Pinterest Opens API Doors To Developers

Pinterest’s API isn’t just for marketers anymore.

The virtual scrapbooking site announced yesterday (May 4) the beta version of the Pinterest Developers Platform, which is a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow developers to build apps and integrations based on Pinterest users’ Pins, boards, and followers.

While the new platform is not necessarily open to anyone and everyone — instead requiring interested third-party developers to apply for access — the announcement is certainly a broader step compared to Pinterest’s previously released API, Marketing Developer Partners, which was (and is) available exclusively to select marketers.

As Pinterest’s developer platform lead Josh Inkenbrandt describes in the blog post announcing the release, when a Pinterest User (or “Pinner”) signs into a third-party app with his or her Pinterest account, he or she is given access to build a personalized and curated experience based on his or her boards and Pins. Additionally, the platform allows people to create multiple Pins or boards in order to further the distribution of a third party’s content across Pinterest.

Inkenbrandt shared with TechCrunch what led to the creation of the Pinterest Developer Platform, saying: “We hosted an internal event to see what people in here would build on top of that, and the results were really cool. So we realized, we need to be able to start opening this up and see what developers would want to do. We crafted our policies to make sure the incentives are aligned with developers, with Pinterest and obviously with our users. For us, an app that’s great is an app where our Pinners are the ones that are benefited the most.”

As for how many third-party developers Pinterest plans to allow access to the developer platform, Inkenbrandt told TechCrunch that the number will at first be relatively small — in the tens or hundreds — but will expand over time.