API guide

The Pinterest API in 2026.Trial Pins are only visible to you.

Pinterest's API v5 creates Pins on a user's boards with POST /pins and the pins:write scope, and lists no fee. New apps get Trial access, usually in 1 to 3 business days, but every Pin and board created on Trial is visible only to its creator. Public Pins need Standard access, which takes a demo video and a review with no stated duration.

Checked October 6, 2026. Breakreach is our product.

# 1. Register the video uploadcurl -X POST https://api.pinterest.com/v5/media \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{"media_type": "video"}' # 2. Upload to the returned URL, with every upload_parameters fieldcurl -X POST "$UPLOAD_URL" \  -F key=$KEY -F policy=$POLICY -F x-amz-signature=$SIGNATURE \  -F x-amz-credential=$CREDENTIAL -F x-amz-algorithm=$ALGORITHM \  -F x-amz-date=$DATE -F x-amz-security-token=$SECURITY_TOKEN \  -F Content-Type=$CONTENT_TYPE -F file=@brew.mp4 # 3. Wait until its status is "succeeded"curl https://api.pinterest.com/v5/media/$MEDIA_ID \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" # 4. The Pin, with a cover imagecurl -X POST https://api.pinterest.com/v5/pins \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "board_id": "'$BOARD_ID'",    "title": "Pour-over in 3 pours, for a sweeter cup",    "link": "https://northbeam.coffee/brew-guide",    "media_source": {"source_type": "video_id", "media_id": "'$MEDIA_ID'",      "cover_image_url": "https://cdn.northbeam.coffee/pourover.jpg"}  }'

1/4 POST /v5/mediaSending

Published · now

Pour-over in 3 pours, for a sweeter cup

Northbeam Coffee

The Pinterest API at a glanceWhat it takes before the first post.

Price: Pinterest lists no fee. The tiers are Trial and Standard access
Trial access: Requested in the developer portal, usually approved in 1 to 3 business days. Pins and boards created on Trial are visible only to their creator
Standard access: An upgrade request with a video of your app's OAuth flow and an API action. No stated review time
Scopes: boards:read, boards:write, pins:read and pins:write
Write limit: 300 a day per app on Trial; 100 a minute per user on Standard
Access tokens: 30 days. Continuous refresh tokens last 60 days and renew each time they're used
Your account: The developer needs a Pinterest business account to run the app

Checked on October 6, 2026, from Pinterest's developer documentation and terms.

Our recommendation

To post to Pinterest from your product, use Breakreach's API.We built it, so here's the case.

See the request

Public Pins from the first request: no Trial sandbox, and no Standard upgrade to wait for
One request for an image or a video Pin: the upload, the processing wait and the cover are handled
Boards listed with GET /v1/pinterest-boards, the destination link in the request, and the same request posts to Instagram, TikTok and the rest

When to use Pinterest's API directly. Breakreach pins one image or one video, not multi-image Pins, without alt text, and reports account stats only. For those, use Pinterest's API with Standard access.

How to get access to the Pinterest APIFrom a developer account to your first real post.

1Use a business accountLog in to developers.pinterest.com with a Pinterest business account, verify its email and accept the Developer Terms.
2Connect an app and request Trial accessRequests are reviewed every business day, and approval typically takes 1 to 3 business days, by email. The app id and secret then show under My apps.
3Build on TrialUp to 1,000 requests a day per app, 300 of them writes. Everything you create is visible only to you, and the sandbox can't create video Pins.
4Upgrade to StandardFrom the app card: a video of your app taking users through OAuth and completing an action with the API. Requests are reviewed regularly, with no stated duration.

Pinterest's Developer Guidelines add a rule for schedulers: the user must choose each Pin that gets published, so no bulk auto-posting.

How to post with the Pinterest APIThe requests in the demo above, one by one.

1Register the mediaPOST /v5/media with media_type video returns a media_id, an upload_url and upload_parameters.
2Upload the fileA multipart POST to the upload_url with every upload parameter and the file: MP4, MOV or M4V.
3Wait for processingGET /v5/media/{media_id} until status is succeeded (registered, processing, succeeded or failed).
4Create the PinPOST /v5/pins with board_id, title, link and media_source: source_type video_id, the media_id and a cover_image_url. Pinterest's guide says a video Pin without a valid cover fails with 400.

An image Pin is a single call: POST /v5/pins with media_source source_type image_url. Multi-image Pins take 2 to 5 images, each with its own title and link.

Common Pinterest API errorsWhat they mean and how to fix them.

