Color Brightness Calculator is a tool for calculating color brightness and luminance. It determines if a color is light or dark using WCAG 2.0 standards and provides contrast ratios for accessibility compliance.
Try it — live request, no key required
No key required to try it. Get a key to use it in your app.
{
"status": "ok",
"error": null,
"data": {
// Color Brightness Calculator response payload
}
}
About the Color Brightness Calculator API
Color Brightness Calculator works by applying WCAG 2.0 relative luminance formulas to RGB color values, calculating contrast ratios with black and white, and determining optimal text colors for accessibility.
What people use it for
- Web Accessibility
- Ensure WCAG compliance by calculating contrast ratios for text and background colors
- UI Design
- Determine appropriate text colors for backgrounds based on brightness calculations
- Theme Development
- Automatically select light or dark text based on background color brightness
- Color Analysis
- Analyze color brightness and categorize colors for design systems and palettes
Ways to call it
One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.
- JSON
- Default REST response
- XML
- Markup format
- YAML
- Human-readable
- CSV
- Tabular export
- GraphQL
- Query language
- MCP
- For AI agents
Other ways to use Color Brightness Calculator
Same data, same APIVerve account, same credit balance — one key works on all of them.
What does the Color Brightness Calculator API do?
How do I authenticate Color Brightness Calculator API requests?
How much does the Color Brightness Calculator API cost?
How fast is the Color Brightness Calculator API?
What response formats does the Color Brightness Calculator API support?
What HTTP method does the Color Brightness Calculator API use?
Request parameters — GET /v1/colorbrightness
Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them. Anything not listed here is dropped rather than passed through.
Required
| Parameter | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
hexRequired | string | FF5733 | Hex color value (with or without # prefix) hexColor |
curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness?hex=FF5733" \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"Authentication
Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — no token exchange, and no per-endpoint scope to configure.
| Header | When | Value |
|---|---|---|
x-api-keyRequired | Every request | Your API key. Header names are case-insensitive, so X-API-Key is the same header. |
AuthorizationAlternate | Instead of the above | Bearer <key> — for clients that only expose bearer auth. Resolves to the same account and the same billing. |
A 401 means the key is missing, invalid or expired. A 403 means the key is valid but not permitted here — blocked by a key restriction or an IP allow-list. Running out of credits is a 429.
Response — GET /v1/colorbrightness
Every APIVerve endpoint returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape.
{
"status": "ok",
"error": null,
"data": {
"hex": "#FF5733",
"rgb": {
"r": 255,
"g": 87,
"b": 51
},
"luminance": 0.2832,
"perceived_brightness": 131,
"yiq": 133.13,
"is_light": false,
"is_dark": true,
"brightness_category": "dark",
"recommended_text_color": "#FFFFFF",
"contrast_ratio_with_white": 3.15,
"contrast_ratio_with_black": 6.66,
"wcag_aa_compliant_with_white": false,
"wcag_aa_compliant_with_black": true,
"wcag_aaa_compliant_with_white": false,
"wcag_aaa_compliant_with_black": false
}
}
Response fields
Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.
| Field | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
hex | string | "#FF5733" | Hexadecimal color value provided in the request |
rgb | object | {...} | RGB color components: red, green, blue values |
r | number | 255 | Red component value between 0 and 255 |
g | number | 87 | Green component value between 0 and 255 |
b | number | 51 | Blue component value between 0 and 255 |
luminancePremium | number | 0.2832 | Relative luminance calculated using WCAG 2.0 formula |
perceived_brightnessPremium | number | 131 | Perceived brightness score from 0 to 255 |
yiqPremium | number | 133.13 | YIQ color space brightness value for brightness analysis |
is_light | boolean | false | Boolean indicating if color is considered light |
is_dark | boolean | true | Boolean indicating if color is considered dark |
brightness_category | string | "dark" | Brightness classification: light, medium, or dark category |
recommended_text_colorPremium | string | "#FFFFFF" | Recommended text color for optimal contrast and readability |
contrast_ratio_with_whitePremium | number | 3.15 | WCAG contrast ratio calculation between color and white |
contrast_ratio_with_blackPremium | number | 6.66 | WCAG contrast ratio calculation between color and black |
wcag_aa_compliant_with_whitePremium | boolean | false | Whether color meets WCAG AA contrast requirements with white |
wcag_aa_compliant_with_blackPremium | boolean | true | Whether color meets WCAG AA contrast requirements with black |
wcag_aaa_compliant_with_whitePremium | boolean | false | Whether color meets WCAG AAA contrast requirements with white |
wcag_aaa_compliant_with_blackPremium | boolean | false | Whether color meets WCAG AAA contrast requirements with black |
Response headers
Every response carries your balance, so your own code always knows where it stands without polling anything. All four are exposed to browsers through CORS.
