Where do the color names come from?

The MIT-licensed color-names project, 31,919 human-curated names, merged with the 139 distinct CSS named colors. Nearest-name lookups default to the 4,962 names flagged as best, so #ff5733 comes back as Orange Soda rather than something unpronounceable.

What inputs does convert accept?

Hex with or without the hash, three-digit shorthand, rgb() and hsl() functions, and bare comma-separated channels. The response includes every other format plus WCAG luminance, a dark-or-light flag, the nearest curated name and the nearest CSS keyword.

How is contrast calculated?

With the WCAG 2 relative-luminance formula. The contrast endpoint returns the ratio and whether the pair passes AA and AAA for normal and large text.

Which palette types are available?

Complementary, split-complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, monochromatic and tints and shades, each returned as hex values with names.

What does a call cost?

1 token. The free plan covers 500 conversions, names, contrast checks or palettes a month.

ToolsMAINTAINED1 token / call

Colors API

Name, convert and check contrast for any color, with 31,919 curated names and WCAG math

Everything a product does with color, in one API. 31,919 human-curated color names (the MIT color-names project, with its quality flag — nearest-name defaults to the 4,962 curated best names so #ff5733 comes back 'Orange Soda', not something unpronounceable) plus all CSS named colors with their spec keywords. Convert anything to everything: feed it hex (#ff5733, short #f53), rgb(255,87,51), bare '255,87,51' or hsl(11,100%,60%) and get hex, RGB, HSL, HSV, CMYK, WCAG relative luminance, a dark/light flag, the nearest curated name AND the nearest CSS keyword (tomato, 23.3 away). Generate named palettes — complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, split-complementary, monochromatic, shades, tints — with the base color preserved exactly (no HSL round-trip drift). Check WCAG accessibility: contrast ratio with AA/AAA pass-fail for normal and large text (black on white = 21). Search 32k names ('sunset' → 74 colors), filter to curated or CSS sets, or grab a random one. Design tools, theme builders, accessibility linters, data-viz libraries, e-commerce swatch naming — one token per call.

Every call needs an X-Api-Key header. A free key includes 500 tokens a month, no card required. 1 token per call, so the free plan covers about 500 calls a month.

Start free — 500 tokens / mo →See all plans

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response.json

{
  "ok": true,
  "hex": "#ff5733",
  "rgb": {
    "r": 255,
    "g": 87,
    "b": 51
  },
  "hsl": {
    "h": 11,
    "s": 100,
    "l": 60
  },
  "hsv": {
    "h": 11,
    "s": 80,
    "v": 100
  },
  "cmyk": {
    "c": 0,
    "m": 65.88,
    "y": 80,
    "k": 0
  },
  "luminance": 0.283,
  "is_dark": false,
  "name": {
    "hex": "#fa5b3d",
    "name": "Orange Soda",
    "is_bestof": true,
    "is_css": false,
    "distance": 11.87,
    "exact": false
  },
  "nearest_css": {
    "hex": "#ff6347",
    "name": "tomato",
    "distance": 23.32
  }
}

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Use cases for Colors API

Label a user-picked color with a human name in a design tool, theme editor or product configurator.
Convert between hex, RGB, HSL, HSV and CMYK in one call for export, print and CSS generation.
Check text and background pairs against WCAG AA and AAA thresholds in an accessibility linter or design system.
Generate complementary, analogous, triadic and tint-shade palettes from a brand color.

Colors API endpoints

Every endpoint with its parameters and a real example response.

OpenAPI definition Postman workspace

GETConvert Color
GETData Sources
GETGenerate Palette
GETName a Color
GETRandom Color
GETSearch Colors
GETWCAG Contrast

GETConvert Color

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/convert

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
value	#FF5733	Required

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/convert?value=%23FF5733" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "hex": "#ff5733",
  "rgb": {
    "r": 255,
    "g": 87,
    "b": 51
  },
  "hsl": {
    "h": 11,
    "s": 100,
    "l": 60
  },
  "hsv": {
    "h": 11,
    "s": 80,
    "v": 100
  },
  "cmyk": {
    "c": 0,
    "m": 65.88,
    "y": 80,
    "k": 0
  },
  "luminance": 0.283,
  "is_dark": false,
  "name": {
    "hex": "#fa5b3d",
…

