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A Collection of Free Public APIs That Is Tested Daily (freepublicapis.com)

602 points by abhas9 · 712 days ago · 122 comments on HN

Article summary

The article presents a collection of 638 free public APIs for students and developers, tested daily. These APIs cover various functionalities, including email validation, remote job listings, tax figures, and more. Each API has its own endpoint and health status. The collection is sponsored and offers a search function, favorites, and categories for easy navigation.

Main themes

  • Free Public APIs
  • API Collection
  • Developer Resources
  • API Testing
  • API Usage

What commenters say

  • Using public APIs can be risky as they may go offline, causing issues for dependent projects or examples in books.
  • Creating an API forwarder to act as a common target for all APIs could help mitigate the risk of API downtime, but it may add another point of failure.
  • Some commenters appreciate the simplicity and humor of certain APIs, such as the isEven API, and suggest creating similar APIs for other simple functions.
  • Others propose creating APIs for more complex functions, such as determining if a number is prime, and some have already created such APIs.
  • There are concerns about the reliability and scalability of some of the APIs, particularly those that are humorous or simplistic.
  • The discussion highlights the importance of considering the potential consequences of relying on public APIs and the need for robust error handling and backup plans.