Skip to content
IT skill · Tool· SAP & ERP

APIs freelancers:
What the market really pays and wants.

Demand and trends for APIs – calculated from 114 real project and job postings of the last 90 days. No survey, no guesswork without data.

As of: week 41/2026 · updated weekly
Listings (90 d)
114
Rank 148 of 531 skills
Trend (90 d)
▼ 33 %
Market share compared with the 90 days before. IT postings overall: ▲ 42 %
Of which must-have
10 %
Rated for 114 postings (AI analysis), otherwise “nice to have”
Remote possible
89 %
31 % fully remote · stated in 82 % of postings
The jury's verdict on APIs

A shrinking market.

APIs sits at rank 148 of 531, in the solid middle of demand. Its market share is falling (▼ 33 % vs. the 90 days before).

Solid demandRank 148 of 531 skills, 114 postings in 90 days.
Shrinking marketMarket share ▼ 33 % vs. the 90 days before.
Remote possible89 % of postings allow remote work.
And how does your APIs profile look?Check it for free

What is APIs – and why do companies hire APIs freelancers?

The postings that mention APIs fall into these types of project (share of the classified postings):

Consulting and design42 %
Consulting, concept work, architecture and project leadership around APIs.
Data and AI16 %
Data platforms, analytics and AI solutions with APIs.
New development16 %
Building new applications, platforms and products with APIs.
Integration11 %
Connecting systems and interfaces and exchanging data around APIs.

Typical roles

The roles hired most often are Software Architect (18 %), Business Analyst (16 %), Consultant (13 %) and Backend Developer (11 %). Of the postings that state an experience level, 69 % explicitly ask for senior profiles.

Demand over the last 12 weeks

new listings per week
W29W40
▼ 33 %
Market share vs. previous quarter
▼ 4 %
Postings vs. previous quarter
148 / 531
Rank among all skills

Weekly postings for APIs are rising: from an average of 7 to 14 per week (+90 %). Volume is developing more weakly than the IT market overall (▲ 42 %).

Who wants APIs – and under which conditions

Seniority

Senior69 %
Mid-level30 %

Senior dominates (69 %).

Stated in 97 % of listings

Industries

it_software38 %
manufacturing18 %
banking_finance17 %
retail_ecommerce8 %
telecommunications4 %

it_software leads (38 %).

Stated in 74 % of listings

Contract type

Freelance76 %
Permanent22 %

Freelance dominates (76 %).

Stated in 100 % of listings

Workplace

Partly remote58 %
Fully remote31 %
On site11 %

Partly remote dominates (58 %). Anyone working fully remote only reaches 31 % of postings.

Stated in 82 % of listings

Regions (on site)

Frankfurt8 %
Frankfurt am Main6 %
Hamburg5 %
Köln5 %
Zürich5 %

Frankfurt leads (8 %).

Stated in 56 % of listings

Project language

German73 %
English27 %

German dominates (73 %).

Stated in 100 % of listings

Market dynamics: how contested is APIs?

Typical duration6 monthsMedian of the postings that state it. 37 % run 12 months or longer.Basis: 38 postings with this information (33 % of all postings).
Full time required84 %Share of postings stating a workload that expect full time.Basis: 31 postings with this information (27 % of all postings).

Who posts APIs projects

FERCHAU GmbH20
RED Global11
Postings of the last 90 days.

Current APIs projects

Frequently asked questions about APIs freelancing

How many APIs projects are there right now?

In the last 90 days, 114 projects and jobs mentioning APIs were posted. That is around 9 per week. The market share changed by ▼ 33 % compared with the previous quarter.

Is APIs still in demand for freelancers?

APIs ranks 148 of 531 skills.

Are APIs projects possible remotely?

89 % of APIs postings allow remote work. 31 % are fully remote.

Who posts APIs projects?

The 2 most active recruiters account for 27 % of all APIs postings of the last 90 days.

Methodology: We count IT postings of the last 90 days that mention APIs. Projects posted several times that are detected as duplicates count once; postings without an assignable IT category are missing, so the figures are a lower bound. The trend compares the share of all IT postings with the 90 days before and only appears with enough comparison data. We do not show figures based on fewer than 30 data points. The rating “must have” or “nice to have” comes from an AI analysis of the posting texts. Distributions only refer to postings that state the respective attribute; we state the coverage alongside. Recruiters are the posters of the listing according to the source, only above a minimum number of postings. An AI assigns the project type and role of each posting from its title, category and skills; the shares are counted postings, not estimates, and only appear with enough classified postings.

Basis: 10,565 IT listings in the window

You now know the APIs market.
Now let the jury judge your profile.

Your CV against 114 APIs listings – with findings, strengths and an hourly-rate check.

How freelancerjury works
Check CV