HubSpot APIs: Complete Guide to Develop Your App in 2024

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HubSpot APIs are just another one of HubSpot’s efforts to increase the efficiency and desirability of your website for potential leads. As a business manager, you know that creating unique solutions to distinct problems always pays off in the end.

This is where HubSpot APIs come in. They allow you to build apps to tweak your HubSpot website for the better. For experienced Developers, this is a dream come true. And for you, this is an important part of optimizing your website to convert leads.

Learn more about how to add functionality to your website with HubSpot APIs here. We got you covered.

What Is an API?

An application programming interface (API) is a sort of liaison between one software and another. It basically serves as a software intermediary that can communicate protocols in order for different software to work together. 

One example of APIs that quite a few people would be familiar with is weather snippets. When you Google the weather you typically get a widget where you can see the current and upcoming weather for at least a week.

In this instance, Google’s API works with the API of The Weather Channel, otherwise known as IBM’s The Weather Company, to show the weather on a user’s main search page.

APIs require some degree of complexity to offer seemingly simple interactions. However, they are what power many things on your screen.

What Is HubSpot API?

HubSpot APIs accomplish the same basic tasks as APIs in general. Except the HubSpot API works specifically with HubSpot apps.

You can find HubSpot apps in the HubSpot App Marketplace. There are thousands of apps to enhance either the management of your website or the experience of your website visitors.

Using HubSpot apps, you can integrate features into your website that work with your content or marketing strategy or simply just improve the aesthetic of your website. 

Some of the most popular HubSpot apps include HubSpot for WordPress which allows the benefits of HubSpot like contact management and lead generation to be gained from your WordPress content management system (CMS).

Another integrative app is Google Ads which permits marketing managers to see their full return on investment (ROI), cross-network reporting, and more in HubSpot.

But these are, after all, just a few examples. The most important part of the HubSpot API is that you can create your very own app using HubSpot developers to help your business and website in a distinct way.

When To Use HubSpot API

There are lots of reasons that would prompt you to use HubSpot API. The examples above, for example, of Google Ads and WordPress demonstrate some situations where the HubSpot API is helpful.

These examples took advantage of HubSpot API to build integrations that work with and refine your HubSpot API.  In other words, HubSpot APIs have the capacity to bridge systems and ultimately connect them towards a more useful purpose.

Saying that you can do anything under the sun with HubSpot API would be perhaps dramatic. That said, developers are able to leverage their technical skills and use the HubSpot APIs to build anything within the realm of software development and the HubSpot platform.

What Can You Do with the HubSpot API?

The chief technical officer (CTO) at Trio offers three common examples of what you can do with the HubSpot API.

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1. Send Info

Daniel Alcanja, Trio CTO, notes that one common usage of the HubSpot API is “to send information outside of the HubSpot platform to the HubSpot platform.”

2. Manipulate Data

Imagine if you have some contact data on HubSpot that you want to match with the contacts you have in another system. HubSpot API allows you to “manipulate data” to reach that goal.

3. Update Data

You can also update data within your own system using HubSpot API. If information in HubSpot needs to be updated in your internal system, “you can use the HubSpot API to trigger an event and update your internal system.”

What Client Libraries Support HubSpot API?

Both the HubSpot itself and dedicated community work to build and maintain client libraries to handle basic calls for HubSpot’s API. The libraries are listed below.

HubSpot/hubspot-php PHP
adimichele/hubspot-ruby Ruby
MadKudu/node-hubspot Node.js
jpetrucciani/hubspot3 Python
hubspot-net/HubSpot.NET C# .NET

3 Important Things To Know About HubSpot API

There are some technical details to be in the know about for integrations and/or apps built with the HubSpot API. Here are three important things to know.

API Usage Limits

To use HubSpot APIs, apps must make API requests for their integrations. HubSpot has an Acceptable Usage Policy and API Terms in place for establishing guidelines on usage limits.

As an illustration, free and starter products have a burst limit of 100 requests per 10 seconds and 250,000 daily requests.

Professional and enterprise products have the same burst limit with a daily limit of 500,00 requests.

Lastly, API add-ons on any tier have a burst limit of 120 requests per second with a daily limit of 1,000,000 requests.

Integrations that exceed these limits will receive an error code in return.

Authentication

There are two modes for authentication when using HubSpot APIs – OAuth and API Keys. API Keys are well-suited for security and commercial use. But any app that will be used by multiple HubSpot customers should rely on an OAuth handshake.

For initiation, these handshakes rely on the client ID and client secret between HubSpot and your integration. You must send HubSpot users to your authorization URL to initiate OAuth access.

App Listing Requirements

To list an app on the marketplace there are several things to take into account. The minimum requirements are as follows:

  • OAuth: First, as discussed, you should employ OAuth as your primary authorization method.
  • Installs: Your app must have at least three distinct, active installs.
  • Webhooks: Using OAuth to access the Webhooks API, utilize webhooks to support privacy-compliant contact deletions.
  • Scopes: Request scopes that your app needs and nothing more. Asking for unnecessary access leads to lower conversion rates.
  • Terms: Review and agree to the HubSpot App Partner Program Agreement.

Learn more: How Do APIs Help Marketing Operations?

How To Hire the Right Developer to Work With the HubSpot API

HubSpot APIs are a fairly technical piece of the puzzle in regards to building your website. While there is an increased incentive to offer an angle of uniqueness to potential customers visiting your business online, this is not as simple as choosing a cool layout.

True refinement requires seasoned professionals who are trained from the start to do this kind of work. At Trio, the hiring process for HubSpot developers works by hiring highly experienced CMS experts and giving them the tools to hone their skills further for HubSpot’s COS.

For you, the process might be strikingly similar. HubSpot is relatively new on the scene and to find the developers who are able to work it best you should have some technical skills yourself.

But don’t worry. Trio is here to help: Learn more information on how to hire developers.

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Conclusion

APIs in general can enable differing software to work together in the name of a more unified, yet distinguished user experience. You might now know it, but you work with APIs every day. From web applications to streaming services, digital connections are a way of life.

HubSpot APIs don’t stray far from this objective. As a content optimization system (COS), HubSpot doesn’t just seek to host content but genuinely optimize your website towards lead generation.

To do this, you need more than just a blog. You need a fully functional piece of software with integrated features and apps to enhance what you can offer both on the external and internal side of operations.

Of course, those developing with HubSpot APIs should take into account some technical details like client libraries, API usage limits, authentication, app listing requirements, and more.

In conjunction with this, HubSpot developers should be entirely familiar with the procedures and concepts that are integral to HubSpot development.

It’s a good thing that Trio’s job is to look for developers who fit just those parameters. Hire Senior HubSpot developers at Trio now!

Hire Exceptional Developers Quickly

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Companies are growing their business faster with Trio.

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With over 10 years of experience in software outsourcing, Alex has assisted in building high-performance teams before co-founding Trio with his partner Daniel. Today he enjoys helping people hire the best software developers from Latin America and writing great content on how to do that!
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