Are you working on a new project, learning a new piece of technology, or
done developing a building new software and you wonder how you are going to implement it? This is where API comes into play.
What Is An API?
We interact daily with a piece of technology in either written, spoken, gestures
API stands for Application Programming Interface. In the context of APIs, the word Application refers to any software with a distinct function. An interface can be thought of as a contract of service between two applications. This contract defines how the two communicate with each other using requests and responses.
Below is a list of cool, free and easy-to-use APIs that every developer will like to use.
1. PokéAPI
PokéAPI V1 was created by Paul Hallett as a weekend project but it quickly became more than a weekend’s worth of work. PokéAPI aims to provide a single source that has a lot of pokemon information (moves, types, abilities)!
– Needs API key: No
2. Rick and Morty API
The Rick and Morty API is a RESTful and GraphQL API based on the television show Rick and Morty. You will access data about hundreds of characters, images, locations and episodes. The Rick and Morty API is filled with canonical information as seen on the TV show. This API lets you query by episode, characters, and locations.. well the difficult part will be to pick what to query
– Needs API key: No
3. GIPHY API
GIPHY SDK and APIs help you integrate the world’s largest GIF and video library, customize a suite of powerful features, and boost engagement with just a few lines of code.
What are you waiting to bring more fun to your project?
– Needs API key: Yes
4. SWAPI
The Star Wars API, or “swapi” (Swah-pee) is the world’s first quantified and programmatically-accessible data source for all the data from the Star Wars canon universe – planets, spaceships, vehicles, films and species.
– Needs API key: No
5. {JSON} Placeholder API
JSONPlaceholder is a free online REST API that you can use whenever you need some fake data. It can be in a README on GitHub, for a demo on CodeSandbox, in code examples on Stack Overflow, …or simply to test things locally.
When you need a fake API for testing and prototyping, JSON Placeholder got you covered! Also, they have a pretty good guide with examples.
– Needs API key: No
6. Open Weather API
With this API, you are not allowed to not know what weather will it be tomorrow! Open Weather API collects and processes weather data from different sources such as global and local weather models, satellites, radars, and a vast network of weather stations ⛈️
– Needs API key: No
7. NASA API
Since we are talking about stars, let’s keep the theme and check the NASA API! It provides authentic data from NASA including image data gathered by NASA’s Curiosity, Opportunity, and Spirit rovers on Mars! How cool is this?
– Needs API key: Yes
8. Unsplash API
Unsplash API is here for you when you need to build a gallery or a landing page and we didn’t know where to get awesome and quality images, Unsplash is there to help you with lots of photos that meet your very needs.
– Needs API key: Yes
9. Dev.to API
Yes, Dev.to has an API! This is pretty cool if you are building a personal website and want to display your super interesting blog posts! Choose “articles” and you can request all articles or only yours on dev.to
– Needs API key: No
10. Breaking Bad API
The Breaking Bad API is a collection of information on the Vince Gilligan series Breaking Bad, as well as his incredible spin-off Better Call Saul. This site is designed to make it easy for the developer to see what HTTP requests are possible, and what information is available
Are you a Breaking Bad fan and one of those who know all the quotes? Then you must check this API. It lets you get quotes, characters, episodes, and deaths.
– Needs API key: No
11. Random Data API
Do you want to be creative and use something different on your project? Maybe a game where you get a random beer or computer? Random Data API provides you with that and also mimics the hash returned by omniauth resources like github!
– Needs API key: No
12. Rest Countries API
Rest Countries lets you get information about countries via a RESTful API and when I mean the information is like everything. You can also check the code on GitLab and sponsor the owner
– Needs API key: No
