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API

by Adam Crivello
An application programming interface (API) serves as a link between disparate software and allows for an exchange of information between them. Learn more about how APIs work, and why they are crucial for software development.

What is an API?

An API is a set of rules, protocols, and tools that allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. APIs define how different components of software systems can access and exchange data or functionality, enabling developers to integrate third-party services, access resources, or build new applications more efficiently. APIs play a crucial role in facilitating interoperability, automation, and innovation in modern software development and enabling the creation of interconnected ecosystems of applications and services.

Related Glossary Terms

Adam Crivello
AC

Adam Crivello

Adam is a research analyst focused on dev software. He started at G2 in July 2019 and leverages his background in comedy writing and coding to provide engaging, informative research content while building his software expertise. In his free time he enjoys cooking, playing video games, writing and performing comedy, and avoiding sports talk.

API Software

This list shows the top software that mention api most on G2.

Postman enables teams to efficiently collaborate at every stage of the API lifecycle while prioritizing quality, performance, and security.

Martini™ is a modern API centric platform for digital transformation.

Stoplight leverages your OpenAPI (Swagger) specifications to drive the entire API development process.

Anypoint Platform™ is a complete platform that lets companies realize business transformation through API-led connectivity. It is is a unified, flexible integration platform that solves the most challenging connectivity problems across SOA, SaaS and APIs.

SwaggerHub is an API design and documentation platform built for teams to drive consistency and discipline across their API development workflow.

IBM® API Connect™ is for organizations looking to streamline and accelerate their journey into the API economy. It’s a comprehensive management solution that addresses all four aspects of the API lifecycle: create, run, manage and secure. API Connect is far more cost-effective than limited point solutions that focus on just a few lifecycle phases. It enables external and internal consumers to accelerate an organization’s API program and capture new revenue through compelling new customer experiences.

Global SMS & Voice calls for businesses of all sizes

WSO2 API Manager is a complete solution for designing, developing, publishing, and managing the entire lifecycle of APIs and API products. It allows developers to create APIs by integrating other APIs and services and provides Full Lifecycle API Management features such as API Governance, Security, Analytics, Developer Portals, etc. WSO2 API Manager supports a wide variety of API types such as REST, SOAP, GraphQL, as well as Event Driven APIs such as WebSockets and WebHooks. It can be run on both Cloud Native and legacy infrastructures, used on-premises, in the cloud and in hybrid fashion as well. WSO2 API Manager is open source. Designed for easy customization and it is extensively pluggable to integrate with existing infrastructure in your enterprise. With WSO2 API Manager you can: Develop APIs by integrating other APIs and connector, Design and Prototype APIs, Publish and Govern API Use, Secure APIs with a wide range of security mechanisms to prevent intentional and unintentional misuse, Make APIs discoverable easily, Manage API Traffic, Monitor API Usage and Performance, Have complete insight about the APIs and Seamlessly integrate microservices for a low-code integration approach.

Kong API Gateway can run anywhere, in the cloud or on-premise - in a single, hybrid or multi-datacenter setup.

Slack brings all your communication together in one place. It’s real-time messaging, archiving and search for modern teams.

Google Maps API is a mapping platform that includes driving directions, Street View imagery and others.

Twilio SendGrid Email API- Integrate in minutes with our email API.

Netcore Email API provides a cloud based transactional email delivery infrastructure which is reliable, scalable, secure and easy-to-use, but at a very disruptive pricing model. We help startups and brands to engage with their customers at the right moment with the right content over emails. Reliable APIs. Choose between SMTP or HTTP.

ActiveCampaign offers effortless email and marketing automation. Grow your business with AI-powered automations that suggest, personalize, and validate your marketing campaigns. With hundreds of automation triggers and actions, conditional routing, and an AI-powered drag-and-drop builder, you can create deeper automations than the competition, faster.

UiPath enables business users with no coding skills to design and run robotic process automation

Amazon API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale.

Run code without thinking about servers. Pay for only the compute time you consume.

Provide customer support by email, social media, voice, and mobile phone with complete data reporting, TRUSTe certification, and 90+ integrations.

Twilio lets you use standard web languages to build voice, VoIP and SMS applications via a web API. Build the next generation of communications with us.

Vonage Communications APIs enable you to transform your customer experiences with programmable video, voice, messaging, and more.