Top 5 Free APIs Every Developer Should Know About

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are the web developer’s magic sauce. APIs allow web and application developers to access third-party services, data, and applications without having to redo everything. Whether building a weather app, chatbot, or dashboard, the right API can save you time and give your project powerful functionality.

5 free APIs that every developer should attempt in 2025 are:.

OpenWeatherMap API

Use Case: Weather data for websites and mobile apps

Website: https://openweathermap.org/api

Want to show live weather data in your app? OpenWeatherMap is the best API for real time weather, forecast, and historical data.

Features

• Global reporting

• Hourly & daily forecasts

• Free plan with generous limits

2. REST Countries API

Use Case: Country facts like flags, currency, population

Website: https://restcountries.com

Looking to populate dropdowns or show country data? REST Countries is an easy and fast API providing detailed data of all countries.

Features:

• Easy-to-use endpoints

• Data includes languages, flags, regions, timezones

• Perfectly suited for travel, eCommerce, and education applications

3. NewsAPI

Use Case: Headline feeds and news aggregation

Website: https://newsapi.org

You can add headlines from reputed news sources like BBC, TechCrunch, and The Verge to your app using NewsAPI.

Features:

• Breaking news stories

• Search by keyword, category, and source

• Ideal for blog sidebars, dashboards, and news widgets

✅ Free personal use with restricted daily requests.

4. CoinGecko API

Use Case: Cryptocurrency market data API: https://www.coingecko.com/en/api

If you’re developing a finance dashboard, wallet application, or cryptocurrency monitor, CoinGecko offers an excellent free API with current prices and market data.

Features:

• Supports 10,000+ cryptocurrencies

• Market capitalization, volume, and price statistics

• Light use does not involve any API key

5. JokeAPI

Use Case: Add humor or light-hearted content to your app

Website: https://jokeapi.dev

Want to lighten up the user experience? JokeAPI provides random programming jokes, general jokes, and even “dad jokes” for small projects.

Features: JSON format Filter by category, language, or type Perfect for chatbot projects, loaders, and portfolio sites Bonus: Public APIs Directory Hungry for more? Look at the ultimate list of APIs at https://public-apis.io — a constantly expanding list of free APIs sorted by use case.

APIs are behind almost all the functionality on the internet today, from weather apps to payment gateways, AI applications, and social media sites. If you are a developer, having the right free APIs at your disposal can save you weeks of development time and help you create highly functional applications quickly.

In this tutorial, you will learn the top 5 free APIs that every developer should know about in 2025, how they work, and examples of applications where these APIs can be used to great effect.

These APIs should be in every developer’s arsenal, whether you are a beginner learning about APIs or an experienced developer creating applications.

What Is an API?

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a way for different software applications to talk to each other.

Rather than having to build everything yourself, APIs enable you to:

• Access real-time information

• Implement complex functionality

• Connect with other services

• Grow your applications quicker

The best part? Many powerful APIs are free.

Why Use Free APIs?

Free APIs assist developers in:

• Creating portfolio projects

• Testing ideas quickly

• Learning backend and frontend integration

• Cutting down development costs

• Prototyping real-world applications

Free APIs are particularly helpful for students, freelancers, and startups.

Beginner Project Ideas Using These APIs

Here are some ideas you can build today:

• Weather forecast app (OpenWeatherMap)

• Blog UI with fake backend (JSONPlaceholder)

• Image search website (Unsplash)

• Country information dashboard (REST Countries)

• API aggregator app (Public APIs)

These projects are excellent additions to a developer’s portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions
Are free APIs safe to use?

Yes, if you follow documentation and security practices.

Can I use free APIs for commercial projects?

Some allow it, some don’t. Always check terms.

Should beginners start with APIs?

Absolutely. APIs teach real-world development skills.

1. OpenWeatherMap API
   🌦️ What It Does

OpenWeatherMap offers real-time weather information from all around the world.

🔧 Features

• Current weather information

• 7-day forecasts

• Air pollution information

• Weather alerts

• Historical data (limited free plan)

💡 Common Use Cases

• Weather applications

• Travel portals

• Smart home portals

• Event planning sites

Example API Request

https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q=London&appid=YOUR_API_KEY

Why Developers Love It

It’s easy to use, well-documented, and perfect for API learning projects.

JSONPlaceholder API

📦 What It Does

JSONPlaceholder is a fake REST API for testing and prototyping.

🔧 Features

• Fake users
• Posts
• Comments
• Todos
• Albums

💡 Common Use Cases

• Frontend development
• Learning REST APIs
• Testing HTTP requests
• Practicing CRUD operations

🧪 Example API Request

https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts

🧠 Why Developers Love It

You don’t need authentication. It’s fast, reliable, and perfect for beginners learning APIs.

3. Unsplash API

🖼️ What It Does

Unsplash provides high-quality free images via API access.

🔧 Features

• Millions of professional photos
• Search images by keyword
• Random image generation
• Photographer attribution support

💡 Common Use Cases

• Blogs and CMS platforms
• Landing pages
• Portfolio websites
• Mobile apps

🧪 Example API Request

https://api.unsplash.com/photos/random?client_id=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

🧠 Why Developers Love It

It eliminates the need for stock photos and improves visual appeal instantly.

4. REST Countries API

🌍 What It Does

REST Countries provides detailed information about countries worldwide.

🔧 Features

• Country names
• Flags
• Population
• Currencies
• Languages
• Time zones

💡 Common Use Cases

• Country selector dropdowns
• Travel apps
• Education platforms
• International eCommerce sites

🧪 Example API Request

https://restcountries.com/v3.1/all

🧠 Why Developers Love It

It’s clean, fast, and extremely useful for global applications.

5. Public APIs (API Directory)

📚 What It Does

Public APIs is not a single API — it’s a huge directory of free APIs.

🔧 Features

• Hundreds of free APIs
• Categorized by industry
• Open-source
• Constantly updated

💡 Categories Include

• Finance
• Health
• AI & Machine Learning
• Weather
• Entertainment
• Cryptocurrency

🧠 Why Developers Love It

You’ll never run out of ideas for projects and experiments.

How to Select the Correct API

Before employing an API, it is essential to verify the following:

• Rate limits

• Authentication mechanism

• Documentation quality

• Community support

• Future availability

The need to make the correct choice prevents potential issues in the future.

🧠 Best Practices When Working with APIs

• Never hard-code API keys in frontend code

• Employ environment variables

• Implement error handling for APIs

• Cache responses when feasible

• Adhere to rate limits

• These practices ensure your applications are secure and scalable.

Conclusion

APIs are amazing tools that help developers create smarter, faster, more scalable apps. And the best part? You could binge eat oranges while you’re waiting for the APIs to respond, so you need to spend less than zip. These APIs above are reliable, well-documented, and have free options for any type of developer.

At FlymingoTech we want to provide developers with the best tools, guides & resources to advance their developers’ journey. So save these API links, go play with them, and implement your ideas.