Show full response

{
  "ok": true,
  "hex": "#ff5733",
  "rgb": {
    "r": 255,
    "g": 87,
    "b": 51
  },
  "hsl": {
    "h": 11,
    "s": 100,
    "l": 60
  },
  "hsv": {
    "h": 11,
    "s": 80,
    "v": 100
  },
  "cmyk": {
    "c": 0,
    "m": 65.88,
    "y": 80,
    "k": 0
  },
  "luminance": 0.283,
  "is_dark": false,
  "name": {
    "hex": "#fa5b3d",
    "name": "Orange Soda",
    "is_bestof": true,
    "is_css": false,
    "distance": 11.87,
    "exact": false
  },
  "nearest_css": {
    "hex": "#ff6347",
    "name": "tomato",
    "distance": 23.32
  }
}

GETData Sources

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/sources

This endpoint takes no parameters.

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/sources" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "sources": [
    {
      "slug": "color-names",
      "name": "meodai color-names",
      "publisher": "meodai and contributors",
      "licence": "MIT",
      "source_url": "https://github.com/meodai/color-names",
      "file_url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/meodai/color-names/main/src/colornames.csv",
      "cadence": "community-updated; occasional re-scrape",
      "record_count": 31916,
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-06"
    },
    {
      "slug": "css-colors",
      "name": "CSS named colors",
      "publisher": "W3C CSS Color Module",
      "licence": "W3C spec constants",
      "source_url": "https://www.w3.org/TR/css-color-4/#named-colors",
      "file_url": null,
      "cadence": "static",
      "record_count": 139,
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-06"
    }
  ]
}

GETGenerate Palette

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/palette

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
count	5	Optional
mode	triadic	Optional
value	1e90ff	Required

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/palette?count=5&mode=triadic&value=1e90ff" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "base": "#1e90ff",
  "mode": "triadic",
  "palette": [
    {
      "hex": "#1e90ff",
      "hsl": {
        "h": 210,
        "s": 100,
        "l": 55.88
      },
      "name": "Pool Water"
    },
    {
      "hex": "#ff1e8e",
      "hsl": {
        "h": 330,
        "s": 100,
        "l": 55.88
      },
      "name": "Fluorescent Pink"
    },
    {
      "hex": "#8eff1e",
      "hsl": {
        "h": 90,
        "s": 100,
…

Show full response

{
  "ok": true,
  "base": "#1e90ff",
  "mode": "triadic",
  "palette": [
    {
      "hex": "#1e90ff",
      "hsl": {
        "h": 210,
        "s": 100,
        "l": 55.88
      },
      "name": "Pool Water"
    },
    {
      "hex": "#ff1e8e",
      "hsl": {
        "h": 330,
        "s": 100,
        "l": 55.88
      },
      "name": "Fluorescent Pink"
    },
    {
      "hex": "#8eff1e",
      "hsl": {
        "h": 90,
        "s": 100,
        "l": 55.88
      },
      "name": "Loud Lime"
    }
  ]
}

GETName a Color

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/name

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
all	true	Optional
count	3	Optional
value	40e0d0	Required

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/name?all=true&count=3&value=40e0d0" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "query": "#40e0d0",
  "pool": "all 31,919 names",
  "matches": [
    {
      "hex": "#40e0d0",
      "name": "Fresh Turquoise",
      "is_bestof": false,
      "is_css": true,
      "distance": 0,
      "exact": true
    },
    {
      "hex": "#48d1cc",
      "name": "Medium Turquoise",
      "is_bestof": false,
      "is_css": true,
      "distance": 17.46,
      "exact": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#45e9c1",
      "name": "Aphrodite Aqua",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false,
      "distance": 18.19,
      "exact": false
…

