Why Use a Barcode API Instead of a Library?

When you need to generate barcodes, you have two options: install a library in your language of choice, or call a hosted API. Both work. The right choice depends on your situation.

When a Library Makes Sense

If you’re generating a handful of barcodes in a script, a library is fine. You install the package, call a function, get an image. No network request, no API key, no latency beyond what it takes to render the image in-process.

Libraries are also the right choice if you’re working in an environment with no outbound network access, or if you need to generate barcodes inside a tight loop where every millisecond counts and you can’t afford an HTTP round-trip.

When an API Makes Sense

For most production applications, a hosted API is a better fit. Here’s why.

Consistency Across Your Stack

If your platform has a Go backend, a Python data pipeline, and a Node.js microservice — all of which need to generate barcodes — you’d need three different barcode libraries. Each has its own API, its own rendering engine, and its own set of bugs.

With a hosted API, every service calls the same endpoint and gets the same output. The barcode for EAN 4006381333931 looks identical whether it was requested by Go, Python, or JavaScript.

Standards Compliance Without the Research

Barcode standards are deceptively complex. EAN-13 has rules about module widths relative to the X-dimension. UPC-A has specific quiet zone requirements measured in modules, not pixels. QR codes have four error correction levels, each with different data capacity limits.

A good barcode API handles all of this for you. You don’t need to read the GS1 General Specifications or the ISO/IEC 18004 QR code standard. You send data, and you get a compliant barcode back.

No Dependency to Maintain

Every library you add to your project is a dependency you own. It needs to be updated, monitored for security vulnerabilities, and tested against new language versions. Image rendering libraries in particular tend to have native dependencies that complicate builds and CI pipelines.

An API call is a few lines of code with no transitive dependencies. If the API improves its rendering or adds a feature, you get the benefit without changing a line of code.

Print-Ready Output

If your barcodes end up on physical labels — shipping labels, product packaging, inventory tags — you need them at the right DPI, with the right quiet zones, at the right dimensions. Most barcode libraries give you a pixel buffer and leave the print-readiness to you.

A hosted API can return print-ready output: 300 DPI PNGs with correct quiet zone margins, or SVG files that scale to any physical size without pixelation.

The Trade-Off: Latency

The main downside of an API is network latency. An in-process library call takes microseconds. An API call takes tens to hundreds of milliseconds, depending on network conditions and barcode complexity.

For most use cases — generating barcodes for labels, embedding them in PDFs, displaying them on a web page — this is perfectly acceptable. You’re not generating barcodes in a tight render loop. You’re generating them as part of a workflow that already includes database queries, template rendering, and network I/O.

Our Take

We built Barcoding because we think barcode generation is a commodity that shouldn’t require in-house expertise. If barcodes are a small part of what your application does — which is the case for most applications — you shouldn’t be maintaining barcode rendering code. You should be calling an API and spending your engineering time on what makes your product different.