unavatar.io:
 Generally available now

January 5, 2026 ()

Resolving user avatars across different social networks can be a surprisingly difficult task: from handling different API formats to bypassing bot protection on platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn, it’s a constant battle to keep things working.
That's why we built
unavatar
, and today we're excited to announce that it's now Generally Available.

Unified avatar resolution

unavatar
 is the simplest way to get a user avatar from across the web. Whether you have a username, an email address, or a domain name, unavatar resolves it and returns the avatar URL instantly.
The core value of unavatar is that it eliminates the need for developers to integrate with dozens of different APIs just to show a profile picture. It provides a single, reliable endpoint that works across the entire internet.

Scaling to the next level

The project started almost 8 years ago. Today, unavatar supports over 18 providers and resolves more than 200 million requests per month.
Throughout this journey, we've faced significant challenges in keeping the service both reliable and free. As platforms introduced increasingly aggressive bot protection and stricter rate limits, resolving avatars became a complex game of cat and mouse.
At the same time, the daily limits (originally designed to protect our infrastructure from automated abuse) became a significant bottleneck for users moving from side projects to production-grade applications.
We found that maintaining a high success rate across all providers required a level of infrastructure and complexity that the original free-tier architecture was never designed to handle.

What's unchanged

As a company, we are committed to always providing a free solution without expecting anything in return. This is deeply rooted in our Open Source core values: ensuring that our tools remain accessible to everyone.
This is why unavatar remains free to use for everyone. You get 50 avatar resolutions every day per IP address, which is plenty for side projects, small experiments, and local development.

What's new

We’re thrilled to announce a major milestone for the project: the official launch of the
PRO
 plan.
Designed to unlock the free plan limitations,
PRO
 allows you to scale just in time when your usage requires it:
  • No daily cap: Scale your application without interruptions.
  • Advanced resolution: Jump CAPTCHAs, handle bot protection, and bypass restrictive challenges on platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn.
  • Dynamic pricing: Automatically adjusts its strategy and cost based on each provider's complexity to ensure the highest success rate.
Also, we've shortened the cache duration: instead of 1 year (the fixed value prior to introducing the
PRO
 plan), we've lowered the new default to 7 days. Additionally, you can now control this value yourself and set anything between 1 hour and 28 days using the ttl parameter.

What's the pricing

The
PRO
 plan uses a simple pay-as-you-go model at $0.001 per avatar token.
unavatar uses different resolution strategies depending on what's required. An avatar resolution may cost:
  • 1 token: Resolved by unavatar servers.
  • 2 tokens: Resolved using a datacenter proxy.
  • 4 tokens: Resolved using a residential proxy.
Our goal is to stay out of your way: the service will proactively suggest an upgrade to
PRO
 only when it detects that a request failing under the free tier could be successfully resolved using our advanced strategies. This ensures you only pay for what you actually need, when you need it.

Real-world emulation

  • Simple avatar: Resolved normally (1 × $0.001 = $0.001 total).
  • Complex provider (e.g., Instagram, LinkedIn): Requires a residential proxy (1 × $0.001 + 2 × $0.001 + 4 × $0.001 = $0.007 total).
Key points:
  • You are only charged for the first successful resolution.
  • All subsequent requests served from cache are free.
  • We do not charge for failed resolutions.
  • Only a few providers require a residential proxy (e.g., Instagram and similar complex platforms).
You can verify this information using the response headers:
  • x-pricing-tier (free / pro): indicates which pricing tier was used.
  • x-proxy-tier (origin / datacenter / residential): indicates which resolution method was required.
  • x-unavatar-cost (n): number of tokens consumed for the avatar resolution.

What's next

We're continuing to build and ship new features to make unavatar even better:
  • Built-in analytics: Detailed usage metrics and insights.
  • Improved detection: Better domain and brand detection for automatic resolution.
  • New providers: Upcoming support for Vimeo, Bluesky, and WhatsApp.
You can upgrade to
PRO
 anytime at
unavatar.io/checkout
.
Thank you for being part of the journey from beta to GA!

Join the community

All of these improvements or features are community driven: We listen to your feedback and act accordingly.
Whether you are building a product, an indie developer, or just interested in web technologies, come chat with us.