API Ninjas alternative: 150+ endpoints, one key, free tier

API Ninjas offers 100+ utility APIs behind a single API key. The free tier gives you 10,000 requests per month with no support. The Pro plan is $14.99/month. The APIs work, but the response formats vary across endpoints, the documentation is thin, and there's no interactive playground to test before integrating.

If you're building developer tooling or backend pipelines that need IP lookup, email validation, hashing, DNS queries, or QR code generation, you've got options beyond API Ninjas. Botoi covers 150+ developer-focused endpoints under one API key with a free tier, consistent JSON responses, interactive Scalar docs, an MCP server for AI assistants, and a TypeScript SDK.

This post compares the two services head to head. Where they overlap, where they differ, and which one fits your use case.

Feature comparison: API Ninjas vs botoi

	API Ninjas	botoi
Endpoint count	100+ across all categories	150+ developer utility endpoints
Free tier	10,000 req/month, no support	5 req/min (no monthly cap), no signup needed
Paid plan	$14.99/mo (50,000 req), $39.99/mo (500,000 req)	$9/mo (300,000 req), $49/mo (3,000,000 req)
Response format	Varies by endpoint; no wrapper	Consistent success + data wrapper on every endpoint
Documentation	Static docs, no playground	Interactive Scalar playground with live API calls
OpenAPI spec	Not published	OpenAPI 3.1 at api.botoi.com/openapi.json
MCP server	None	49 tools via MCP at api.botoi.com/mcp
SDK	Python SDK	TypeScript SDK (npm), OpenAPI spec for codegen
Request method	GET with query params	POST with JSON body
Auth header	X-Api-Key	Standard Authorization: Bearer
Infrastructure	AWS	Cloudflare Workers (edge, global)

Two things stand out. First, botoi gives you 6x the requests at a lower price point: 300,000 requests for $9/month vs. 50,000 for $14.99/month. Second, botoi publishes an OpenAPI spec, which means you can auto-generate client libraries in Go, Python, Java, or any language with an OpenAPI codegen tool.

Overlapping endpoints: side-by-side code

Both services cover IP geolocation, email validation, and QR code generation. Here's how they compare request-for-request.

IP geolocation

API Ninjas (GET /v1/iplookup):

curl -X GET "https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/iplookup?address=8.8.8.8" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_NINJAS_KEY"

Response:

{
  "is_valid": true,
  "country": "United States",
  "country_code": "US",
  "region_code": "CA",
  "region": "California",
  "city": "Mountain View",
  "zip": "94043",
  "lat": 37.386,
  "lon": -122.0838,
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "isp": "Google LLC",
  "address": "8.8.8.8"
}

Botoi (POST /v1/ip/lookup):

curl -X POST https://api.botoi.com/v1/ip/lookup \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"ip": "8.8.8.8"}'

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "ip": "8.8.8.8",
    "city": "Mountain View",
    "region": "California",
    "country": "US",
    "countryName": "United States",
    "lat": 37.386,
    "lon": -122.0838,
    "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
    "isp": "Google LLC",
    "org": "Google Public DNS",
    "as": "AS15169 Google LLC"
  }
}

Both return city, region, country, coordinates, timezone, and ISP. Botoi wraps everything in a success + data envelope and adds the ASN. API Ninjas returns a flat object with no wrapper.

Email validation

API Ninjas (GET /v1/emailverifier):

curl -X GET "https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/emailverifier?email=test@tempmail.xyz" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_NINJAS_KEY"

Response:

{
  "email": "test@tempmail.xyz",
  "is_valid": true,
  "is_disposable": true,
  "is_role_account": false,
  "mx_records_found": true
}

Botoi (POST /v1/email/validate):

curl -X POST https://api.botoi.com/v1/email/validate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"email": "test@tempmail.xyz"}'

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "email": "test@tempmail.xyz",
    "valid": true,
    "format": true,
    "domain": "tempmail.xyz",
    "mx": true,
    "disposable": true
  }
}

Similar data. Both check MX records and disposable email status. Botoi splits these into separate endpoints too: /v1/email-mx/verify for MX-only checks and /v1/disposable-email/check for disposable-only checks. API Ninjas bundles everything into one endpoint.

QR code generation

API Ninjas (GET /v1/qrcode):

curl -X GET "https://api.api-ninjas.com/v1/qrcode?data=https://example.com&format=png" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_NINJAS_KEY" \
  --output qr.png

API Ninjas returns a raw image binary. You pipe it to a file.

Botoi (POST /v1/qr/generate):

curl -X POST https://api.botoi.com/v1/qr/generate \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"text": "https://example.com", "size": 300, "format": "svg"}'

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "url": "https://api.botoi.com/v1/qr/generate?text=...",
    "format": "svg",
    "size": 300
  }
}

Botoi returns a URL to the generated image. You can request SVG or PNG. The response stays JSON, consistent with every other endpoint. No binary pipe, no file-writing step.

