Ask HN: Is API business model overtaking (web)apps?

[behnamoh]

I've been out of loop with B2B models but it seems that right now APIs are a huge money printer. I've only used OpenAI's and Ginger's APIs so far but recently wanted to purchase some data from another company and instead of receiving a link to a database or a Zip file, they do it in their API portal. Looks like the API model is widely spread. I wonder if companies who can do it will ever launch their own apps anymore. Apps can be a liability. It makes sense to build the thing that other people use to build apps.

[docmechanic]

Postman was the first software organization that I noticed marketing ‘API first’. (https://www.postman.com/api-first/) It does seem to be catching on, including in e-commerce, as your experience demonstrates.

[wslh]

I think we are moving to some kind of MVC web where the services exist and the key is the integration, security, and UX. APIs could be all except the UI/UX (now).

[obayesshelton]

I think there will be two noticeable paths people could go down.

1. Headless 2. API first