Welcome

Overview

Welcome to the official API.Bible documentation. In this brief introduction, we'll answer high-level questions about our product, discuss its origins, explain why you might consider it, and share a bit about what you can expect from the rest of these docs.

What is API.Bible?

API.Bible is a tool for developers that provides access to a massive catalog of Bibles, including popular translations like NIV, NKJV, NASB, The Message, CST, NLT, The Amplified Bible, GNT, and more, through a fully-fledged API.

Historically, licensing Bibles has been a difficult and time-consuming process that had to be repeated for every translation required. API.Bible solves this hurdle for digital Bible use. We have collaborated with dozens of IP holders and gathered a massive catalogue of open access Bibles to provide you with everything you need to get the Bible into your app, all under a single license.

Who is ABS?

API.Bible is a product of the American Bible Society (ABS). We work with a global network of partners to reach the unreached and help all people engage. We're passionate about making the Bible available to every person in a language and format they can understand and afford, so all people may experience its life-changing message. Lives, communities, and nations change for good when the gospel goes forth, and our work - in collaboration with our partners - is to see this lived out to its fullest.

Why use our API?

There are many compelling reasons to choose API.Bible as your Bible API solution:

• Ease of licensing: We've standardized the experience so you only need to sign one license, saving you time and money.
• Flexible Pricing: We offer a wide range of price points, starting at as low as \$0.
• Hundreds of translations: All plans include hundreds of open access Bibles for no charge, with even our free Starter plan including your choice of up to 3 licensed Bibles for non-commercial use.
• Generous API Limits: From 5K / day on Starter to 150K / month on Pro (and even higher limits for Enterprise), you have room to grow and test out our API with no stress.
• Growing community of users: Every day, our community of developers - and the incredibly innovative products they're developing - grows. After signing up, join our Discord invite from your Dashboard to brainstorm, share ideas, get feedback on your app, and chat with members of the API.Bible development team.
• Integration with DBL and USX: If you are a card holder with the DBL, you can access all your Bibles in the DBL directly from API.Bible. And since we use the USX standard for our translations, you can get immediate parity between the DBL, API.Bible, and dozens of the biggest Bible organizations in the world.

Hundreds of Bibles in one unified format

We utilized the USX standard for all our Bibles, which builds on top of the ubiquitous USFM standard and optimizes it for the structure of the Bible and the technical needs of developers. Better still, this global framework is widely adopted by all major Bible organizations (such as the Digital Bible Library, YouVersion, SIL Global etc.), so you never have to worry about conflicting formats within and outside of API.Bible.

Our Documentation

Here is a brief breakdown of what you can expect in our documentation:

• Welcome: Explore common questions many developers, organizations, and partners have about API.Bible, and learn how you can support this ongoing global service.
• Quick Start: Learn the basics of account setup, authenticating your calls, common endpoints for Bible use and how licensing intersects with it, how to handle errors and manage your rate limits, and much more.
• Documentation: Dive into a thorough explanation (with examples) of the core features and endpoints of API.Bible.
• Resources: Try out a demo app to better understand how API.Bible works, and learn how you can style the responses you get from our API. Finally get a detailed overview of the Fair Use Management System (FUMS) we've developed, and learn how to integrate it effectively into your app.

We’re here to help

API.Bible is continuously being worked on and used by people and organizations all around the world. You can always reach out to support if you encounter issues or questions.