Google retires Tenor API, forcing apps to find new GIFs

Google has retired the Tenor API, forcing apps that built GIF search into their messaging flows to find a new supplier or rebuild the feature themselves. The cutoff took effect on June 30, 2026, after Google had already stopped accepting new Tenor API key sign-ups and new integrations on January 13, 2026.

The shutdown reaches well beyond a niche developer tool. Third-party apps and websites that embedded Tenor GIF search have had to adapt, including X, Discord, Bluesky and WhatsApp. On X, users noticed GIFs disappearing from the picker’s frequently used section, and X head of product Nikita Bier said the company was forced to migrate.

Google framed the move as part of an ongoing effort to focus resources on its core products. That leaves Tenor in a split state: the website still remains available for manual GIF searches, but the public API that many apps depended on is gone, and any API requests made after the cutoff are rejected.

The contrast is sharp inside Google’s own ecosystem. Google Messages and Gboard still use Tenor GIFs, and Google Chat administrators can still turn the Tenor GIF integration on or off in Chat settings. Google acquired Tenor in 2018 and said at the time that Tenor would continue to operate as a separate brand while helping power GIF search in Google products such as Google Images and Gboard. The public API shutdown does not end that internal reliance.

For app makers, the change is a reminder that a feature that looks ornamental to users can be deeply embedded in product design and user habit. GIF search sits at the intersection of chat, identity and speed, and many platforms had outsourced that layer to one service owned by Google. With the API retired, the plumbing behind a familiar tap-to-send feature is changing across some of the internet’s most used apps.