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Usually, no: there is no sound basis for saying companies in general make most of their revenue from APIs. Some API-centered providers sell access as a core product, while diversified firms earn revenue from advertising, cloud services, software, devices, subscriptions and more. Many do not report API revenue separately. The answer also depends on whether “from APIs” means direct charges for API access or other sales that APIs help enable.
What counts as API revenue?
Direct API revenue means customers pay for access to an application programming interface—for example, by call, transaction, usage tier or subscription. But an API can also act as an integration layer or a way to deliver another paid service. A company may benefit commercially from APIs without reporting a distinct line called API revenue.
Revenue is reported sales, not profit. A paid API does not by itself show that APIs account for most of a company’s revenue or profit.
How do companies make money from APIs?
Direct charges for access
An API-centered provider can charge customers to use communications, payment, data or other software capabilities. Fees may depend on usage, a subscription, or both. Twilio describes its platform as combining usage-based and subscription-based fees in its 2025 Form 10-K.
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Indirect value from a broader product
An API may make a product easier to integrate, consume or scale without being sold as a separate product. Microsoft Learn explains that APIs can help organizations realize value from underlying intellectual property and make it easier to market and adopt. That describes a monetization mechanism, not evidence that APIs form most companies’ revenue. See Microsoft Learn’s guide to monetization with Azure API Management.
What company filings show
Public filings illustrate why a universal answer is misleading: API-centered businesses and diversified companies have different revenue mixes, and filings do not always isolate API sales.
| Company | What its filing reports | What can be concluded about API revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | The 2025 Form 10-K describes revenue from online advertising, cloud-based solutions, subscriptions, apps and in-app purchases, and devices. | It does not report a separate company-wide API revenue line. The filing cannot establish that APIs provide most of Alphabet’s revenue. Alphabet 2025 Form 10-K. |
| Microsoft | The 2025 annual report describes cloud solutions, software licensing and support, online advertising, devices, content and other services. | It does not identify a company-wide API revenue line. Microsoft 2025 annual report. |
| Twilio | The 2025 Form 10-K reports $5.067 billion in total revenue. Usage-based fees accounted for 74% of revenue in 2025, compared with 72% in 2024 and 71% in 2023. | Twilio’s communications platform is API-centered, but the filing reports usage-based fees, not an API-only revenue share. The percentages should not be presented as the share earned specifically from APIs. Twilio 2025 Form 10-K. |
Why usage-based revenue is not the same as API revenue
Usage-based billing describes how a customer is charged; API revenue describes the source of a sale. The categories can overlap, but they are not interchangeable. Twilio’s filing identifies Messaging and Voice as examples of usage-based products while also describing software and data capabilities. It does not equate all usage-based fees with API access.
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For context, Twilio reported 2025 product-group revenue of $2.878 billion for Messaging, $615.655 million for Voice and $523.470 million for Email. These are product-group figures, not an accounting of all API revenue; they should not be added together and labeled API sales. The source is Twilio’s 2025 Form 10-K.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to assess whether APIs make up most of a company’s revenue
- Define the category: Count only direct charges for API access if you want an API-specific share. Do not automatically include all cloud, usage-based or digitally delivered sales.
- Check the company’s role for APIs: They may be the core product, an integration or sales channel, or internal infrastructure supporting other products.
- Read the revenue disclosures: Determine whether the company reports API sales separately, bundles them into a product line, or does not disclose them.
- Compare like with like: A meaningful comparison needs comparable API-specific figures, periods and accounting definitions. Without them, a ranking of companies by API revenue share is not supported.
Alphabet’s and Microsoft’s reports list multiple revenue streams without a separate company-wide API line; Twilio provides a useful API-centered contrast, but its reported usage-based share still is not an API-only measure. The cited company figures refer to their 2025 reports, not a timeless or industry-wide average.
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