API is the acronym Application Programming Interface. It is an intermediary or a connection between software products, services etc. to enable them to freely communicate with each other and leverage mutual data and functionality using a documented interface.
APIs, enable companies to open-up their applications to external 3rd party developers, business partners and more and their use has increased by leaps and bounds over the past decade. Numerous web applications that we routinely use today would have been impossible without the presence of APIs.
Few of the most popular APIs are Google maps API that helps plot travel routes and track items that are on the move using the Google Maps Service, Universal Login APIs that help users to login to websites using their Google and Facebook accounts, Third Party Payment Processing APIs that allow you to make online payments for products and more.
Developers keep searching for various types of APIs as they help them to omit some steps when coding software applications thereby speeding up the entire process. You can perform a Google Search for any API that you require, but this will generally be more tedious and time-consuming.
Various websites have aggregated huge collection of APIs grouped into numerous categories. This makes the search for APIs very simple and fast. All you need to do is seek the perfect API, code its integration with the concerned software programs and you are good to go.
In this article we will be listing and talking about 3 Free API Search Engines that help you to discover APIs for everything that you can think of.
1. RapidAPI
RapidAPI hub hosts one of the world’s largest collection of APIs enabling millions of developers to search, test and link to numerous APIs across multiple cloud environments using a single account and API key. It supports many types of APIs such as SOAP, REST, GraphQL etc.
The APIs are neatly arranged on the left panel in various categories like Data, Location, SMS, Payment and many more. On the right, RapidAPI provides a different sort of classification by way of Recommended APIs, Popular APIs, Free Public APIs etc. You can also search for any APIs using the Search Bar at the top of the page.
Clicking on any API takes you to its page where you can learn more about it, watch tutorials, view, and test its endpoints (login required), copy the API code and more. This page also provides you with handy information about the popularity of the API, its latency etc.
Overall, RapidAPI hub is one of the best API Search Engines that are present on the internet, The fact that it also allows you to test the APIs and manage them from one dashboard makes it an extremely powerful tool for software developers.
Click here to navigate to RapidAPI hub and start searching for your required APIs.
2. APILayer
This website provides an API Marketplace that can help boost the capabilities of your applications without getting worried about the stability and scalability. All the APIs have a Free Plan with no requirement of any Credit Card. Although, the number of APIs that the Market Place provides is far less than RapidAPI hub, it still has a good and diverse collection of helpful APIs for use.
Like the previous website, APILayer too neatly categorizes the APIs in different ways so that they are easily accessible. You can browse through the Best Sellers or Featured APIs, Latest APIs, Hot APIs and more. The APIs are also classified based on their functionality like Finance, Messaging, Security, Social Media APIs and many more. You can use the Search bar to search for any API if you want to locate them easily.
Clicking on any API will navigate you to its page where you can go through its documentation and code. You need to register for a free account to get your API key and test its working. Clicking on some private APIs takes you to their external pages where you can learn more about them, their functionality and pricing.
All in all, APILayer Marketplace is a good website for searching and testing APIs. The supporting documentation and examples are very helpful in learning more about the usage and functionality of each API.
To browse through the APILayers marketplace and find the right API for your needs, click here.
3. APITracker
APITracker is a cloud-based listing platform for APIs and SDKs. It offers a powerful search engine that helps users to easily find and test the listed APIs that are available in the cloud.
APITracker helps developers build highly secure and consistent reliable API integrations with full visibility into all aspects of their integration without going through extensive logs.
Trending and Top-rated APIs are clearly listed on the main page itself along with valuable resources and tutorials to learn more about them. You can click on ‘Categories’ on the top menu bar to browse through the huge collection based on their functionality such as Database API, Accounting APIs Document APIs, Business Tools APIs and many more.
As in the previous examples, clicking on any API will take you to its page where you can get an overview of its functionality, view all the related documentation, code, and also learn about application integration.
Overall, APITracker is an excellent platform for searching and discovering APIs and identifying the right one for you. APITracker too provides a huge collection of Public and Private APIs that may be lesser as compared to RapidAPI Hub but more than sufficient for all your development needs.
Click here to visit APITracker and go through its massive collection.
Take time to browse through each of the above platforms in detail and compare the listed APIs, help documents, tutorials, API dashboards and other features to make a proper choice. RapidAPI Hub is the clear leader for the sheer numbers of the APIs that it provides along with powerful dashboards to manage the APIs and integrations.
