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Zapier uses both APIs and webhooks. Its standard app integrations exchange data with connected services through those services’ APIs. When you need to call a direct HTTP endpoint, API by Zapier and Webhooks by Zapier provide different ways to do it.
Use API by Zapier for reusable, authenticated connections such as OAuth 2.0 or API-key access. Use Webhooks by Zapier when a service needs to push an event into a Zap, or when you need a straightforward GET, POST, PUT, or custom HTTP request. The right choice depends mainly on direction, authentication, credential handling, and whether the request will be reused.
What APIs and webhooks do in Zapier
An API is a request-and-response interface exposed by a service. A Zap sends a request to an endpoint, usually including a method, URL, headers, authentication, and a body or query parameters. The service returns a response that later Zap steps can use. Most polished Zapier app integrations are built on this model behind their triggers and actions.
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A webhook is an HTTP message sent automatically when an event occurs. Instead of repeatedly asking whether something changed, the sending service pushes a payload to a URL. Zapier can also act as the sender, posting data from a Zap to another service’s endpoint. Zapier describes webhooks as “automated messages sent between apps” that include information about new items; see its Webhooks by Zapier guide.
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These are not competing technologies in every workflow. A single Zap can receive a webhook, transform the payload, and then call an API to create or update a record. Conversely, an API-based trigger can lead to a webhook action that notifies another system.
How Zapier uses APIs
Standard app integrations
When you select a trigger or action from a prebuilt app, Zapier handles the app’s API details for you. The app connection stores the authorization, while the Zap step maps fields into the request. Depending on the integration, triggers may poll an API for new records or use an event mechanism supplied by the app.
API by Zapier
API by Zapier is intended for services that do not have a dedicated Zapier app but do expose an HTTP API. Zapier’s documentation, updated June 29, 2026, says that API by Zapier and Webhooks by Zapier can call any API endpoint, even when no dedicated app exists.
The key distinction is the connection. API by Zapier supports OAuth 2.0, API keys, or no authentication, and keeps the credentials in an app connection that can be reused by authorized steps and workflows. This is preferable when several Zaps or teammates need the same service access without copying secrets into individual steps.
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API Request actions
If a service already has a Zapier integration but that integration lacks one operation you need, an API Request action can extend the existing app for that particular Zap. You supply the endpoint and request details while relying on the existing integration’s connection. This is a practical choice when the extra operation is local to one workflow and does not need to become a reusable action for an entire team.
Custom Actions and the Developer Platform
Custom Actions are suited to reusable operations that should appear as defined actions for multiple workflows. For a complete custom integration, advanced authentication, or specialized triggers, use the Zapier Developer Platform. Zapier’s platform documentation describes triggers as places where an integration gets data from an API; platform code can call an API endpoint directly or use a webhook-based trigger.
How Zapier uses webhooks
Receiving an event with Catch Hook
In a Zap, choose Webhooks by Zapier as the trigger and select Catch Hook. Zapier generates a unique URL. Configure the external service to send an HTTP request to that address whenever its event occurs. The Zap receives the request body as fields that subsequent steps can map.
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Sending a request from a Zap
Choose Webhooks by Zapier as an action when a Zap must call a URL directly. The documented methods are GET, POST, and PUT, with automatic data parsing; Custom Request is available for other methods or more precise request construction. Zapier explains these options in Send webhooks in Zap workflows.
You can place mapped Zap fields in the URL, query string, headers, or request body. The receiving endpoint determines the required content type and field names. A JSON API generally expects an application/json content type and a JSON object in the body, while form-based endpoints may require URL-encoded fields.
API by Zapier versus Webhooks by Zapier
| Consideration | API by Zapier or an API request | Webhooks by Zapier |
|---|---|---|
| Primary direction | Usually a request from Zapier to an API endpoint; API Request actions and custom actions extend an existing integration. | Receives event payloads or sends HTTP requests to a URL. |
| Authentication | API by Zapier supports OAuth 2.0, API keys, or no authentication. API Request behavior follows the integration being extended. | The documented Webhooks feature supports Basic Authentication or no authentication. |
| Credential storage | Credentials are held in a reusable app connection. | Credentials are entered in the webhook step. Zapier warns that people with access to the Zap may be able to read step fields. |
| Best fit | Reusable authenticated access, especially when several workflows need the same service. | Inbound event notifications, simple or unauthenticated calls, and one-off requests. |
| Trigger model | Polling or request/response, depending on the integration. | Push notifications through Catch Hook or Catch Raw Hook, or Retrieve Poll for a REST endpoint. |
The table describes the usual pattern rather than a hard technical boundary. An API can publish webhook subscriptions, and a webhook step can call an endpoint that happens to be a conventional API.
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Which option should you choose?
Choose API by Zapier when authentication and reuse matter
- The service requires OAuth 2.0 or an API key.
- You want one managed connection that can be reused across workflows.
- Several people need to build Zaps without seeing or re-entering the underlying credential.
- You are connecting to a service with no dedicated Zapier app but with documented API endpoints.