Show full response

{
  "ok": true,
  "query": "#40e0d0",
  "pool": "all 31,919 names",
  "matches": [
    {
      "hex": "#40e0d0",
      "name": "Fresh Turquoise",
      "is_bestof": false,
      "is_css": true,
      "distance": 0,
      "exact": true
    },
    {
      "hex": "#48d1cc",
      "name": "Medium Turquoise",
      "is_bestof": false,
      "is_css": true,
      "distance": 17.46,
      "exact": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#45e9c1",
      "name": "Aphrodite Aqua",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false,
      "distance": 18.19,
      "exact": false
    }
  ]
}

GETRandom Color

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/random

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
bestof	true	Optional

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/random?bestof=true" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "color": {
    "hex": "#c27f38",
    "name": "Ginger Beer",
    "is_bestof": true,
    "is_css": false,
    "rgb": {
      "r": 194,
      "g": 127,
      "b": 56
    },
    "hsl": {
      "h": 31,
      "s": 55.2,
      "l": 49.02
    },
    "hsv": {
      "h": 31,
      "s": 71.13,
      "v": 76.08
    },
    "cmyk": {
      "c": 0,
      "m": 34.54,
      "y": 71.13,
      "k": 23.92
    },
…

Show full response

{
  "ok": true,
  "color": {
    "hex": "#c27f38",
    "name": "Ginger Beer",
    "is_bestof": true,
    "is_css": false,
    "rgb": {
      "r": 194,
      "g": 127,
      "b": 56
    },
    "hsl": {
      "h": 31,
      "s": 55.2,
      "l": 49.02
    },
    "hsv": {
      "h": 31,
      "s": 71.13,
      "v": 76.08
    },
    "cmyk": {
      "c": 0,
      "m": 34.54,
      "y": 71.13,
      "k": 23.92
    },
    "luminance": 0.269,
    "is_dark": false
  }
}

GETSearch Colors

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
bestof	true	Optional
css		Optional
q	sunset	Optional

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors?bestof=true&q=sunset" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 25,
  "total": 8,
  "total_pages": 1,
  "colors": [
    {
      "hex": "#dd8869",
      "name": "Canyon Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#eb9f9f",
      "name": "Cosy Summer Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#b52604",
      "name": "Crimson Velvet Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#f88517",
      "name": "Glorious Sunset",
…

Show full response

{
  "ok": true,
  "page": 1,
  "limit": 25,
  "total": 8,
  "total_pages": 1,
  "colors": [
    {
      "hex": "#dd8869",
      "name": "Canyon Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#eb9f9f",
      "name": "Cosy Summer Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#b52604",
      "name": "Crimson Velvet Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#f88517",
      "name": "Glorious Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#c38d87",
      "name": "Grand Sunset",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#e95e2a",
      "name": "Sunset Blaze",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#f6c362",
      "name": "Sunset Gold",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    },
    {
      "hex": "#fd5e53",
      "name": "Sunset Orange",
      "is_bestof": true,
      "is_css": false
    }
  ]
}

GETWCAG Contrast

https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/contrast

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
bg	ffffff	Required
fg	000000	Required

Example request

curl "https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/contrast?bg=ffffff&fg=000000" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "ok": true,
  "fg": "#000000",
  "bg": "#ffffff",
  "contrast_ratio": 21,
  "wcag": {
    "aa_normal_text": true,
    "aa_large_text": true,
    "aaa_normal_text": true,
    "aaa_large_text": true
  }
}

Where the data comes from

Source: The color-names project (MIT, 31,919 names with a curated best-of flag) and the CSS Color specification keywords, with WCAG 2 contrast math.
Freshness: Static reference data computed on every call. The name list is updated with each release.

One install. Every endpoint.

No proprietary SDKs needed. Any HTTP client works. Pick your language and paste.

3languages

7endpoints

RESTarchitecture

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import axios from 'axios';

const { data } = await axios.get(
  'https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/convert',
  { headers: { 'X-Api-Key': process.env.API_KEY } }
);

Colors API · X-Api-Key

Explore the endpoints

Browse request parameters and inspect live example responses.

Available Endpoints

Request Parameters

API URL

Headers

X-Api-Key

Query Parameters

value(Required)

Target:

Client:

import axios from 'axios';

const url = 'https://api-colors.dataandapis.com/v1/colors/convert';
const { data } = await axios.get(url, {
  headers: { 'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY' }
});