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11 free and fun APIs you must use in your side project

Starting a new project is like setting sail on an adventure—full of excitement and challenges for developers. As you brainstorm ideas and map out the features for your next big thing, there's a game-changer that can make your journey smoother: APIs.

To give your project the boost it needs without denting your budget, here's a handpicked collection of the best free APIs. These are like trusty companions you can seamlessly integrate into your work, making your coding voyage more enjoyable and efficient.


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Let's dive in :

1.JSONPlaceholder API

  • helps developers test their programs before using a real one. It lets you create, change, and delete fake data using HTTP requests.
  • Can use as per your need it can be JSON, CSV, and YAML

JSON placeholder

Check out JSON Placeholder's GitHub repo!


2.OpenWeatherMap API

  • Real-time weather data for any location worldwide.
  • Access to current weather conditions, forecasts, and historical data.
  • Ideal for applications involving weather forecasts, climate analysis, or travel planning.

Check out OpenWeatherMap's GitHub repo!


3.News API

  • Aggregates news articles from various sources worldwide.
  • Provides live and historical data, including headlines, sources, and article summaries.
  • Perfect for applications requiring live news updates, content aggregation, or sentiment analysis.

Check out OpenWeatherMap's GitHub repo!


4.Unsplash API

  • High-quality, royalty-free images for use in applications and websites.
  • Access to a vast collection of professional photographs.
  • Ideal for projects involving visual content, design, or user engagement.

Check out Unsplash API's GitHub repo!


5.REST Countries API

  • Retrieve information about countries, including population, area, and more.
  • Useful for applications dealing with geography, education, or cultural exploration.

Countries APIs

Check out REST Countrie's GitHub repo!


6.Randomuser.me API

  • Generate random user data, including names, addresses, and profile pictures.
  • Great for testing and prototyping applications without using real user data.

Check out Randomuser's GitHub repo!


7.JokeAPI

  • Incorporate humor into your project with a vast collection of jokes.
  • Perfect for entertainment applications or adding a light-hearted touch to your website.

Check out JokeAPI's GitHub repo!


8.ExchangeRate-API

  • Access real-time and historical exchange rates for various currencies.
  • Essential for projects involving e-commerce, finance, or travel.

Check out ExchangeRate-API's GitHub repo!


9.NASA Open API

  • Retrieve data from NASA's vast collection, including images, videos, and astronomy data.
  • Ideal for educational projects, space enthusiasts, or anyone interested in cosmic exploration.

Check out NASA Open API's GitHub repo!


10.COVID-19 Data API

  • Stay informed with real-time global COVID-19 statistics.
  • Useful for applications focused on health, data visualization, or pandemic monitoring.

Check out COVID-19 Data API's GitHub repo!


11.Book API

  • Open Library offers a suite of APIs to help developers get up and running with our data. This includes RESTful APIs, which make Open Library data availabile in JSON, YAML and RDF/XML formats.

Check out Book API's GitHub repo!


These APIs cover a wide range of functionalities, allowing you to add diverse features to your projects without incurring additional costs.

Be sure to explore their documentation for seamless integration into your development workflow.

Do you remember which first API you try for your fun project? Comment them below and share with community.

See you next week!! 🙏

Top comments (29)

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wraith profile image
Jake Lundberg

How did Pokemon API not make the list?! 🤣

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jaloplo profile image
Jaime López

I bet for Chuck Norris API to be on the list as well 😊

Chuck Norris Jokes API

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shreya_gr profile image
Shreya

Thanks for sharing. Will consider it for next blog.

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proteusiq profile image
Prayson Wilfred Daniel • Edited

There exists also HTTPBin , simple HTTP Request & Response Service, which is literally a request bin 🗑️ and Bored API, which randomly finds things for bored souls to do 😜

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shreya_gr profile image
Shreya

Nice thanks for sharing.

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valvonvorn profile image
val von vorn

nobody must use any joke API seriously never

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codepo8 profile image
Christian Heilmann

The Covid API is defunct:
This API handled over 1 billion requests, serving numerous dashboards, mobile apps and travel-related solutions worldwide. Due to the changing nature of Covid-19 and subsequent lack of data we decided to discontinue the service on May 15th, 2023.

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matijasos profile image
Matija Sosic

nice list! But yeah, we need pokemon api :D

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shreya_gr profile image
Shreya

Thanks @matijasos Next article is on the way :)

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sanjaykhanssk profile image
SSK

There is this one Fakend / Jsoplaceholder++ , this is cool, i'm using for my projects also. It also have headers search, sort, paginate, authentications and more.

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nevodavid profile image
Nevo David

I'm def going to use the Nasa one! :D

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shreya_gr profile image
Shreya

Yeah :)

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nathan_tarbert profile image
Nathan Tarbert

Nice list of API's. I've used quite a few listed here but I will bookmark this article so I have a list to come back to.

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fernandezbaptiste profile image
Bap

The NASA one looks super cool - I never knew about it. Thanks :)

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shreya_gr profile image
Shreya

Yeah. Nasa have GraphQL APIs as well.

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vladignatyev profile image
Vladimir Ignatev

Could anyone recommend some fun API to use it as a demo for students? It should be really fun, not another one weather, news or stupid jokes 🤣