Explore the top API Marketplaces. Quickly compare the features that are beneficial for API providers as well as buyers:
API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is an intermediary to communicate between application software. There is a high demand for APIs in the software industry. As a result, the popularity of API marketplaces is also growing.
API Marketplace is a platform that allows API providers to publish APIs for buyers. Buyers can easily visit the marketplace and purchase the best APIs for their business.
There are several benefits of API marketplaces, some of which are shown in the list. They are beneficial for API providers as well as buyers.
What You Will Learn:
Best Free APIs to Use
Benefits for API providers:
- API providers can publish their API list for sale.
- Get the opportunity to learn how to publish their APIs.
- Good to get an idea of current market trends.
- Wider exposure of their APIs to the audience.
- Receive feedback from buyers about their APIs.
- Opportunity to improve their service based on buyers’ reviews.
Benefits for buyers:
- Ability to browse through many APIs in one place.
- Easy to sort APIs based on category, price, ranking, etc.
- Have an idea about the quality of APIs from reviews published by previous buyers.
- Easy to find the best APIs/best free APIs for your business.
- Receive guidance on how to use the APIs effectively.
- Opportunity to communicate with the API provider before buying APIs.
You need to consider factors like features, pricing, availability of free trials, after-services, community support, etc. when choosing an API marketplace.
Suggested Reading =>> Open source API Management Tools
FAQ’s on Free APIs Marketplace
In this section, we will look at some of the frequently asked questions about API marketplaces.
Q #1) How do I sell APIs online?
Answer: You can sell APIs online through an API marketplace. Some popular API marketplaces are APILayer, Celigo, Integrately, RapidAPI, etc.
Q #2) What are API marketplaces?
Answer: API marketplaces are platforms that allow API providers to publish their APIs. API marketplace is for public APIs and internal APIs.
Q #3) Why is API marketplace important?
Answer: An API marketplace is important as it allows API providers to publish their APIs and customers to purchase them. It is a more convenient place for both API providers and customers.
Q #4) Do you have to pay to use an API?
Answer: Some open APIs are free APIs to use while other APIs require a subscription to use. Most API marketplaces also offer free trials.
Further Reading =>> Best free online API Testing Tools
Q #5) Can you create your own API?
Answer: Yes, you can create your own RESTful APIs. You can either publish them as free rest APIs or sell them.
List of the Top API Marketplaces
Here is a list of the best open source API marketplaces:
- APILayer (Recommended)
- Celigo
- Integrately
- RapidAPI
- Gravitee.io
- Abstract APIs
- Zapier
- Facebook Marketplace API
Comparison of Application Programming Interface Marketplaces
Given below is a comparison of some API Hub:
| API Marketplace | Description | Availability of Free Trial | Pricing Plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| APILayer | A leading API marketplace for cloud-based API products | Get free trial details | A free plan is available for all APIs. Get a quote. |
| Celigo | A complete integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) | A 30-day free trial | Get a quote |
| Integrately | An award-winning 1 click integration platform | A free 14-day trial | • Starter plan: $19.99/month • Professional plan: $39/month • Growth plan: $99/month • Business plan: $239/month |
| RapidAPI | One of the largest API marketplaces with millions of worldwide users | Get free trial details | Get a quote |
| Zapier | An integration platform with more than 3,000 integration partners | A free 14-day trial of the professional plan | Free plan • Starter plan: $19.99/month • Professional plan: $49 per month • Team plan: $299 per month • Company plan: $599 per month |
Detailed Reviews:
#1) APILayer (Recommended)
Best for cloud-based API products.
APILayer is one of the leading API marketplaces that provides cloud-based API products. It is an open API marketplace.
It offers more than 75 APIs, which belong to various categories like AI & machine learning APIs, computer vision APIs, finance APIs, food APIs, geo APIs, SEO APIs, and many more. These APIs are created by the APILayer team, independent developers, and corporates.
APILayer is one of the best API marketplaces to publish and sell your APIs in 2022. Millions of developers trust it all over the world. It has a wide-ranging customer base from individual developers to large organizations.
Features for API providers:
- Broder audience for your APIs.
- Most of the services such as customer acquisition and payments are handled by APILayer.
- Strict SLA requirements.
- APILayer charges 15% only instead of the standard 20%.
- The subscription fee is decided by the API provider.
- API will be hosted by the provider or APILayer.
- APILayer acts as a proxy for your API.
Features for buyers:
- A comprehensive list of APIs.
- Easy to configure.
- Highly reliable APIs.
- Less maintenance is required.
- Good for both small-scale and large-scale businesses.
- No credit card is required for the free plan.
Verdict: The leading API marketplace for cloud-based API products. It offers free plans for all APIs. It charges less, which is 15% instead of the standard 20%.
Pricing: A free plan is available for all APIs. Contact APILayer for pricing details.
#2) Celigo
Best for iPaaS integrations.
Celigo is a complete integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS). It is one of the best API marketplaces to publish and sell your APIs. Celigo uses best practices and offers several features. It also provides real-time integrations.
They provide a large set of apps that belong to categories like supply chain & logistics, collaboration, project management, ERP, CRM, human resources, and many more.
Furthermore, it is trusted by the world’s most transformative enterprises like PayPal. It was awarded as one of the best software in 2021 by G2.
Features:
- Fast and easy to integrate
- API management
- Very high uptime
- High security
- Cost-saving
- Compliance with global data privacy laws
- The official website provides learning resources
Verdict: An award-winning complete integration platform. It offers a free trial for its customers. It provides more than 200 common business tools.
