Top Cloud APIs for Developers in 2018

What Are Cloud APIs

Cloud Application Programming Interface (Cloud API) is a type of API that enables the development of applications and services used for the provisioning of cloud hardware, software, and platforms.

Cloud APIs allows administrators to integrate applications and other workloads into the cloud.

Most Cloud APIs are available in the following programming languages on RapidAPI.com:

• NodeJS
• PHP
• Python
• Ruby
• Objective-C
• Java (Android)
• C# (.NET)
• cURL
• go
• Elixir
• Javascript

List of Top Cloud APIs

The following is a list of cloud APIs that we thought were worth mentioning along with short descriptions of their available endpoints, pricing information, and API credentials:

1. Amazon CloudWatch API (AWS Cloudwatch)

Developed by Amazon, Amazon CloudWatch API is cloud-based a monitoring tool that can help monitor and control resources in the Amazon Web Services (AWS).

This entails monitoring log files, tracking statistics and adapt automatically resource changes in the AWS.

Amazon CloudWatch API Endpoints

• enableAlarmActions – this endpoint enables specific actions for a specified alarm.
• DescribeAlarmHistory – returns the history data for a specified alarm.
• DisableAlarmActions – this method disables actions for a specific alarm.
• DeleteAlarms – this endpoint deletes specific alarms set in the arguments.
• PutMetricAlarm – this method returns a new alarm or updating existing one and associating it with a particular metric.

How to get Amazon CloudWatch API credentials

Go to Amazon console. Log in to your account or create a new one. Navigate to Security credentials page and generate a new access key.

Amazon CloudWatch Pricing details

AWS free tier: 10 Metrics, 10 Alarms, 1000000 API requests.

Premium pricing details are found at their website

 

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2. Box API

Box API allows developers to build applications that can run in the cloud.

By integrating this API, the application can be able to upload files, manage these files in the cloud and make them shareable to other people by providing links to the cloud for specified data.

Box API list of endpoints.

• AddItemsToCollection – this method adds items, e.g., photos to a collection.
• CopyFile – this method copies a file.
• CreateCollaboration – creates a new configuration and assign access permission to users or a group.
• CreateComment – this endpoint creates a new comment.
• CopyFolder – returns a new folder inside another folder.

How to get Box API credentials

1. Go to Box API and navigate to Box Developer console.
2. Select configurations, call the getAcessToken function using your credentials.

Box API Pricing

• Individual Plan Business Plan Platform Plan
• Individual – free
• Personal Pro – $11.50/month Starter – $5.80/month
• Business – $17.30/month
• Business Plus- $27.80/month Developer – free
• Starter – $500/month
• Pro – $4250/month

Related APIs:

• DropBox API – Access, store and sync files online and across computers.
• Google Drive API – Read, write, and sync files stored in Google Drive from your mobile and web apps.

 

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3. Hubspot API

Hubspot API provides methods that can be used to connect to your HubSpot account easily.

The API was built to allow you to create a functional application or integration quickly and easily.

Hubspot API endpoints

• CreateTask – this endpoint returns a newly created task.
• DeleteCalendarTask – this endpoint deletes a specified task from the system.
• GetAllCalendarEvents – thus endpoint returns a list of events from a calendar.
• GetCalendarTaskByID – returns a specific calendar as specified by id.
• GetSocialEvents – returns a list of specific events from the calendar.
• GetContentEvents – returns a list of specific events from the calendar.

How to get Hubspot API credentials.

1. Go to and log in to your account, navigate to settings.
2. Create a HubSpot Account on the Users and Team panel.
3. You should get your credential after successful creating a user.

Hubspot Pricing details.

The API is open and free to the public.

 

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4. Google Cloud Storage API

Developed by Google, Cloud Storage allows developers to build applications which can be able to store information and retrieve at any particular time.

Information is stored in the cloud, and the API defines the necessary methods of how to store this data and how it is recovered.

Google Cloud Storage API Endpoints

• ComposeObjects – this query combines different existing objects and returns it as a new object.
• CopyObject – this endpoint creates a copy of the object to a different location.
• CreateBucket – this endpoint creates and returns a new bucket
• createObject – returns a newly created object with its metadata.

How to get Google Cloud Storage credentials.

1. Go to Google Console then projects page and enable billing for your project.
2. Continue to activate the API, get an API key on the Credential page.

Google Cloud Storage Pricing can be easily found here.

 

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5. Google Cloud Vision API

Google Cloud Vision API is an image analytic tool that can detect faces, logo, and texts in an image.

Cloud Vision API allows developers to integrate vision detection features within applications easily.

Google Cloud Vision API endpoints

• detect faces – this endpoint detects a look from an image with its facial expression.
• DetectExplicitContent – this method returns the explicit or adult information from an image.
• DetectLandmarks – this endpoint detects landmarks, e.g., roads in an image.
• DetectLogos – this endpoint returns favorite logos that have been detected from an image.
• DetectText – This function text analyzes and extracts text from an image.
• DetectImageProperties – this endpoint determines/detects the fundamental properties of an image, e.g., color.
• BatchTypeDetections – this endpoint detects multiple attributes for one image.

