Free APIs for Your Projects

Based on your active projects (Vocari.cl, FlipReady, Humanloop Maritime, HealthAI), here’s a curated list of APIs that can accelerate development.

🤖 AI & Machine Learning APIs

Free & Open Source

API	Description	Free Tier	Auth
Ollama	Run LLMs locally (Llama, Mistral, etc.)	Unlimited	None
Hugging Face Inference API	Access 1000+ models	30k tokens/month	API Key
Claude via Anthropic	Most capable AI	$5/1M tokens	API Key
Groq	Fast inference API	14,400 requests/day	API Key
Fireworks AI	Open source models	500k tokens/month	API Key

For Maritime/Vocational Projects

# Example: Using Hugging Face for text classification
import requests

API_URL = "https://api-inference.huggingface.co/models/bert-base"
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {HF_TOKEN}"}

response = requests.post(API_URL, headers=headers, json={"inputs": "marine radar installation"})

🧭 Geolocation & Maps

Best Free Options

API	Description	Limits	Auth
OpenStreetMap/Nominatim	Maps, geocoding, routing	1 req/sec	None
Geoapify	Maps, places, routing	3,000 credits/day	API Key
MapTiler	Maps tiles, geocoding	100k tiles/month	API Key
Positionstack	Geocoding & reverse geocoding	25k/month	API Key

For Maritime

API	Description	Limits	Auth
Marine Traffic	Ship tracking, ports	Limited free	API Key
VesselFinder	AIS data, vessel positions	Limited	API Key
Searoute	Maritime routing, distances	N/A	Contact

// Example: Geocoding with Nominatim
const response = await fetch(
  'https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=Valparaíso+Chile&format=json'
);
const data = await response.json();
// Returns: lat, lon, display_name

📡 Weather & Environmental

Free Tiers

API	Description	Limits	Auth
Open-Meteo	Weather, marine, solar	Unlimited	None
OpenWeatherMap	Weather, air quality	60 calls/min	API Key
WeatherAPI	Weather, astronomy	1M calls/month	API Key
Storm Glass	Marine weather, tides	50 calls/day	API Key

# Example: Marine weather with Open-Meteo
import requests

url = "https://marine-api.open-meteo.com/v1/marine"
params = {
    "latitude": -33.05,
    "longitude": -71.62,
    "hourly": "wave_height,wave_direction",
    "forecast_days": 7
}
response = requests.get(url, params=params)

💼 Jobs & Vocational

For Vocari.cl

API	Description	Limits	Auth
Adzuna	Job listings by location	100 req/day	API Key
Jooble	Job search aggregation	Contact	API Key
OpenSkills	Skills taxonomy, job titles	N/A	None

Chile-Specific

// Example: Chile job data from Adzuna
const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.adzuna.com/v1/api/jobs/cl/search/1?' +
  'app_id=YOUR_ID&app_key=YOUR_KEY&where=Chile&results_per_page=20'
);

🏥 Health & Fitness

For HealthAI

API	Description	Limits	Auth
OpenFoodFacts	Food database, nutrition	Unlimited	None
HealthFinder	Health topics, guidelines	Unlimited	None
Nutritionix	Food tracking, nutrition	100/day	API Key
Apple HealthKit	iOS health data	OAuth	OAuth

💳 Payments

For Any Commercial Project

API	Description	Fees	Auth
Stripe	Cards, subscriptions	2.9% + 30¢	API Key
MercadoPago	LATAM payments	3-6%	API Key
PayPal	Classic + Braintree	2.9% + $0.30	API Key
LemonSqueezy	SaaS payments	5% flat	API Key

📧 Email & Communications

API	Description	Free Tier	Auth
Resend	Transactional email	3,000/month	API Key
Mailgun	Transactional email	5,000/month	API Key
Twilio	SMS, calls	$15 credit	API Key
Brevo (Sendinblue)	Email, SMS	300/day email	API Key

🗄️ Database & Storage

For Humanloop Maritime

API	Description	Free Tier	Auth
Supabase	PostgreSQL + Auth + Storage	500MB	API Key
PlanetScale	MySQL-compatible serverless	1 DB	API Key
MongoDB Atlas	Document database	512MB	API Key
zvec	SQLite vector search	Unlimited	None

# zvec - perfect for maritime equipment embeddings
cargo install zvec

📊 Data & Analytics

API	Description	Free Tier	Auth
BigQuery	Google analytics data	1TB queries/month	OAuth
Plausible	Privacy analytics	10k pageviews	API Key
Google Trends	Search trends	Limited	API Key

🔍 Search & Discovery

For RAG Systems

API	Description	Free Tier	Auth
SerpAPI	Google search results	100/month	API Key
Brave Search	Web search API	2,000/month	API Key
DuckDuckGo	Privacy search	100/month	API Key

🚢 Maritime-Specific

Equipment Manuals & Specs

Source	Description	Access
Furunousa.com	Radar, sonar manuals	Public
Raymarine	MFD documentation	Public
ICCAT	Ship tracking database	Registration
ITU	Maritime radio frequencies	Public

API	Description	Auth
NOAA Marine	US coastal forecasts	None
Windfinder	Wind, waves, weather	API Key
SailGrib	GRIB files, routing	Paid

🎯 Recommended Stack by Project

Humanloop Maritime

zvec (local vector DB) + Supabase (user data)
Open-Meteo (marine weather)
OpenStreetMap (port locations)
Claude API (RAG for manuals)

Vocari.cl

Supabase (student data, chat history)
Claude API (AI counselor)
SerpAPI (job market research)
Adzuna (job listings)

HealthAI

HealthKit (Apple Watch data)
OpenFoodFacts (nutrition database)
HealthFinder (medical guidelines)

FlipReady

Google Maps API (property locations)
MercadoPago (payments)
Twilio (notifications)

Quick Start: API Key Setup

# Create .env file
cat > .env << EOF
# AI
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
HUGGINGFACE_TOKEN=hf_...

# Geolocation  
OPENMETEO_API_KEY=

# Payments
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
MERCADO_PAGO_TOKEN=APP_...

# Communications
RESEND_API_KEY=re_...
TWILIO_SID=AC...
TWILIO_TOKEN=...
EOF

⚠️ Important Notes

Rate limits - Most free tiers have limits. Implement caching!
API keys - Never commit to git. Use environment variables.
CORS - Some APIs block browser requests. Use a proxy.
Reliability - Free tiers can disappear. Have fallbacks.

This list is updated regularly. Last update: March 2026

Free APIs for Your Projects - Jaime Hernández