Software development is experiencing a major shift, with more organizations moving from a code-first to an API-first approach. According to Postman‘s sixth annual 2024 State of the API Report, 74% of responders are API first in 2024, up from 66% in 2023.

Combined with data observed on the Postman API Platform serving more than 35 million users and 500,000 organizations, this year’s report explores themes related to API development trends, collaboration challenges, and the rise of AI.

“With our annual State of the API report, we aim to shed light on realities of API development today and where they are headed in the future. This year, the findings are illuminating that the API-first world is coming to life — and this approach is more important than ever as organizations grapple with AI adoption,” said Ankit Sobti, co-founder and CTO of Postman. “From faster production times and better collaboration to the use of multiple gateways, organizations that embrace this model are setting themselves up for long-term success.”

Key findings include:

• Faster API production. When APIs are the core of development, the advantages are clear with 63% of developers able to produce an API within a week — up from 47% last year. Additionally, 67% of teams using Postman team workspaces can produce an API in less than a week, compared to 58% of those who don’t use workspaces.
• Collaboration challenges as the hidden bottleneck. Despite faster production, developers still face hurdles when collaborating on APIs. Fifty-eight percent of developers rely on internal documentation tools, but 39% say inconsistent docs are the biggest roadblock. Furthermore, 44% of developers dig through source code to understand APIs, but over half collaborate with product managers, quality assurance, and designers who can’t always interpret the code.
• Multiple gateways reflect a new era of API management. The traditional single-gateway model is becoming obsolete, with the market demanding support for all types of APIs whether private, partner, or public. Now, nearly one-third of API publishers use multiple gateways, reflecting the complexity of managing APIs in diverse environments
• AI-driven traffic surges while the broader landscape diversifies. Postman has seen a 73% increase in AI-driven API traffic on its platform over the past year. And while ChatGPT will remain at the top next year with 43% of survey respondents planning to use it next year, developers will also be looking to diversify AI tooling, models, and deployments like GitHub Copilot and Google Gemini.