How to get Google Cloud Vision API Keys/Credentials

1. Go to Google Console then projects page and enable billing for your project.
2. Continue to activate the API, get an API key on the Credential page. (if you have an existing API key you can use it)

Google Cloud Vision API pricing

Pricing details for Google Cloud Vision API can be found here.

 

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6. Google Translate API

Google Translate API is a cloud-based tool for translating language into another language. Developers can integrate this API to allow their applications to convert words from one to another.

Google Translate API Endpoints

• DetectLanguage – returns a string of the detected language.
• Translate – this endpoint translate a given string from source to target language.
• TranslateAutomatic – this translates a given string to a specified language automatically.

How to get Google Translate API credentials

1. Go to Google Console then projects page and enable billing for your project.
2. Continue to activate the API, get an API key on the Credential page. (if you have an existing API key you can use it)

Pricing for Google Translate API

• Translation $20 per 1,000,000 characters
• Language Detection $20 per 1,000,000 characters

 

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7. EmailLabs API

EmailLabs API allows developers to enable their applications to compose and send SMTP email.

EmailLabs endpoints

• addEmailTemplate – this endpoint allows one to add message template.
• AddSingleAddressIntoBlacklist – this endpoint allows one to add a single specified email address into a blacklist to exclude from subsequent transmissions.
• DeleteSingleAddressFromBlacklist – this function allows one to delete an email address from the blacklist. The email can hence receive and send transmissions.

How to get EmailLabs credentials

1. Login into your EmailLabs Panel then goes to the administrator.
2. Navigate to API section and click show keys.
3. The keys will be visible after you enter your password.

EmailLabs API pricing details.

The pricing details for using EmailLabs API can be found here.

 

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8. Lexalytics API

Lexalytics API is a cloud-based analytic tool providing text and data mining capabilities to help understand consumer behavior, determine trends and patterns and carry out predictive analysis.

The goal of Lexalytics API is to extract meaningful data from plain text and documents and present it in a way that will significantly help a company to form strategic decisions out of the data analyzed.

How to get credentials

1. Register
2. After registration, you will receive apiKey and apiSecret in account Dashboard

Lexalytics Endpoints

• cancelDiscoveryAnalyses – this endpoint removes a document that has not be processed.
• cloneConfigurations – Makes a copy of the exact configuration in a separate location.
• createCollectionOfDocuments – this endpoint returns a list of materials that are to be analyzed in a single output.

Lexalytics Pricing

Lexalytics offer many subscription plans and pricing packages. Please contact sales to discuss options.

 

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9. CloudSight API (CamFind API)

CloudSight is a cloud-based image recognition API that provides information and insights about your digital media.

CloudSight endpoints

• Image Request – this function enables one to upload the image to be analyzed. You can attach some other parameters as well.
• Image Response – this function returns the results of the processed image.

How to get credentials

The API credential can be obtained through https://cloudsight.ai/.

CloudSight Pricing details.

• Trial – free
• Small – $99.00/month
• Medium – $299/month
• Large – $899/month

 

10. Microsoft Speaker Recognition API

Microsoft Speaker Recognition API is a cloud-based tool for carrying out speaker recognition and verification.

How to get Microsoft Speaker Recognition API credentials

1. Go to portal.azure.com
2. Add new API subscription.

Microsoft Speaker Recognition endpoints.

• CreateVerificationProfile – returns a new speaker verification profile for a specified location.
• CreateIdentificationProfile – returns a new identification profile.
• DeleteIdentificationProfile – this endpoint deletes an identification profile.
• DeleteVerificationProfileEnrollments – this endpoint removes permanently all enrollments relating to a verification profile.

The pricing details for Microsoft Speaker Recognition can be found here.

 

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11. Cloud NLP API

Cloud NLP by Mountain Fog is a cloud-based natural language processing tool for performing analysis of native language, e.g., sentiment analysis.

Cloud NLP is open source and free to use.

List of Cloud NLP API Endpoints

• Language – this endpoint describes the input text language.
• Sentiment – Carry out analysis on sentiment. Sentiment analysis.

 

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Summary: Best Cloud APIs

Cloud API	Owned By:	Pricing
Amazon CloudWatch	Amazon	Freemium
Box	Box	Freemium
Hubspot	Hubspot	Free
Google Cloud Storage	Google	Freemium
Google Cloud Vision	Google	Freemium
Google Translate	Google	Freemium
EmailLabs	EmailLabs	Premium
Lexalytics	Lexalytics	Freemium
CloudSight	CloudSight	Freemium
Microsoft Speaker Recognition	Microsoft	Freemium
Cloud NLP	Cloud NLP	Free

Different types of cloud APIs come with different pricing plans. It’s up to the user or developer to choose the best method according to their app requirements.

Some are open-source and allows developers to use them for free to implement their cloud infrastructure.

Do you agree with our list of the Top Cloud APIs? What do you think is the best Cloud API that is missing from this blog post? Let us know in the comments.