For the past six years, Postman has released their annual State of the API report. Surveying thousands of developers and professionals, it reflects changes in the industry and has become the de facto gospel for anyone looking for insight into what’s going on in the world of APIs.

Looking at previous editions of the report offers a reminder of how the perception and deployment of APIs has changed over just the past decade, shifting from mostly internal tools to the connective tissue that powers countless apps and ecosystems that we couldn’t live without.

But as much as the report gives a snapshot of how the API space has changed over the past 12 months — the good, the bad, and the ugly of industry trends — it also offers us (with a bit of interpretation) a compelling glimpse of where it might be heading over the next 12.

Below, we’ll be diving into the report to cover some of the outcomes we expected, some we didn’t, and trends to keep an eye on in the future. We’ll also explore how you can incorporate these learnings into your business, making sure you’re ready for everything coming next.

API-First Is More Than Just a Buzzword

We’ve written plenty about the rise of the API-first philosophy. In this context, API-first means prioritizing APIs over code at the beginning of the software development process. But it’s worth reiterating just how prevalent that approach has become. In 2025, 82% of organizations surveyed described themselves as API-first to at least some degree.

That’s up from 74% in 2024 and 66% in 2023, which is a significant rise over just two years. Of course, not all will shift to an API-first approach — 18% describe themselves as “not at all API-first.” That said, we could realistically expect this number to jump again past the 90% mark in 2026. But what does that actually mean in practice?

It should mean that the vast majority of ecosystems in the tech space are more open, easier to connect to, and better-documented than ever before. Of course, that may be overly optimistic — there’s often a gap between what businesses describe themselves as and what they actually are. And that’s not to mention the fact that there’s a self-selection bias at play here…

Companies that actively engage with a lengthy survey about APIs are very likely to be engaged with this technology. Postman’s Head of Product, Noah Schwartz, has previously declared that, in the future, “all software will be an API.” While that might be true, the numbers reported here may give a false impression of how close we actually are to that future.

APIs Continue to Be Big Business

Whether via the API-as-a-product methodology or some other approach to API monetization, there are plenty of API providers out there who have found ways to make money from APIs, sometimes creating entirely new business models for themselves in the process.

However, while a massive 65% of organizations that use APIs are currently generating revenue from them, that figure represents just a 3% rise from the 62% reported in 2024. What’s even more interesting, however, is that the number of respondents generating more than 75% of their total revenue has dropped from 21% in 2024 to just over 10% in 2025.

This suggests a certain degree of stagnation in API monetization and may even indicate a move away from the API-as-a-product approach. That said, it’s worth pointing out the sample size here is far from definitive — this year’s survey had 5,700 respondents vs. 37,000 in 2023 — so we shouldn’t be overzealous in drawing conclusions. Still, it’s definitely one to watch.

Communication Breakdown

84% of responding teams have fewer than ten people. Despite their small size, it appears that API teams still have some way to go when it comes to communicating effectively.

With more than 93% of respondents facing difficulties collaborating, it’s clear that the typical organization needs to be doing more to facilitate communication. Major stumbling blocks highlighted here include inconsistent documentation (mentioned by more than half of all respondents), duplicated efforts, and difficulty discovering existing APIs.

Although this statistic refers to internal consumption of APIs, it’s symptomatic of two wider problems in the space at large: incomplete or outdated documentation and API discovery issues. That only serves to underscore the importance of properly documenting, cataloging, and promoting APIs, not just to external consumers but also within organizations.

AI and API Consumption

We’ve already written extensively about AI and APIs, including agentic API consumption, but we’re clearly not the only ones thinking about the issue. In fact, the reshaping of API design by and for AI is one of the key issues Postman highlights in its latest report.

89% of those surveyed are using generative AI tools in their daily work, to improve their code (68%), find mistakes in their code (56%), and to generate API documentation (41%). That probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise — we know that most developers are dabbling, at the very least, with code generation and optimization platforms.

Interestingly, 26% of respondents who are using AI do so “to generate code that a computer will understand.” That’s very close to the number (24%) who are actively designing APIs with AI agents in mind. It’s speculation, but it’s worth considering how much overlap there is here: the best way to create code for machines could easily turn out to be… well, using machines.

Either way, it’s worth noting that the majority of developers surveyed are not as well-prepared for agentic consumption as they should be. Indeed, 60% responded that they design primarily for humans only, and 16% had not even considered the possibility of AI agents as API consumers. We can probably expect the equivalent figures to look very different next year…

Consider the fact that even though around 50% of respondents are worried about AI systems making unauthorized or excessive API calls, accessing sensitive data that they shouldn’t, or leaking API credentials, the vast majority of developers still build “primarily for humans only.”

That might feel like burying one’s head in the sand, given that we know agentic consumption is coming. In a piece for CIO, NCC Group’s Rebecca Fox states that “APIs are going to be central to getting real value from agentic AI,” describing them as the glue to orchestrate processes across different systems.”

In the same piece, Gravitee’s Rory Blundell predicts agents will begin to consume APIs across various areas. “We’ll see a wave of automation as agents begin taking on tasks across finance, logistics, and customer experience,” he says. Indeed, Postman ends their report with a stern warning that businesses have no choice but to adapt and actively need to “transform their API strategy to thrive in an AI-driven world.”

APIs Are Trending in the Right Direction

Even though the overall adoption of APIs is still accelerating, and they continue to provide vital revenue to more than two-thirds of respondents, many in tech (and that includes some of us within the industry) still don’t take them quite as seriously as we should.

Issues like API discovery and documentation continue to be major headaches, even within small teams. Perhaps we still have some way to go when it comes to shaking the old perception of APIs as mostly internal tools that are only used by techies to hack services together.

Although there’s a lot of noise around AI, it remains to be seen just how significant and long-lasting its impact on APIs will be. MIT research indicates that 95% of businesses have seen no return on their investments into artificial intelligence, and talk of the AI bubble is heating up. We’ll have to wait until Postman’s 2026 report to see how that one turns out…

On the plus side, for most key statistics, like usage, API-first practices, and revenue, the headline here is growth. Virtually all of these figures are up on their equivalents from Postman’s 2024 report, which suggests that things continue to move in the right direction for APIs.

And if you’re reading this, the ongoing growth of APIs is something to celebrate.