| Header | What it carries |
|---|---|
x-api-remaining-credits | Credits left in the current cycle |
x-api-credits-used | Credits spent in the current cycle |
x-api-max-credits | The allowance for the cycle |
x-api-version | Version of the endpoint that answered |
Errors
Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change.
| Status | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
400 | Input was rejected | Read error; it names the parameter that has to change. |
401 | Key missing or invalid | Check the header name and the key value. |
403 | Key valid, but not permitted here | A key restriction or an IP allow-list — never a bad key. |
429 | Rate limited, or out of credits | Read error to tell them apart, then back off or top up. |
What a call costs — 2 credits per call
Credits are shared across every APIVerve API — one balance, one key, one bill. Failed requests never count against it, so a rejected input costs nothing.
| Plan | Per month | Credits | Color Brightness Calculator calls | Per 1,000 calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 200 | 100 | Free |
| Starter | $29.99 | 200,000 | 100,000 | $0.30 |
| Pro | $99.99 | 1,000,000 | 500,000 | $0.20 |
| Mega | $299.99 | 4,000,000 | 2,000,000 | $0.15 |
Calls are what the credits buy at this API's rate — spend them here, on any of the other APIs, or across both. Nothing is reserved per endpoint.
Call it from cURL — GET /v1/colorbrightness
No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/colorbrightness with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.
curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness" \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"Resources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Call it from Node.js — GET /v1/colorbrightness
Install the Node.js SDK, then call the Color Brightness Calculator API with your key. The client wraps the same HTTPS request, so anything it returns is what the endpoint returns.
npm install @apiverve/colorbrightnessconst res = await fetch("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness", {
headers: { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" },
});
const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data);Resources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Call it from Python — GET /v1/colorbrightness
No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/colorbrightness with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.
import requests
res = requests.get(
"https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness",
headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
print(res.json()["data"])Resources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Call it from C# / .NET — GET /v1/colorbrightness
Install the C# / .NET SDK, then call the Color Brightness Calculator API with your key. The client wraps the same HTTPS request, so anything it returns is what the endpoint returns.
dotnet add package APIVerve.API.ColorBrightnessCalculatorusing var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY");
var json = await client.GetStringAsync("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness");
Console.WriteLine(json);Resources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Call it from Go — GET /v1/colorbrightness
No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/colorbrightness with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.
req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness", nil)
req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
defer res.Body.Close()
body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
fmt.Println(string(body))Resources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Call it from PHP — GET /v1/colorbrightness
No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/colorbrightness with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.
$ch = curl_init("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, ["x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"]);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
echo $response;Resources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Call it from Ruby — GET /v1/colorbrightness
No SDK to install — this is a plain HTTPS call to /v1/colorbrightness with your key in the x-api-key header. Swap in a real key and it runs as-is.
require "net/http"
uri = URI("https://api.apiverve.com/v1/colorbrightness")
req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["x-api-key"] = "YOUR_API_KEY"
res = Net::HTTP.start(uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true) { |h| h.request(req) }
puts res.bodyResources
Also published for
Only the languages APIVerve ships a client for are listed — the rest call the endpoint directly over HTTPS.
Zero-code embed — one snippet, no backend
Drop an interactive Color Brightness Calculator form onto any page. The widget calls the API for you, so no key ever appears in your markup and there is nothing to deploy.
Changelog — Color Brightness Calculator API
Every change to this endpoint, newest first. Breaking changes ship as a new version and the previous one keeps serving — response fields are added, never removed or retyped in place, so an integration written against v1 keeps working.
Entries are picked up from dated catalog snapshots, so the first one appears after the next snapshot that moves something. A period where nothing changed produces no entry — silence is a valid changelog for the Color Brightness Calculator API.
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