faith.tools

API.Bible
Editor's Choice

API.Bible

Bible APIs Bible Translation For Developers
Visit Website

Domain Rating 65 out of 100. Strong web presence

Domain Rating by Ahrefs api.bible

api.bible has a Domain Rating of 65 out of 100 from Ahrefs. I call that a strong web presence.

My labels: Small 0–14, Modest 15–29, Moderate 30–49, Strong 50–69, Very strong 70–100.

Domain Rating estimates the strength of the links pointing to this website from other websites. It does not measure app quality, safety, teaching, or whether the makers are trustworthy. New and small websites often score low.

Whatever the score, check who makes the app and read its privacy policy before you sign up or pay.

Checked . Updated monthly.

Description Embeds

If you're a developer building a Bible app, church website, or Scripture-based tool, API.Bible gives you on-demand access to hundreds of Bible versions in 145+ languages through a single API.^1 Whether you need text or audio, it's all served through clean REST endpoints for search, books, chapters, verses, sections, and passages.^2

API.Bible is built and maintained by the American Bible Society (ABS), an organization with over 200 years of history dedicated to making Scripture accessible to everyone.^3 The service has been reliably maintained for over 15 years.^1 It integrates directly with the Digital Bible Library (DBL), the largest online Bible library in the world, which offers text, audio, video, print, and Braille Scripture in thousands of languages and is now marking 15 years with its "Next Phase."^4 Popular translations available include the NIV, NLT, NKJV, NASB, and CSB,^1 along with The Message, the Amplified Bible, and the Good News Translation.^2

The platform offers a free Starter plan (non-commercial, 5,000 monthly calls, pick 3 licensed Bibles) and a Pro plan with 150,000 monthly calls and commercial licensing options.^2 Individual copyrighted translations can be licensed for commercial use, and Enterprise plans have monthly limits negotiated based on needs.^2 Fair Use Management System (FUMS) tracking helps ABS communicate the value of Scripture access via the API to copyright holders and publishers.^5

API.Bible is part of ABS's Digital Bible Lab, led by Executive Director Bryce Allison, who studied Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic in Israel before dedicating his career to Scripture technology.^6 DBL in turn enables partners such as YouVersion to offer Scripture in thousands of languages.^4

Notable
  • Part of the Every Tribe Every Nation collective impact alliance^6
  • Integrated with Runbear for AI-powered Bible workflows in Slack, Teams, and Discord^7
  • ABS publishes the annual State of the Bible report - Chapter 7, The Supernatural, arrived in October 2026, with one final chapter due in November^8
  • get.bible (Mar 2026) published a helpful comparison clarifying API.Bible (developer-facing "digital storefront") vs Library.Bible/DBL (organizational "data warehouse") - both operated by ABS^9
  • Active developer documentation at docs.api.bible with guides for Bibles, Books, Chapters, Verses, Passages, Sections, Search, and Audio Bibles^2
  • Official TypeScript SDK (@americanbible/api-bible-sdk) gives developers type-safe access to Bibles, chapters, verses, passages, audio, and search - with React and Python SDKs coming soon^10

Last updated: November 5, 2026

By installing or using API.Bible, you are subject to their Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners.

This page was researched by the faith.tools AI agent. Own this app? Request a change for this page.

Easily embed this badge onto your website or footer to share your app has been vetted and recommended by faith.tools.

Featured on faith.tools
Download Badge
Featured on faith.tools
Download Badge

API.Bible: Frequently Asked Questions

Is API.Bible free?

There is a free tier, with one restriction that decides it for most people. The Starter plan is $0 and gives you 5,000 API calls a month plus your pick of 3 copyrighted translations, alongside the Creative Commons and public domain versions. The restriction is in their own wording: Starter is strictly non-commercial, with no ads, fees, freemium models or upsells allowed.

So a side project, a study tool or a church's own site qualifies. Anything that earns money — including through ads or a freemium upgrade — does not. Pro starts at $29/month for 150,000 calls.

Can I use the NIV or NASB in an app that makes money?

Yes, with a license, and the price is published rather than hidden behind a sales call. Copyrighted translations are licensed individually for commercial use starting at $10/month per translation, on top of a Pro plan.

Read their definition of commercial before assuming you're outside it. By API.Bible's terms anything that generates revenue counts, and that includes advertising and freemium upsells, not just charging users directly. Budget per translation, not per app — three copyrighted translations is three licenses.

Can I use the ESV in my app?

Go to Crossway for the ESV — they run their own API rather than licensing it out through the general Bible APIs. The official one is at api.esv.org: free for non-commercial use with an API key, rate-limited to 5,000 queries a day, and capped at 500 verses per query. Commercial use needs a separate license requested from Crossway directly.

Who runs API.Bible?

The American Bible Society, through its Digital Bible Lab — the same team behind the Digital Bible Library, the Scripture repository a large part of the Bible app ecosystem is built on.

That matters for an unglamorous reason: API.Bible's catalog exists because ABS holds publisher relationships an independent developer could never negotiate alone. It also explains FUMS, the Fair Use Management System — the tracking snippet they ask you to include so they can show publishers how Scripture is actually being engaged. Some developers find it friction, and it is. It's also the reason the copyrighted translations are available to you at all.

Apps like API.Bible

Related apps, each reviewed against the same selection criteria .

See all 13 Bible APIs apps

Keep up with faith.tools

Join our newsletter to discover the best faith tools and the dedicated people behind them