content is available to stream or purchase.
- Xperi Inc.coreTMDB is owned and operated by Xperi Inc. and its subsidiaries. Xperi Inc. is a technology company that owns various entertainment and media technology brands including TiVo. TMDB privacy policy states that information may be shared with affiliates of Xperi Inc.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
The Movie Database competitors and assessment
Company assessmentPeers
Direct peers
- IMDb: IMDb (owned by Amazon) is the largest user-contributed entertainment database for movies, TV, and celebrities with ratings, reviews, and trailers. It is TMDB's most direct competitor, serving the same consumer use case of discovery and tracking while also offering commercial data licensing through IMDbPro.
- Rotten Tomatoes: Rotten Tomatoes (Fandango/NBCUniversal) aggregates movie and TV information with critic and audience scores. It overlaps TMDB's consumer-facing discovery and rating mission and represents a competing entertainment metadata destination with strong studio relationships.
- TheTVDB: TheTVDB is a community-driven television and film database with a public API widely used by media center applications. It directly competes with TMDB in the API-driven entertainment metadata space, especially for TV episode-level data and Kodi/Plex-style integrations.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Movie Database social profiles
Digital presenceThe Movie Database compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
The Movie Database financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Movie Database leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
The Movie Database funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Movie Database M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Movie Database
What does The Movie Database do?
TMDB provides a community-driven, user-contributed database of movies, TV shows, and people, accessible for free via its website for personal use. It also offers a public API that delivers this metadata to developers and third-party applications, with commercial use requiring a separate written licensing agreement. Complementary features include personal watchlists, custom lists, and integration with JustWatch for streaming availability across major services.
Is The Movie Database a public or private company?
The Movie Database is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was The Movie Database founded?
The Movie Database was founded in 2008. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is The Movie Database based?
The Movie Database is headquartered in San Jose, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Movie Database make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Free Personal Use is the primary driver. The others are commercial API Licensing.
Who are The Movie Database's main competitors?
JustWatch is listed as a peer. Direct peers are IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and TheTVDB.
Does The Movie Database have an API?
Yes. TMDB offers a public API for non-commercial use, with a separate commercial API requiring a written agreement. The API provides access to movies, TV shows, people, keywords, translations, and other entertainment data. Commercial use (including charging users, using TMDB content on destination websites/search engines/chatbots, or training ML/AI systems) requires a separate commercial agreement. Attribution is required - users must display the TMDB logo and include the notice: 'This [website, program, service, application, product] uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.' Developer documentation is at developer.themoviedb.org/docs.