API Integration

API integration lets different systems automatically exchange data through application programming interfaces — for example, connecting payment gateways, logistics providers, LLMs, or existing enterprise systems.

API integration is one of the most consistently underestimated line items in custom software development, especially when connecting to existing systems — it sounds like 'just wiring up an interface,' but the actual details run far deeper than that. Take legacy-system renewal: if a company mainly lacks external connectivity and the core system is otherwise stable, API-wrapper integration — leaving the legacy core untouched and adding an interface layer on top — costs about NT$500k-1.5M and takes 6-12 weeks for a mid-sized case; a full rewrite of a system the same size, by contrast, can run NT$1.5M-5M and stretch to 4-9 months, several times the cost and time. A common misconception is underestimating testing and debugging cost: when a legacy system lacks documentation or has unstable APIs, debugging can eat up a third or more of the whole project timeline, making it the part of a quote most often lowballed and the most common cause of delays. Picture a food factory connecting its e-commerce order feed: the feature work often takes just two weeks, while confirming data-format consistency and handling the platform's occasional API hiccups and version updates ends up taking over a month. If the legacy system can't even export basic data, API integration may have nowhere to hook in — that's the point to evaluate replacing the system rather than forcing an integration that's bound to stall.