[HN Gopher] A Collection of Free Public APIs That Is Tested Daily
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       A Collection of Free Public APIs That Is Tested Daily
        
       Author : abhas9
       Score  : 183 points
       Date   : 2024-08-27 18:38 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.freepublicapis.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.freepublicapis.com)
        
       | atoav wrote:
       | Very cool site and a good reminder that we need more
       | common/shared infrastructure like that.
       | 
       | One nitpick: why can I not open like KS to API sub-pages in a new
       | tab? Are Hyperlinks unfashionable now?
        
       | rozenmd wrote:
       | (This doesn't apply to every API in the list, but) having made
       | the mistake of using a public API (that later went offline) for
       | examples in a book of mine, never again.
       | 
       | These days I keep an API deployed on a subdomain I control.
        
         | Lerc wrote:
         | The possibility of an internet resource disappearing exists
         | regardless of the resource type. Running an API Forwarder that
         | could act as a common target for all your APIs might work. Give
         | it the request, and it passes it on, records success,
         | optionally sends a notification if an endpoint that previously
         | succeeded is now failing.
         | 
         | Add a fancy feature of redirection with format changing to
         | handle replacing dead APIs with new ones transparently.
         | 
         | If anybody makes one of these, they should totally make it a
         | free public API. I'd use it, and I'm not certain if that would
         | just be ironically.
        
       | dmje wrote:
       | This is great - bookmarked!
        
       | hsdropout wrote:
       | I'm glad to see https://isevenapi.xyz/ made the list.
        
         | giarc wrote:
         | I Seven API vs is Even API. Can't say I saw it the right way at
         | first.
        
         | Lerc wrote:
         | I feel like one of the categories they are missing is 'APIs
         | that can be done in one line of JavaScript"
         | 
         | I'm not saying these shouldn't exist, I think they're pretty
         | funny, but everything in its place.
        
           | dhosek wrote:
           | These come in handy in an instructional context--being able
           | to have a simple predictable API that you can point students
           | at so they can learn how to call an API and process its data.
        
         | bitwrangler wrote:
         | I love their pricing options include larger ranges of numbers,
         | and enterprise class also includes negative numbers. ha ha.
         | 
         | Best part is that 'sign up' links to
         | https://archive.org/donate/
        
           | darknavi wrote:
           | I think their ad placement is even better than their pricing.
           | 
           | API Result:
           | 
           | GET https://api.isevenapi.xyz/api/iseven/6/
           | 
           | {"ad":"Buy isEvenCoin, the hottest new
           | cryptocurrency!","iseven":true}
        
             | lelandfe wrote:
             | {"ad":"Looking for someone to do yard work. Must have a
             | hoolahoop. 760-555-7562","iseven":true}         {"ad":"FOR
             | SALE - collection of old people call
             | 253-555-7212","iseven":true}         {"ad":"Auto Repair
             | Service: Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you'll
             | never go anywhere again. Email
             | dave57@qotmail.com","iseven":true}              $ curl
             | https://api.isevenapi.xyz/api/iseven/9999999
             | {"error":"Number out of range. Upgrade to isEven API
             | Premium or Enterprise."}              $ curl
             | https://api.isevenapi.xyz/api/iseven/2e21
             | {"error":"what is this I don't even"}
        
         | KMnO4 wrote:
         | What I really want is isoddapi.xyz.
         | 
         | Just like the npm package, all it should do is call
         | isevenapi.xyz and invert the result.
        
           | yakshaving_jgt wrote:
           | I hope someone sets up isthirteenapi.xyz.
        
         | hebocon wrote:
         | It was the first one I searched for. What a silly tool: Parity
         | as a Service.
        
       | RicoElectrico wrote:
       | Paraphrasing a known saying, "there's no API, it's just someone
       | else's computer".
       | 
       | I wish programmers would internalize this. They often seem to
       | take APIs uncritically, not questioning whose resources they're
       | using and where does the data come from as well as its quality
       | beyond obvious cases. APIs are leaky abstractions as all
       | abstractions are.
        
         | croes wrote:
         | API doesn't mean someone's else's computer.
        
         | qup wrote:
         | APIs can be hosted locally. In fact, I think most of them are.
        
       | blumomo wrote:
       | > Free IP Geolocation API - lookup any IP address. Provides
       | geolocation data based on the input IPv4/IPv6 address or domain
       | name
       | 
       | Where does one get a geo location for an IP address from?
        
         | louky wrote:
         | In this particular case they seem to pull from
         | https://www.maxmind.com/en/home
         | 
         | There's a bunch of IP/GPS and physical address lookup sites,
         | services, and databases out there.
        
           | quectophoton wrote:
           | IPFire Location is nice too:
           | https://www.ipfire.org/location/how-to-use
        
       | wg0 wrote:
       | Whatever happened to programmable web?
        
         | focusedone wrote:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProgrammableWeb - "was an..."
         | 
         | Bummer.
        
       | samstave wrote:
       | https://rapidapi.com/hub
        
       | dudus wrote:
       | The key here is tested daily. The last time I wanted some sample
       | data api it took me way too long to find one because all the ones
       | that were recommended to me were deprecated. It's really tough to
       | keep a free api up, because there's no incentives. You can't sell
       | ads on it.
        
         | arjvik wrote:
         | > You can't sell ads on it.
         | 
         | Maybe you could! Perhaps a sample data API that creates users
         | like "John Chocolate Oreos," address "100 Pack Street", age
         | 19.99, email "visit<at>oreo.com"
        
       | datavirtue wrote:
       | Me likes, however the first API I looked for was not found. USPS
       | address verification
        
       | debo_ wrote:
       | I'm relieved to know the Rick and Morty API is in such good
       | health.
        
         | jonathrg wrote:
         | I don't really understand why one would build an HTTP API for
         | this. I can't imagine the database being more than a few
         | megabytes, the whole thing could probably be served as a JSON
         | file.
        
       | Lerc wrote:
       | I like this, not only does it let people find the APIs but having
       | a collection like this encourages others to make APIs and to keep
       | them running.
       | 
       | There's not a lot of incentive to create a service if you feel
       | like no-one will ever know about it. I have had a few thoughts
       | for services that I might have developed if I thought anyone
       | would ever see it.
       | 
       | There's probably an argument for sponsorship here as well, not as
       | a vehicle for advertising, but just companies paying for (or
       | supplying resources) to cover the ongoing costs of the service as
       | a public good. I wish I could make something that worked and
       | could put it somewhere and commit zero mindspace to billing,
       | server maintenance etc. and just have it keep running, forever.
        
       | flavaz wrote:
       | An API for polling data would be cool, one can dream
        
       | webwanderings wrote:
       | Regarding APIs, what is a recommend good and free tool, other
       | than Postman, that allows for importing and exporting of saved
       | collections?
        
         | wonderwonder wrote:
         | I've always liked Insomnia
        
       | ifeja wrote:
       | less is more get rid of the joke ones
        
       | nikisweeting wrote:
       | I did a similar deep dive to find all the specifically Music-
       | related APIs that are available a few years ago. I've since moved
       | on to other projects but maybe someone will find it useful /
       | maybe OP can add the entries in my list to FreePublicAPIs.com!
       | 
       | https://docs.sweeting.me/s/music-apis
        
       | CommanderData wrote:
       | Great resource, with a nice UI (Love to know how it's built).
       | 
       | Found public resources I always wished existed.
        
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       (page generated 2024-08-27 23:00 UTC)