TL;DR

API integrations let software talk to software. For testimonial platforms, this means automating the entire review lifecycle — from request to display — without manual intervention.

Key Points

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An API (Application Programming Interface) defines a contract between systems: what requests are valid, what data will be returned, and how errors are communicated.

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REST APIs — the most common type — use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and return data in JSON format, making them accessible from virtually any programming language.

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API integrations eliminate manual data transfer: testimonials collected in ShowTrust can be pushed automatically to your CRM, website, or analytics platform without any human copying and pasting.

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Authentication is critical for API security: ShowTrust uses API keys and OAuth to ensure that only authorized systems can read or write your testimonials data.

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Rate limits and error handling are essential considerations when building robust API integrations — production systems must gracefully handle API downtime without breaking the host application.

Why API Integrations Matter for Testimonial Tools

Embed code and widgets solve the display problem — getting testimonials onto your website. API integrations solve the workflow problem: automating the collection, routing, and distribution of testimonials across your entire software stack. Without an API, collecting a testimonial requires a human to notice the happy customer, reach out manually, receive the response, and paste the quote onto the website. With an API integration, a positive Net Promoter Score response in your survey tool can automatically trigger a Review Request in ShowTrust, and once the customer submits their testimonial, it can be pushed to your CRM as a contact note, your Slack as a team notification, and your website widget as a live update — all without anyone touching a keyboard. This is why API integrations are the difference between a testimonial program and a testimonial machine.

ShowTrust API Use Cases

ShowTrust's API opens up a wide range of automation possibilities for teams that want to go beyond the standard embed code implementation. Product teams can trigger review requests automatically when users complete key in-app actions — finishing onboarding, hitting a usage milestone, or upgrading their plan. Marketing teams can pull their highest-rated testimonials via API to populate email newsletters, social media templates, and sales decks dynamically. Customer success teams can route new testimonials to the right Slack channel by customer segment or product area. And developers building white-label products can use the API to create a fully branded testimonials experience under their own domain without any ShowTrust branding visible. The webhook system complements the API by pushing events to your stack in real time, so you don't need to poll for new data.

Sources & References

Web API — Wikipedia ↗

Last updated: June 9, 2026

Related Terms

Webhook

A webhook is an automated HTTP callback that sends data from one application to another in real time when a specific event occurs — for example, notifying a CRM the moment a new testimonial is submitted, or triggering a Slack message when a customer leaves a five-star review.

Embed Code

Embed code is a snippet of HTML, JavaScript, or iframe markup provided by a third-party service that can be pasted directly into a website's source to display external content or functionality — such as a testimonial widget, video player, or review feed — without requiring a full integration.

Widget

A widget is a small, self-contained, embeddable component that runs on a website to display or capture a specific type of content — such as a testimonial carousel, rating badge, or live social proof notification — without requiring deep integration with the host site's codebase.

White Label

White label refers to a product or service produced by one company that other businesses can rebrand and resell as their own — presenting it to their customers under their own name, logo, and domain — without any visible attribution to the original creator.

iFrame

An iFrame (inline frame) is an HTML element that embeds another HTML document within the current page — allowing external content such as videos, maps, forms, and third-party widgets to be displayed as a seamlessly integrated section of the host page, while running in an isolated browsing context.

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