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Free Use Bible API

Free Use Bible API

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Need to integrate Scripture into your app, website, or AI project — but don't want to deal with API keys, usage limits, or copyright headaches? The Free Use Bible API makes it simple.^1

Built by AO Lab, a nonprofit dedicated to making God's Word freely accessible, this open-source JSON API serves over 1,250 Bible translations with zero restrictions. No API keys, no rate limits, no copyright barriers — including for commercial use. The entire codebase is MIT-licensed and hosted on AWS for low-latency access worldwide.^2 The project is rooted in a conviction from Matthew 10:8: "Freely you have received; freely give."

The API provides a clean, well-structured JSON format that includes verse content, formatting information, footnotes, audio links, cross-references, and commentary datasets — everything a developer needs to build rich Scripture experiences.^3 A CLI tool (@helloao/cli) makes it easy to generate and manage your own instance, with support for USFM, USX, and Codex formats, plus the ability to import translations from fetch.bible into SQLite or upload to S3.^4 An official JavaScript/TypeScript SDK (free-use-bible-api) is available on npm for zero-dependency integration into any web or Node.js project.^5

A key partnership with the Berean Standard Bible (BSB) team made much of this possible. After a year and a half of persistent conversations, AO Lab founder Craig Bradley and Jon from gracious.tech helped persuade the BSB team to release their modern, readable English translation into the public domain — a milestone that opened the door for unrestricted Scripture access.^6 Today the API also includes translations sourced from fetch.bible, ebible.org, and other public domain works.

Explosive Growth

The API now handles over 45 million monthly Scripture requests — a more than 3× increase from ~14 million just two months prior, reflecting surging adoption across the global developer and AI ecosystem.^19

Why Developers Love It

"HelloAO provides a free Bible API that also has the BSB, WEB, NET (2015) I believe and many other public domain translations."^7

"Bible Insight makes use of the Bible data provided by AO Lab's Free Use Bible API. This project makes the Bible freely available to everyone."^8

Notable
  • Used by Navigate The Way to power accurate Bible text in their ChatGPT integration^9
  • Powers TheologAI, a Bible and theological study MCP server for AI chatbots^10
  • A community MCP server (Free-Use-Bible-API-MCP-Server) extends the API to ChatGPT and other MCP clients^11
  • A Minecraft plugin (BibleReadPlugin) lets players read any of 1,000+ translations in-game^12
  • A Roblox LuaU wrapper exists for using the API in game development^13
  • A community-built free-use-bible-sdk is available via jsDelivr for web apps^14
  • Sacra Tabula, an iOS Bible Atlas app by James Kettner, sources its translation library live from the API^18
  • Additional community integrations include a terminal Bible reader (verbum), an agent-first Bible CLI (faith), and multiple MCP server wrappers^2
  • 156 stars, 35 forks, and 492 commits on GitHub, with active development (latest commit Aug 4, 2026)^2
  • Featured on get.bible's official list of Bible data sets and APIs^15
  • Official JS/TS SDK (free-use-bible-api) published on npm^5
  • Now includes commentary datasets like the Tyndale Open Study Notes (69 books, 125 biblical profiles)^3
  • Also powers the faith.tools Bible MCP project for AI chatbot Scripture accuracy
  • Berean Bible texts are officially dedicated to the public domain as of April 30, 2023^16
  • Garth's Hyper-literal Translation (GHT) and Greek sources added in Feb 2026^17
  • API traffic surged to over 45 million monthly requests as of August 2026 — a 3× jump in two months^19
  • AO Lab is revamping its documentation and marketing websites to capitalize on growth momentum^19
  • Seed Bible, AO Lab's companion reading app, is being positioned as an open, white-labelable Bible platform for the global church^19
  • New partnerships with Bonfire AI (heybonfire.com) and The Apologist Project for AI services^19

Last updated: August 8, 2026

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Free Use Bible API: Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Free Use Bible API really free?

Yes, and unusually so. The docs put it in one line: no usage limits, no API keys required, and no copyright restrictions whatsoever, including for modification and commercial use. There is no signup, no quota, and no paid tier waiting behind a trial. The code is MIT-licensed on GitHub, so if you need guarantees the project can't make, the @helloao/cli tool will generate your own copy of the API from the same data — you supply the hosting, and it uploads to an S3 bucket, a zip file, or a local directory.

It's built by AO Lab, a nonprofit, on a conviction from Matthew 10:8 — "Freely you have received; freely give." Worth knowing that "free" here means the licensing is genuinely unrestricted, which is rarer among Bible APIs than you would hope.

Which Bible translations can I use without paying for a license?

Public domain and openly licensed ones — which covers more ground than most developers expect. The Free Use Bible API serves over 1,000 translations, including the World English Bible (WEB) and the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).

The BSB is the one to know about. It's a modern, readable English translation that was dedicated to the public domain in 2023, and it's why so many new Bible projects default to it rather than to the KJV. What you won't find here are the major copyrighted translations — the NIV, NASB, CSB and their peers. Those are licensed per translation, and API.Bible is where you go for them.

Can I use the Free Use Bible API in a commercial app?

Yes. The docs state no copyright restrictions whatsoever, explicitly including commercial use, and the source is MIT-licensed. That is the clearest yes among the Bible APIs listed here — most either bar commercial use on their free tier or require a per-translation license first.

The limit is the catalog, not the terms. You are commercially free to use everything this API serves, and what it serves is public domain and openly licensed texts. If your app needs a specific copyrighted translation, that's a licensing question, not a hosting one.

What's the difference between the Free Use Bible API and API.Bible?

Catalog versus cost. API.Bible, run by the American Bible Society, holds the copyrighted translations — NIV, NASB, CSB, NKJV, NLT and others — behind a free non-commercial tier and paid plans above it. The Free Use Bible API has no keys, no limits and no commercial restrictions, but its catalog is public domain and openly licensed texts.

So the decision is usually made for you. If your app has to display one specific copyrighted translation, you need a license and API.Bible is where you get one. If it just needs sound Scripture text and you would rather not manage keys, quotas or licensing at all, start here. Plenty of projects end up using both.

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