5 Free Security APIs Every Developer Should Know (With Python Code)

Most security tools cost $200+/month. But you can build a surprisingly powerful security toolkit using only free APIs. Here are 5 APIs I use regularly — all free, all with Python examples. 1. VirusTotal — Scan URLs and Files (Free: 500/day) Check if a URL or file is malicious against 70+ antivirus engines. import requests VT_KEY = ' your_key ' # Free from virustotal.com def vt_check_url ( url ): import base64 url_id = base64 . urlsafe_b64encode ( url . encode ()). decode (). strip ( ' = ' ) resp = requests . get ( f ' https://www.virustotal.com/api/v3/urls/ { url_id } ' , headers = { ' x-apikey ' : VT_KEY } ). json () stats = resp [ ' data ' ][ ' attributes ' ][ ' last_analysis_stats ' ] return { ' malicious ' : stats . get ( ' malicious ' , 0 ), ' clean ' : stats . get ( ' harmless ' , 0 )} Full tutorial 2. Shodan — Find Exposed Devices (Free: 100 queries/month) Search engine for internet-connected devices. Find exposed servers, databases, webcams. SHODAN_KEY = ' your_key ' # Free fro