Error	What it means	Fix
`Pins nobody else sees`	The app is on Trial: Pins and boards are visible only to their creator.	Upgrade to Standard access.
`Token is expired or invalid`	The 30-day access token expired, or the refresh token went 60 days unused.	Refresh, or send the user through OAuth again.
`Token has insufficient scopes`	A scope such as boards:write is missing.	Authorize again with the scopes.
`400 on a video Pin`	No valid cover image, or the media isn't processed yet.	Send a cover_image_url, and wait for succeeded.
`429`	Over the write limit: 300 a day on Trial, 100 a minute on Standard.	Back off; x-ratelimit-reset says when.

Pinterest API limitsRate limits, text and media.

Rate limitsTrial: 1,000 requests a day per app, 300 of them writes. Standard: 100 writes a minute per user per app, and 100 requests a second overall.
TextTitle up to 100 characters, description 800, link 2,048, alt text 500.
ImagesBMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF or WebP, up to 20 MB. Multi-image Pins take 2 to 5.
VideoOrganic video Pins: MP4, M4V or MOV, 4 seconds to 5 minutes, 9:16 recommended.
AccountUp to 2,000 boards and 200,000 Pins.

Is the Pinterest API free?

Pinterest's developer docs list no fee or paid tier: the only tiers are Trial and Standard access.

What costs is Standard access. Until you have it, nothing you post is public, and the upgrade needs a finished app and a demo video.

Through Breakreach, a Pinterest account counts like any other connected account: the first 2 are free, then $5 a month each up to 20.

Ways to post to Pinterest from code

	What you set up	Price	Posts to Pinterest
Breakreach	An API key. Accounts connect through Breakreach's reviewed apps, or your users connect theirs on a hosted page	First 2 accounts free, then $5 a month per account (less from 21)	Yes, Image and video Pins
Pinterest's own API	A Pinterest app with Standard access	No, Fee listed	Yes
Upload-Post	An API key	Free for 2 profiles and 10 uploads a month; Basic $24 a month for 5 profiles	Yes
Zernio	An API key	First 2 accounts free, then $6 per account up to 10, $3 up to 100, $1 after	Yes
Ayrshare	An API key	From $149 a month for 1 profile, no free plan	Yes
Outstand	An API key	$19 a month for 3,000 posts, then per post	Yes

Checked on October 6, 2026, from Pinterest's developer documentation and each company's pricing page. Breakreach is our product.

What the Pinterest API can't do

Show Trial Pins to anyone but their creator
Bulk auto-post: the user must choose each Pin that gets published
Pin content the user didn't create: saving others' content is for the Save button
Edit Pins on every app: PATCH /pins is in beta

Post to Pinterest with Breakreach's APIOne request, scheduled, with retries.

POST /v1/posts

curl https://api.breakreach.com/v1/posts \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BREAKREACH_API_KEY" \  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \  -d '{    "content": "Pour-over in 3 pours, for a sweeter cup",    "accountIds": ["6701a2f4c9e84b0012a3b4cc"],    "media": ["https://cdn.northbeam.coffee/brew.mp4", "https://cdn.northbeam.coffee/pourover.jpg"],    "pinterestBoardId": "1052942812345678901",    "pinterestLink": "https://northbeam.coffee/brew-guide",    "scheduledAt": "2026-10-07T09:00:00"  }'

What it posts on Pinterest

Image PinsOne image on the board you pick. The first line becomes the title, up to 100 characters, and the text the description, up to 800.
Video PinsOne MP4 or MOV video, with an image in the same post as its cover.
Destination linkpinterestLink, up to 2,048 characters.
Boards and statsGET /v1/pinterest-boards lists the boards; account stats give followers and monthly views.

Not yet

Multi-image Pins
Alt text
Per-Pin stats

The full reference, webhooks and the price per connected account are on the developers page, and the OpenAPI spec is at api.breakreach.com/v1/openapi.json.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Short answers about the Pinterest API.

Pinterest's developer docs list no fee or paid tier. The tiers are about access: Trial, where Pins are visible only to you, and Standard.

Your app is on Trial access: Pins and boards created on Trial are visible only to their creator. Standard access lifts it, after Pinterest reviews a demo video.

Trial access typically takes 1 to 3 business days. Standard requests are reviewed regularly, with no stated duration.

Register the upload with POST /v5/media, upload the file to the returned URL, wait for status succeeded, then POST /v5/pins with source_type video_id and a cover image.

Access tokens last 30 days. Refresh tokens are continuous: they last 60 days and renew each time you refresh. Apps created before September 25, 2025 must ask for them with continuous_refresh=true.

Pinterest's Developer Guidelines allow scheduling as long as the user chooses each Pin that gets published. Breakreach holds the post until scheduledAt.

The first 2 connected accounts are free; from the third it's $5 a month per account up to 20, $3 up to 100, then $2. You pay per connected account, never per post or per request.