libremdb

A free & open source IMDb front-end.

Inspired by projects like teddit, nitter and many others.

---

Some Features

• No ads or tracking
  Browse any movie info without being tracked or bombarded by annoying ads.
• Modern interface
  Modern interface with curated colors supporting both dark and light themes.
• Responsive design
  Be it your small mobile or big computer screen, it's fully responsive.
• Lightweight
  Up movie page
  (tested on Firefox v104; without scroll; simulated regular 4g)

  Network tab stats	libremdb	IMDb
  no. of requests	22	180
  data transfered(gzipped)	468KB	1.88MB
  load event fired in	6.22s	10.01s

---

Instances

Instance URL	Region	Notes
1. Clearnet
libremdb.iket.me	Canada	Operated by me
libremdb.pussthecat.org	Germany	Operated by PussTheCat.org
libremdbeu.herokuapp.com	Europe	Operated by toyboatcash
lmdb.tokhmi.xyz	U.S.	Operated by Tokhmi
libremdb.esmailelbob.xyz	Canada	Operated by Esmail EL BoB
ld.vern.cc	US	Operated by ~vern
binge.whatever.social	US & Germany	Operated by Whatever Social
libremdb.lunar.icu	Germany (Cloudflare)	Operated by lunar.icu
libremdb.jeikobu.net	Germany (Cloudflare)	Operated by shindouj
lmdb.hostux.net	France	Operated by Hostux.net
2. Onion
libremdb.esmail5pdn24shtvieloeedh7ehz3nrwcdivnfhfcedl7gf4kwddhkqd.onion	Canada	Operated by Esmail EL BoB
ld.vernccvbvyi5qhfzyqengccj7lkove6bjot2xhh5kajhwvidqafczrad.onion	US	Operated by ~vern
3. I2P
vernz3ubrntql4wrgyrssd6u3qzi36zrhz2agbo6vibzbs5olk2q.b32.i2p	US	Operated by ~vern

---

Questions you might have

• How do I use it?
  Replace imdb.com in any IMDb URL with any of the instances. For example: 'imdb.com/title/tt1049413' to 'libremdb.iket.me/title/tt1049413'.
  To avoid changing the URLs manually, you can use extensions.

• Why is it so slow?
  Whenever you request info about a movie/show on libremdb, 4 trips are made(2 between your browser and libremdb's server, and 2 between libremdb's server and IMDb's server) instead of the usual 2 trips when you visit a website. For this reason there's a noticable delay. This is a bit of inconvenience you'll have to face should you wish to use this website.

• It doesn't have all routes.
  I'll implement more with time :)

• Is content served from third-parties, like Amazon?
  Nope, libremdb proxies all image and video requests through the instance to avoid exposing your IP address, browser information and other personally identifiable metadata (Contributor).

• Why not just use IMDb?
  Refer to the features section above.

• Why didn't you use other databases like TMDB or OMDb?
  IMDb simply has superior dataset compared to all other alternatives. With that being said, I'd encourage you to check out those alternatives too.

---

Privacy

• Information collected:
  None.

• Information stored in your browser:
  A key named 'theme' is stored in Local Storage provided by your browser, if you ever override the default theme. To remove it, go to site data settings, and clear the data for this website. To permamently disable libremdb from storing your theme prefrences, either turn off JavaScript or disable access to Local Storage for libremdb.

• Information collected by other services:
  None. libremdb proxies images anonymously through the instance for maximum privacy (Contributor).

---

To-Do

• add advanced search route

• add did you know and reviews on movie info page

• add a way to see trailer and other videos

• implement movie specific routes like:

  • reviews(including critic reviews)
  • video & image gallery
  • sections under 'did you know'
  • release info
  • parental guide

• implement other routes like:

  • lists
  • moviemeter
  • person info(includes directors and actors)
  • company info
  • user info

• use redis, or any other caching strategy

• implement a better installation method

• serve images and videos from libremdb itself

---

Installation

As libremdb is made with Next.js, you can deploy it anywhere where Next.js is supported. Below are a few other methods:

Manual

1. Install Node.js and Git.
   for Node.js, visit their website.
   for Git, run sudo apt install git if you're on a Debian-based distro. Else visit their website.

2. Install redis(optional).
   You can install redis from here.

3. Clone and set up the repo.

   git clone https://github.com/zyachel/libremdb.git # replace github.com with codeberg.org if you wish so.
   cd libremdb
   # change the configuration file to your liking.
   cp .env.local.example .env.local
   # replace 'pnpm' with yarn or npm if you use those.
   pnpm install
   pnpm build
   pnpm start
   # optional: if you're using redis
   redis-server
   

libremdb will start running at http://localhost:3000.
To change port, modify the last command like this: pnpm start -- -p <port-number>.

Docker (Local)

You can build the docker image using the provided Dockerfile(thanks to @httpjamesm) and set it up using the example docker-compose file.

Change the docker-compose file to your liking and run docker-compose up -d to start the container, that's all!

Docker (Built)

There's a docker image made by @TheFrenchGhosty for PussTheCat.org's instance. You can use that as well.

Miscellaneous

Automatic redirection

• Redirector
  config:

  Description: redirect IMDb to libremdb
  Example URL: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258463/?ref_=tt_sims_tt_t_4
  Include pattern: https?:\/\/(www\.)?imdb\.com\/(.*)
  Redirect to: https://libremdb.iket.me/$2
  Pattern type: Regular Expression
  

• LibRedirect

• Privacy Redirector

Similar projects

• Teddit
  Teddit is an alternative Reddit front-end focused on privacy.
• Nitter
  Nitter is a free and open source alternative Twitter front-end focused on privacy.
• Bibliogram
  Bibliogram is an alternative front-end for Instagram.
• Invidious
  Invidious is an alternative front-end to YouTube.
• Libreddit
  Libreddit is an alternative private front-end to Reddit.
• Scribe
  Scribe is an alternative Medium frontend.
• full list →

---

Contact

I'm availabe on [matrix] and email in case you wish to contact me personally.

---

License

Licensed under GNU AGPLv3.
See License for full legalese.