Pricing: A 30-day free trial is available. Contact Celigo for pricing details.
Website: Celigo
#3) Integrately
Best for 1 click integrations.
Integrately is a 1 click integration platform. According to the Integrately website, there are over 8 million ready automation for more than 850 apps. They also provide ready automation for new apps.
We can easily trust this marketplace as it has won Productivity Tool of the Year in the Golden Kitty Awards 2021. Integrately is also among the highest-rated integration platforms on G2 as thousands of customers trust it.
Features:
- Large audience
- Easy to integrate
- Easy to use
- Several pre-made automation
- High security
- Flexible pricing
- Early bird offers
Verdict: An award-winning 1 click integration platform. It offers a free trial and simple pricing plans for its customers. It is less expensive compared to Zapier.
Pricing: There are 4 pricing plans as listed below. Also, a 14-day free trial is available.
- Starter plan: USD 19.99 per month
- Professional plan: USD 39 per month
- Growth plan: USD 99 per month
- Business plan: USD 239 per month
Website: Integrately
#4) RapidAPI
Best for API providers to list, manage, and monetize their APIs.
Our next suggestion is RapidAPI. It is one of the largest API marketplaces. According to the RapidAPI website, there are billions of monthly API calls. The monetization fee is 20% on every transaction. RapidAPI is considered one of the best API marketplaces for API providers.
Features for API providers:
- Easy to list, manage, and monetize your APIs.
- Large audience.
- Supports various API types.
- Collaboration with teams on building APIs.
Features for API providers:
- Easy to integrate.
- Performance tracking.
- High security for APIs.
- Easy to manage API integrations.
Verdict: One of the largest API marketplaces with millions of worldwide users. You can easily list, manage, and monetize your APIs.
Pricing: Contact RapidAPI for pricing details.
Website: RapidAPI
#5) Gravitee.io
Best for open source APIs.
Gravitee.io is one of the most complete platforms for open source APIs. It has a collection of APIs with optimal performance. It is trusted by thousands of customers. This platform has no unwanted complexity.
Gravitee.io provides API design, API management, API access management, API deployment, and API observability. It comes with several useful features.
Features:
- Flexible and easy to manage
- Performance tracking
- High data security
- Several resources
- Easy collaboration
Verdict: This is one of the most complete platforms for open source APIs. It offers several API services.
Pricing: Contact Gravitee.io for pricing details.
Website: Gravitee.io
#6) Abstract APIs
Best for automating routine development.
Abstract APIs is another API marketplace to publish and sell your APIs. It consists of a large number of APIs, which include IP geolocation APIs, stock market APIs, cryptocurrency APIs, email verification APIs, and many more.
Big organizations like Google, Payoneer, Nokia, and Shopify run on Abstract. Also, this marketplace is used by thousands of customers all over the world.
Features:
- A comprehensive list of APIs.
- Easily accessible APIs.
- APIs are easy to maintain.
- Highly available and scalable.
- Useful communities.
- The official website provides brief documentation to learn about APIs and related services.
Verdict: An API marketplace with thousands of customers all over the world. It is trusted by many big companies.
Pricing: Contact Abstract APIs for pricing details
Website: Abstract APIs
#7) Zapier
Best for automating your work faster.
Zapier is an integration platform to automate your work. According to the Zapier website, it has over 3 million business users and over 3,000 integration partners. With Zapier, you can freely create a private connection to a web app with an API.
They have a large set of apps that belong to categories like app families, business intelligence, commerce, communication, human resources, internet of things, IT operations, lifestyle & entertainment, marketing, productivity, sales & CRM, etc. It also adds new apps based on requests from customers.
Features:
- A comprehensive list of supported apps.
- Easy to integrate.
- Assistance for non-developers.
- No-code Zap editor.
- Offers advanced administrative features.
- Customization options.
- High security and reliability.
- Flexible pricing.
- Free trial for premium features.
Verdict: An integration platform with over 3,000 integration partners. It offers a free trial and simple pricing plans for its customers. It also offers a free plan.
Pricing: There are 5 pricing plans as listed below. A free 14-day trial of the professional plan is also available.
- Free plan: No fee
- Starter plan: USD 19.99 per month
- Professional plan: USD 49 per month
- Team plan: USD 299 per month
- Company plan: USD 599 per month
Website: Zapier
#8) Facebook Marketplace API
Best for selling APIs in their community.
Our last suggestion is the Facebook marketplace API. Facebook marketplace is an easy way to sell APIs in their community. It has a growing audience and also allows easy communication with buyers.
The Facebook Marketplace website provides detailed information about Facebook Marketplace for Vehicles and Facebook Marketplace for Real Estate.
Features:
- Easy to find products.
- Ability to capture leads.
- Easy communication between sellers and potential buyers.
- Documentation support.
Verdict: An easy way to sell APIs in their community. It is one of the growing API marketplaces.
Pricing: Contact Facebook marketplace API for pricing details.
Website: Facebook Marketplace API
Conclusion
In simple terms, the API marketplace is an API hub. It is beneficial for both API providers and customers.
Some of the best API marketplaces to publish and sell your APIs in 2022 are APILayer, Celigo, Integrately, RapidAPI, Gravitee.io, Abstract APIs, Zapier, and Facebook Marketplace API.
Research Process:
- Time Taken to Research this Article: We spent 26 hours researching and writing this article. You can get a useful summarized list of the best API marketplaces with a comparison of each for your quick review.
- Total Marketplaces Researched Online: 21
- Top Marketplaces Shortlisted for Review: 15