What botoi has that API Ninjas doesn't

Beyond overlapping endpoints, botoi offers several categories API Ninjas doesn't cover:

• MCP server. 49 developer tools exposed via the Model Context Protocol. Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code connect to api.botoi.com/mcp and call tools without leaving the editor. DNS lookups, JWT signing, Base64 encoding, PII detection, all from your AI assistant. API Ninjas has no MCP support.
• PDF generation. Convert HTML or Markdown to PDF with /v1/pdf/from-html and /v1/pdf/from-markdown. No Puppeteer, no Chromium dependency. API Ninjas doesn't offer PDF generation.
• Screenshot capture. Send a URL to /v1/screenshot/capture and get back a PNG, JPEG, or WebP. Full-page capture, custom viewports, JavaScript rendering included. API Ninjas has no screenshot endpoint.
• Webhook inbox. Spin up a temporary webhook URL with /v1/webhook/inbox, point any service at it, and inspect every payload. No tunnels, no servers. API Ninjas doesn't offer webhook debugging.
• Short URLs. Create trackable short links via /v1/short-url/create and check stats with /v1/short-url/:slug/stats.
• Code formatting and detection. Format code in 20+ languages with /v1/code/format, detect the language with /v1/code/detect, and syntax-highlight with /v1/code/highlight.
• Schema conversion. Convert JSON to TypeScript types, Zod schemas, or JSON Schema with /v1/schema/json-to-typescript, /v1/schema/json-to-zod, and /v1/schema/json-to-jsonschema.
• Interactive docs. Scalar-powered API playground at api.botoi.com/docs where you test endpoints live before writing code. API Ninjas has static documentation only.

What API Ninjas has that botoi doesn't

API Ninjas covers a wider range of topics. Many of its endpoints serve non-developer audiences:

• Trivia and fun facts. Random trivia questions, historical events, celebrity data, riddles, and dad jokes. Useful for quiz apps and entertainment products.
• Animals and nature. Animal facts, dog breeds, cat breeds. Good for educational apps and pet-related products.
• Recipes and nutrition. Recipe search, calorie data, nutrition info. Relevant for health and fitness apps.
• Exercises and fitness. Exercise database with muscle group targeting. Built for workout tracking apps.
• Quotes, famous people, and historical events. Pre-built content APIs for apps that surface curated text.

Botoi doesn't offer any of these. Its scope is developer tooling: text processing, data formatting, validation, lookup, encoding, generation, and infrastructure utilities. If your app needs a trivia API or a recipe database, API Ninjas is the right pick for those endpoints.

The honest summary: API Ninjas is broader. Botoi is deeper on developer tools. The two aren't mutually exclusive. You could use botoi for developer utilities and API Ninjas for content APIs.

TypeScript SDK and OpenAPI spec

API Ninjas provides a Python SDK. Botoi provides a TypeScript SDK with typed methods for every endpoint:

import Botoi from "@botoi/sdk";

const botoi = new Botoi({ apiKey: process.env.BOTOI_API_KEY });

// IP geolocation
const ip = await botoi.ip.lookup({ ip: "8.8.8.8" });

// Email validation
const email = await botoi.email.validate({ email: "dev@example.com" });

// QR code
const qr = await botoi.qr.generate({ text: "https://example.com" });

// DNS lookup
const dns = await botoi.dns.lookup({ domain: "example.com", type: "MX" });

// All four calls use the same API key. One import. Typed responses.

Botoi also publishes an OpenAPI 3.1 specification at api.botoi.com/openapi.json. You can feed that spec into any OpenAPI codegen tool to generate clients in Go, Python, Ruby, Java, C#, or Kotlin. API Ninjas doesn't publish an OpenAPI spec, so you're limited to their Python SDK or writing raw HTTP calls.

Key points

• API Ninjas offers 100+ APIs at $14.99/month for 50,000 requests. Botoi offers 150+ developer endpoints at $9/month for 300,000 requests. Botoi's free tier requires no signup.
• Response formats differ across API Ninjas endpoints. Botoi wraps every response in a consistent success + data envelope. One error handler works across all 150+ endpoints.
• Botoi includes features API Ninjas lacks: MCP server (49 tools for AI assistants), PDF generation, screenshot capture, webhook inbox, short URLs, schema conversion, and interactive Scalar docs.
• API Ninjas covers non-developer content: trivia, recipes, animal facts, exercises, and quotes. Botoi focuses on developer utilities only. Choose based on what your app needs.
• Both services are compatible. Use botoi for developer tooling and API Ninjas for content APIs if you need both categories.