Wolfram Alpha opens API to developers

For a fee, you can put Wolfram Alpha results in your apps.

Rafe Needleman Former Editor at Large

Rafe Needleman reviews mobile apps and products for fun, and picks startups apart when he gets bored. He has evaluated thousands of new companies, most of which have since gone out of business.

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Rafe Needleman

Oct. 15, 2009 4:52 p.m. PT

Developers can now put Wolfram Alpha results in their own applications. The company today opened up its API to open access, allowing coders to query the Wolfram system and incorporate its data, calculations, and rich media results.

The company put out a blog post about the new API without showcasing any example apps. However, the post, by Wolfram's Schoeller Porter, does mention developer ideas for using Wolfram Alpha programmatically, from "researching cancer through computational biology" to "determining the optimal temperature for draft beer based on the current weather conditions."

A spokesperson for Wolfram confirms that the API is also being used internally to develop the forthcoming Wolfram iPhone app.

Access to the API is not free. The cost to use it depends on volume and intended use. The smallest developer plan, which provides 1,000 API lookups, is a one-time $60 plus $0.08 per additional request. Monthly plans range from $2,000 for 25,000 requests up to $220,000 for 10 million requests.