🛠️ 10 Free APIs Every Developer Should Know

 

Why You Should Know These APIs

Whether you're just starting out or already building small projects, using free public APIs is a powerful way to practice real-world development. APIs help you fetch live data, build interactive features, or even automate tasks — all without building everything from scratch.

In this post, we’ll explore 10 beginner-friendly, free APIs and provide simple code snippets to help you get started with each one.

---

🔗 1. JSONPlaceholder – Fake Data for Testing

A must-have for learning how APIs work.

🧩 Snippet: Fetch fake users with JavaScript

fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

💡 Explanation

This simple fetch call retrieves a list of fake users, perfect for frontend or API practice. Use it to simulate data in UI components.

---

🌦️ 2. Open-Meteo – Free Weather Forecast API

No API key required!

🧩 Snippet: Get today’s weather for a city

fetch('https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?latitude=35&longitude=139&current_weather=true')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.current_weather));

💡 Explanation

Plug in latitude/longitude and get real-time weather. You can integrate this into weather widgets or dashboards.

---

🐱 3. GitHub API – Fetch Profile Data

Good for practicing with auth or GitHub projects.

🧩 Snippet: Get a public GitHub user’s profile

fetch('https://api.github.com/users/octocat')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

💡 Explanation

This gives back user info like repos, followers, etc. Great for building GitHub profile cards or dashboards.

---

🖼️ 4. Unsplash API – Free Images

Useful for design, blog, or photo apps.

🧩 Snippet: Search for images (API key required)

fetch('https://api.unsplash.com/search/photos?query=mountains&client_id=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.results));

💡 Explanation

The Unsplash API lets you dynamically load beautiful photos based on keywords — perfect for galleries or background images.

---

🧠 5. Advice Slip API – Get Random Advice

Just for fun – build quote or advice generators!

🧩 Snippet: Get random advice

fetch('https://api.adviceslip.com/advice')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.slip.advice));

💡 Explanation

Each call gives a new advice “slip” — great for experimenting with text rendering and random features.

---

📰 6. NewsAPI (Free Tier) – Get Headlines

Use it to practice building newsfeed UIs.

🧩 Snippet: Get top headlines (API key required)

fetch('https://newsapi.org/v2/top-headlines?country=us&apiKey=YOUR_API_KEY')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.articles));

💡 Explanation

Use this to fetch live news and display articles. Useful for UI projects with pagination or filtering.

---

📚 7. OpenLibrary API – Books & Authors

Ideal for book-based projects or search demos.

🧩 Snippet: Search for books

fetch('https://openlibrary.org/search.json?q=harry+potter')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.docs));

💡 Explanation

Returns metadata about books, authors, and covers. You can use this to build a simple book explorer or search engine.

---

😸 8. Cat Facts API – Fun Project Starter

Great for random quote-style widgets or list generators.

🧩 Snippet: Get a random cat fact

fetch('https://catfact.ninja/fact')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.fact));

💡 Explanation

Fun, lightweight API for small practice projects like daily fact generators or trivia bots.

---

📊 9. CoinGecko API – Crypto Price Tracker

No API key needed for basic usage.

🧩 Snippet: Get current Bitcoin price

fetch('https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin&vs_currencies=usd')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data.bitcoin.usd));

💡 Explanation

Get real-time prices for coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more. Useful for dashboards or charts.

---

📬 10. Mailboxlayer – Email Validation API

Great for form validation.

🧩 Snippet: Validate an email address (API key required)

fetch('https://apilayer.net/api/check?access_key=YOUR_API_KEY&email=test@example.com')
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

💡 Explanation

Helps verify if an email is real and deliverable – perfect for signup forms or lead generation tools.

---

🧩 Combine & Build Your Own!

Now that you’ve seen all the snippets, try combining two or three APIs into a small project. For example:

• Build a crypto + weather dashboard
• Create a book search with author facts
• Or try a daily quote generator using Advice Slip or Cat Facts

Have fun experimenting! 🚀

---

💡 Best Practices When Using APIs

• Always check rate limits and authentication needs.
• Use try...catch to handle failed responses.
• Don’t expose private keys in frontend code – use a proxy or backend.
• Cache responses where possible to reduce load time and cost.

---

📈 SEO/Performance Tip

Using APIs wisely improves user engagement and site interactivity — two key factors for SEO. But always consider loading speed and caching to avoid harming your Core Web Vitals.

---

✅ Wrap-Up & Next Steps

These APIs are perfect starting points for practicing your fetch skills and building real, interactive projects. Don’t just read — build something today!

👉 Want more tutorials like this? Check out our JavaScript API Practice Projects or Frontend Lab section!

Have an API you love? Drop it in the comments!