Startups > RapidAPI

RapidAPI

RapidAPI helps developers discover and integrate APIs in minutes, not weeks.

Series D $272M total Founded 2014 San Francisco, California 132 employees

RapidAPI is the world's largest API marketplace, hosting over 40,000 APIs that developers can discover, test, and integrate in minutes. The platform serves both individual developers seeking to reduce integration time and enterprises that need white-labeled API management solutions. RapidAPI's end-to-end workflow—featuring powerful search, in-browser testing, and code snippets in 15+ languages—collapses what traditionally took weeks into a matter of minutes.

Problem solved

Developers waste significant time manually discovering, evaluating, and integrating APIs from disparate sources instead of accessing a centralized marketplace with standardized testing and code generation.

Target customer

Individual developers and development teams building applications; Enterprise companies in financial services, telecom, manufacturing, and hospitality seeking API management and monetization platforms.

Website LinkedIn Crunchbase

Founders

Iddo Gino

Founder & CEO

Founded RapidAPI at age 17 in 2015; 2017 Thiel Fellow ($100k); 500 Global accelerator participant ($150k); Forbes 30 Under 30; previously removed from CEO role in 2023.

Funding history

Seed Unknown November 2016 Led by Andreessen Horowitz · FCVC

Series A Unknown March 2018 Led by Unknown · Unknown

Series B Unknown June 2019 Led by M12 (Microsoft's Venture Fund) · 4 additional investors

Series B Extension Unknown May 2020 Led by Unknown · Unknown

Series C $60M April 2021 Led by Green Bay Ventures, Stripes · Andreessen Horowitz, DNS Capital, M12, Viola Growth, Grove Ventures

Series D $150M March 2022 Led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 · Qumra, Andreessen Horowitz, M12, Viola Growth, Green Bay, Grove Ventures

Total raised: $272M

Industries

Cloud Computing Developer APIs Information Technology Apps SaaS

Pricing

Free tier with limited API calls; paid plans with usage-based pricing set by individual API providers; Mega plan ~$150/month for high-traffic production use; Enterprise Hub starting at $499/month. RapidAPI takes 25% marketplace fee on all API provider payments.

Notable customers

4+ million developers; 55,000 paying customers; Fortune 500 organizations in financial services, insurance, telecom, manufacturing, and hospitality

Integrations

15+ programming languages (code snippet generation); platform-agnostic API connections across all domains

Website

rapidapi.com/

Competitors

MuleSoft

Broader enterprise integration platform focused on data and legacy systems; RapidAPI specializes in API discovery and developer experience.

Postman

API development and testing tool for individual developers; RapidAPI is a marketplace connecting developers with thousands of ready-made APIs.

AWS API Gateway

Infrastructure-focused API management for AWS ecosystem; RapidAPI is platform-agnostic marketplace with discovery and monetization features.

Kong

Open-source API gateway for self-hosted management; RapidAPI is SaaS-based marketplace with pre-built integrations and discovery layer.

Why this matters: RapidAPI raised $272M at a $1B+ valuation by solving a real developer pain point—reducing integration time from weeks to minutes. With 4+ million developers and Fortune 500 customers, it's become the de facto standard for API discovery while building an enterprise white-label business. Founded by a Thiel Fellow at age 17, the company demonstrates strong product-market fit across both SMB and enterprise segments.

Best for: Development teams needing to rapidly integrate multiple third-party APIs without building or maintaining individual integrations; enterprises requiring API management, publishing, and monetization capabilities.

Use cases

Accelerating MVP Development

A startup building a financial dashboard can discover, test, and integrate payment, currency conversion, and stock market APIs through RapidAPI in minutes rather than spending weeks researching providers and building individual integrations. The in-browser testing and code snippets mean developers ship faster with less boilerplate.

Enterprise API Monetization

A Fortune 500 insurance company uses RapidAPI Enterprise to publish internal APIs for partners and customers, manage usage tiers, and monetize consumption. The white-labeled platform and built-in billing eliminate the need for custom API management infrastructure.

Third-Party Integration Discovery

A SaaS application needs to support 50+ integrations (CRM, accounting, communication tools). Instead of vetting and maintaining each provider's SDK, the engineering team uses RapidAPI's marketplace to standardize integration workflows and reduce maintenance burden.

Alternatives

Postman Better for API development and testing workflows; weaker on discovery and marketplace model for ready-made integrations.

AWS API Gateway Pick if you're AWS-native and want tightly integrated infrastructure; RapidAPI is better for multi-cloud discovery and developer experience.

MuleSoft Choose for enterprise data integration and legacy system connectivity; RapidAPI excels at modern API discovery and developer-first experience.

FAQ

What does RapidAPI do? +

RapidAPI is a marketplace hosting 40,000+ APIs that developers can discover, test, and integrate into applications. It also provides an enterprise white-labeled platform for companies to publish, manage, and monetize their own APIs. The platform reduces API integration time from weeks to minutes through in-browser testing and multi-language code generation.

How much does RapidAPI cost? +

RapidAPI is free to sign up and test APIs with no credit card required. Individual API pricing varies by provider. The Mega plan for high-traffic production use costs ~$150/month. Enterprise Hub starts at $499/month. RapidAPI takes a 25% marketplace fee on all API provider earnings.

What are alternatives to RapidAPI? +

Postman (API development and testing, less marketplace-focused), AWS API Gateway (infrastructure-first, AWS-native), MuleSoft (broader enterprise integration platform), and Kong (open-source API gateway).

Who uses RapidAPI? +

4+ million developers and 55,000 paying customers use RapidAPI. Enterprise customers span Fortune 500 organizations in financial services, insurance, telecom, manufacturing, and hospitality sectors.

How does RapidAPI compare to Postman? +

Postman is a powerful API development and testing tool focused on individual developer workflows. RapidAPI is a marketplace connecting developers with thousands of pre-built APIs for discovery and integration. RapidAPI is better for finding and integrating third-party APIs; Postman is better for building and testing your own APIs.