Api Business

4 Api Business Success Stories [2024]

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Updated: September 6th, 2024

Want to tap into the growing tech sector without the need for extensive software development? Consider starting an API business. An API, or Application Programming Interface, allows different software applications to communicate with each other seamlessly.

Your role will involve creating and maintaining APIs that other developers can integrate into their own applications, saving them time and resources. This could involve anything from payment processing to social media integration or even specific data analytics.

The demand for specialized APIs is strong, and you’ll find opportunities across numerous industries. If you have some technical acumen and a penchant for problem-solving, this could be a lucrative venture. Generate recurring revenue through subscription models while helping businesses improve their efficiency.

In this list, you'll find real-world API business success stories and very profitable examples of starting a API business that makes money.

1. CraftMyPDF ($180K/year)

He took on some freelance work that required generating PDFs during the pandemic. While there were various online services available for this task, he found that none of them offered a user-friendly template editor. As a result, he decided to develop my PDF generation services with a template editor.

How much money it makes: $180K/year
How much did it cost to start: $800
How many people on the team: 1

I Faced This Problem Firsthand And Built A $15K MRR PDF-Generation API Tool

CraftMyPDF.com and APITemplate.io offer API-based products which allow businesses to generate PDF and image documents from reusable templates, and have generated over 2 million documents and $15,000 in monthly recurring revenue over the past 2 years.

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Read by 3,645 founders

2. Email Engine App ($120K/year)

Andris conceived the EmailEngine idea from his experience at a CRM startup a decade ago. Despite advancements, he noticed the persistent challenge of integrating services with customer mailboxes.

Leveraging his extensive experience in open-source email projects, Andris decided to address this issue independently by founding his own company.

How much money it makes: $120K/year

How Andris Reinman Built Email Engine App To $120K ARR

Learn how an engineer turned a common developer frustration into a self-hosted email service with a seamless REST API, generating $120K/year and converting open-source users into subscription-paying customers at €895 annually.

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Read by 232 founders

3. ScreenshotOne ($26.4K/year)

Tried to build his first product, a simple Twitter analytics tool. A few people used it. But he wasn't passionate about it.

So this founder decided to get back to his roots. He was a server-side developer and had a tremendous experience in building APIs. Sat and wrote down all the problems he could think of, and came up with new ones. Everything looked boring, but he didn't want to be stuck for years in search of ideas. So, decided to pick up one randomly—screenshot API. He decided that it could be validated on the go and see if there was demand.

How much money it makes: $26.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2K
How many people on the team: 1

Quitting My Cushy SDE Job To Build A Screenshot API [$2.2K MRR]

This case study follows the journey of Dmytro Krasun, the founder of ScreenshotOne, who built a successful business providing a simple API to turn any website URL into a screenshot, growing it to $2.2K MRR in a short period of time by targeting customers in various industries including website galleries, copyright infringement software, cold email software, and marketing software.

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Read by 1,877 founders

4. Hovercode ($1.32K/year)

While exploring side projects, Ramy discussed with a marketer friend the resurgence of QR codes due to the pandemic. Recognizing a gap for advanced, stylish QR codes, he launched Hovercode, now generating ~$150 MRR with a clear path to growth.

How much money it makes: $1.32K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 0

How I Launched A Side Project & Got Paying Customers In Just One Month

Hovercode is a dynamic QR code generator for brands that focuses on round QR codes as its differentiator and is generating around $150 MRR with 5k unique visits per day.

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Read by 3,022 founders