[musingsole]

> Why do I need an API to convert images? Find emojis? Convert "John" to "Hello John"? (ok the helloworld service is just a demo.) I can do that on the client using Javascript.

Twofold: First, it's similar to why they wouldn't just clone a developer's API on the network. The system that can do image conversion requires maintenance. A system that is calling an API providing that image conversion offloads that maintenance elsewhere (presumably to something that can manage the maintenance more efficiently than someone who just incidentally needs the feature).

Second, APIs will become the primitives everything else is built out of in time. Custom code in clients just become more and more of a shim over time.

[dolmen]

If you are ready to delegate image handling to a SaaS AND do not want bother about it, just use the best one that will allow you to grow in API coverage and volume (number of images, number of derivations, number of clients) so you'll be better covered by an expert in that domain.

A micro API might be useful for a micro project. But if your project is micro, do you really need to bother with one more SaaS dependency? Just use a full SaaS app building platform that will provide a fully integrated developer experience. (https://www.nocode.tech/ is a directory).