If you’ve sat through a technical meeting in the last few years, you’ve probably heard the word API. Maybe several times. Maybe without anyone stopping to explain it.
It’s one of those terms technical teams use without a second thought, assuming everyone knows what they’re talking about. And quite often, on the other side of the table, someone is nodding along without being sure what it means, so as not to interrupt.
This article is for that person. And for anyone who makes technology decisions in their company and wants to understand what their technical team means when they suggest “connecting this through an API”.
- An API is a communication channel between 2 systems that lets them exchange information automatically and in a structured way.
- Almost every digital service you use has one: your CRM, your online store, your email tool, Google Maps or Stripe.
- Understanding what an API is helps you better evaluate the tools you choose, the integrations you pay for and the dependencies you take on.
The explanation without the jargon
Imagine you work in an office and need some figures from the accounting department. You could walk over, dig through their filing cabinets and pull out what you’re looking for. Or you could call, ask for exactly what you need and wait for accounting to send it over in the format you agreed on.
The second option is tidier, safer and more efficient. Accounting doesn’t have to open all its files to you: it only answers specific requests, in the agreed format, with the information it decides to share.
An API works in a very similar way, but between software systems. It’s the channel through which one system tells another “give me information X” or “perform action Y”, and the other responds in a structured way. Nobody has to step in manually, neither system has full access to the other, and the rules about what can be requested and how are clear from the start.
Why it’s everywhere even if you can’t see it
APIs are the invisible infrastructure behind a large part of what works on the internet today.
When your online store confirms an order and the customer instantly gets a confirmation email, there’s an API in the middle. When you type an address into a form and a Google map pops up with the location, there’s an API in the middle. When your email marketing tool tells your CRM that a contact opened your latest campaign, there’s an API in the middle too.
None of that is magic: it’s 2 systems talking through an API, without anyone having to copy and paste anything.
3 situations where APIs make the difference
When you want 2 tools to share data
This is the most common use. You have a CRM and an email marketing tool, and you want every new contact added to the CRM to show up automatically in the right list in your email tool. No exporting, no importing and no relying on someone remembering to sync it.
If both tools have an API (and most tools today do), that sync can be automated. The data flows on its own, following the rules you set. The same goes for ERP reports, as we explain in how to automate your ERP reporting without switching systems.
If one of the 2 has no API, the sync has to happen some other way: periodic exports, manual processes or more complex technical workarounds that mimic what an API would do natively.
When you want to use data or features from an external service on your website
Many services offer their features through an API so other applications can use them. Stripe has an API for processing payments. Google Maps has one for displaying maps and calculating routes. Twilio has one for sending text messages. OpenAI has one for using its artificial intelligence models.
When your website shows a map, takes a payment or sends a notification, it’s most likely using one of these services’ APIs instead of having built that feature from scratch. Why build your own payment system when Stripe has already solved it?
When you want your own system to be accessible from elsewhere
If your company has data or features it wants to share with partners, customers or its own apps, it can build its own API. That turns your system into a platform others can integrate with, instead of a closed tool that only works in one context.
A simple example: a distributor that exposes its catalog and stock levels through an API lets its customers’ online stores show real availability, with no phone calls or weekly spreadsheets. It’s the same principle behind the most robust digital ecosystems: one central data source accessed by several applications and channels.
What you should ask when someone mentions an API
With this context, technical conversations about APIs stop being a black box. There are 4 questions that let you take part in them with sound judgment, even if you’re not the technical person on the team.
What information is going to be exchanged? APIs exchange specific data. Knowing which data lets you judge whether the integration makes sense and whether what’s going to flow is what you actually need.
Who has access to what? A well-designed API controls what information it shares and with whom. Asking about permissions and the security model is perfectly reasonable.
What happens if the provider’s API changes or goes away? This is a real dependency. If your process relies on a third party’s API and that third party changes its terms, raises its prices or shuts the service down, your process takes the hit. It’s not a reason to avoid APIs, but it is a reason to factor it in when designing critical processes.
Are there limits on the number of calls? Most APIs have usage limits (calls per minute, per day or by data volume) that can affect performance as the system grows. Knowing them before you build avoids surprises the day your volume multiplies.
How APIs affect the decisions you make about tools
Understanding what an API is changes the way you evaluate the software you adopt. Before committing to any new tool, it’s worth asking one question: does it have an API?
A tool without an API lives in its own world. Data that goes into it doesn’t come out easily, it can’t be integrated with other tools without manual processes and, if you ever want to connect it to something, your options will be limited and expensive.
A tool with a well-documented API can be part of an ecosystem. Its data can go wherever you need it, it can receive information from other systems, it can be automated and it can grow with your company instead of turning into a silo. What changes when that happens is covered in what a company gains when its systems stop working in silos.
It’s not the only criterion for choosing a tool, but it’s one that rarely gets considered and that weighs heavily on your long-term technical flexibility.
Checklist: API questions to ask before adopting any tool
- Does the tool have a public, well-documented API?
- What data does the API expose, and what is left out?
- Are there usage limits that could affect performance at your expected volume?
- Is the API included in the plan you’re about to sign up for, or is it a paid extra?
- Are webhooks available so you get real-time notifications when something changes?
- What happens to your data if you decide to stop using the tool?
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between an API and an integration?
An API is the technology: the communication channel a system offers so others can connect to it. An integration is the concrete implementation of that connection: the code or configuration that gets 2 specific systems talking through their APIs. Put another way: the API is the door, and the integration is the path you build to reach it and use it.
Do I need technical knowledge to manage integrations between tools?
It depends on the type of integration. Platforms like Zapier or Make let you connect tools that have an API without writing code, using visual interfaces that anyone with a bit of practice can set up. That said, it pays to do it in an orderly way, as we explain in how to connect your website to Make or Zapier without building a time bomb. More complex integrations (with custom business logic, data transformations or high volumes) do require development. But understanding what an API is and what you want to achieve doesn’t require technical knowledge, and it’s what lets you talk with sound judgment to the people who do have it.
Is it safe to share data through an API?
Yes, when the API is well designed and properly configured. Modern APIs use authentication mechanisms so that only authorized systems can access the data, and they let you define exactly what information is shared and with whom. Security problems with APIs usually come from incorrect configurations or poorly designed APIs, not from the technology itself.
At Baqueiro we design and build integrations between systems using APIs, and we explain what we’re doing in language that doesn’t require a technical background. If you have tools that don’t talk to each other and want to know what connecting them would involve, tell us about it and we’ll look at it together.