Start with the service’s API documentation. Identify the authorization flow, base URL, endpoint, required method, headers, parameters, request body, and response fields. Create the API by Zapier connection with the required authentication, then build the request as an action and test it with a representative record.
Choose Webhooks by Zapier when the endpoint is direct or event-driven
- An external service needs to push events into a Zap.
- The endpoint needs no authentication or only Basic Authentication.
- You are making a single request and do not need a reusable app connection.
- You need a quick GET, POST, PUT, or custom HTTP call.
For an outbound request, copy the endpoint exactly, select the method the API specifies, add required headers, and place the payload in the format the endpoint expects. Test with a known-safe record before enabling the Zap.
Choose API Request, Custom Actions, or the Developer Platform for a gap
Use an API Request action when a prebuilt integration exists but omits one operation and that operation is only needed in one Zap. Use Custom Actions when the operation should be reusable as a named action. Move to the Developer Platform when you need a complete custom app, advanced authentication, or triggers and actions that the built-in tools cannot express. Zapier’s overview of these approaches is in Build advanced workflows using code and APIs.
Can a Zap receive a webhook and call an API?
Yes. This is a common two-stage design:
- Create the trigger. Add Webhooks by Zapier and choose Catch Hook or Catch Raw Hook. Copy the generated URL into the sending service’s webhook settings.
- Send a test event. Trigger a sample event so Zapier can capture the payload. Confirm that the fields you need are present and correctly typed.
- Map and validate. Add formatter or code logic if the incoming values need normalization, such as converting a timestamp or splitting an identifier.
- Call the destination API. Add API by Zapier, an API Request action, or a prebuilt app action. Select the appropriate connection, endpoint, method, headers, and body.
- Handle the response. Use returned IDs or status fields in later steps, and add filters or paths for success and failure conditions.
- Test with duplicate and malformed events. Verify what happens if the sender retries, omits a field, or sends the same event twice. Design an idempotency check where the destination API supports one.
This pattern separates transport from business logic: the webhook delivers the event, while the API action authenticates and performs the durable update.
Connecting an app that has no Zapier integration
A missing app listing does not automatically prevent integration. First determine whether the service exposes a documented REST or other HTTP API. If it does, choose API by Zapier when the service uses OAuth 2.0 or API-key authentication and the connection will be reused. Choose Webhooks by Zapier for a simple unauthenticated or Basic Auth request, or when the service can push events to a Catch Hook URL.
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If the service offers neither a callable API nor outbound webhooks, Zapier cannot manufacture an interface for it with a basic webhook step. You may need the service’s own export, a middleware endpoint, or a custom integration built with the Developer Platform. Do not guess undocumented endpoints: obtain the URL, authentication rules, field schema, and rate-limit behavior from the service owner.
Security and reliability considerations
Protect inbound webhook URLs
A Catch Hook URL is effectively a secret. Zapier says the URL is linked to the Zap and does not change, and warns that anyone who obtains a public URL can send requests that trigger the Zap. Treat it like a password: do not place it in browser-side code, public documentation, screenshots, or repositories. If exposure is suspected, stop or replace the affected Zap and review its task history and downstream effects.
Keep credentials out of ordinary step fields
API by Zapier’s connection model is safer for reusable credentials because authorization is managed separately from ordinary request data. With Webhooks by Zapier, authentication values entered in step fields may be visible to people who can access the Zap. Limit Zap access to the people who need it and avoid placing long-lived secrets in URL query strings, which can appear in logs.
Debug the request, not just the Zap
When a request fails, check the endpoint, HTTP method, headers, authentication, payload format, and returned response. A 401 or 403 usually indicates an authentication or permission problem; a 404 points to the URL or path; a 400 commonly means a missing or incorrectly formatted field; and a 429 indicates that the service is applying a rate limit. Confirm the API’s required content type and whether it expects JSON, form data, or query parameters.
Zapier’s webhook tutorials assume familiarity with HTTP requests and API documentation and mention tools such as curl and Postman for generating and inspecting requests. Reproduce the call outside Zapier with the same URL, headers, and body, then compare the successful request with the Zap’s test data. Inspect the response body for a service-specific error message rather than relying only on the HTTP status.
Important design choices before you publish a Zap
- Authentication scope: grant the connection only the permissions the destination requires.
- Payload contract: document required fields, data types, and whether an empty value is allowed.
- Retries and duplicates: understand how the sender retries failed webhooks and whether the destination supports idempotency keys.
- Response handling: capture destination IDs and error details so later steps do not silently operate on an uncreated record.
- Version changes: monitor the service’s API version and deprecation notices; an endpoint that works today can change independently of Zapier.
- Access control: restrict who can edit the Zap, view task history, or test the connection.
The practical answer
Zapier is not limited to one transport. It uses APIs as the request-and-response foundation for app integrations and provides webhooks for push notifications and direct HTTP calls. Pick API by Zapier when you need authenticated, reusable access; pick Webhooks by Zapier for inbound events, simple calls, or one-off requests; and use API Request actions, Custom Actions, or the Developer Platform when a prebuilt integration does not expose the operation you need.
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