Developer Documentation

Learn how to create and customize your own AddThis tools and get access to our library of developer resources and APIs.

What would you like to do?

Create Share Buttons

AddThis Toolbox
  • Difficult level: Easy
  • Allows custom icons and CSS
  • Comes with Analytics
Sharing Endpoints
  • Difficulty level: Easy
  • Allows custom icons and CSS
  • Can be used on Email Newsletters
  • DOES NOT need JavaScript
  • DOES NOT come with Analytics
Smart Layers API
  • Difficulty level: Intermediate
  • Tool's design cannot be changed
  • Comes with many pre-built themes, positions and layouts to choose from
  • Comes with Analytics
Core API
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Allows you to build your own share buttons from scratch
  • Allows custom icons and CSS
  • Comes with Analytics

Create Follow Buttons

AddThis Toolbox
  • Difficulty level: Intermediate
  • Comes with button icons that cannot be changed
  • Comes with many pre-built themes, positions and layouts to choose from
  • Comes with Analytics
Smart Layers API
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Bare bone API that allows you to build your own Follow buttons from scratch
  • Allows custom icons and CSS
  • Comes with Analytics
Core API
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Allows you to build your own share buttons from scratch
  • Allows custom icons and CSS
  • Comes with Analytics

Create Email Newsletter Buttons

Sharing Endpoints
  • Difficulty level: Easy
  • Allows custom icons and CSS
  • Can be used on Email Newsletters
  • DOES NOT need JavaScript
  • DOES NOT come with Analytics

Create Related Posts

Smart Layers API
  • Difficulty level: Intermediate
  • Tool's design cannot be changed
  • Comes with many pre-built themes, positions and layouts to choose from
  • Comes with Analytics

Access Analytics Data

Analytics API
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Allows you to download reports of your sharing data and integrate them into your own internal metrics dashboards
Content Feed API
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Allows you to access your RSS and JSON feeds of your top trending, shared and clicked content.
Data API
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Allows you to access your on and off domain data such as social engagement, traffic source, geo-location and site activity.

Developer Plugins

AngularJS
  • Difficulty level: Advanced
  • Install inline floating share buttons, follow buttons, related post tools, and Tip Jar
  • Includes a provider for pre-bootstrapping configuration and a service for changing configuration at any time after your app bootstraps

Need some help?

Not finding what you're looking for or need further assistance? Reach out to us.

Contact Support

Quick Overview

With AddThis APIs, you can easily create a variety tools that suites your individual needs, giving you more control over the tool’s options and services. Each API has its own advantages and limitations and can be used in most environments.

AddThis Toolbox

AddThis Toolbox allows you to easily create custom sharing and follow buttons with your own social icons and CSS, all while receiving the same analytics, performance and reliability as the standard AddThis button. Use this API if you want something easy, simple and straightforward in creating your sharing and following buttons.

Sharing Endpoints

AddThis Sharing Endpoints allows you to create sharing and following buttons through redirector endpoints without the need of running any JavaScript in the environment. With our Sharing Endpoints, you can easily create sharing buttons with your own social icons and CSS but won’t get the full benefit of acquiring visitor analytics. Use this API if you want to create share buttons without the need of JavaScript or analytics — most useful in creating share buttons for Email Newsletters.

Smart Layers API

AddThis Smart Layers API allows you to create sharing and follow buttons along with our Related Posts tool. With Smart Layers, you have the ability to use the many pre-configured positions, themes and layouts of each tools. Use this API if you want a simple method of deploying our web tools without the need of any additional icons or CSS.

Core API

AddThis Core API allows you to create your own share and follow buttons from scratch, bringing all of the functionality and stability of the AddThis toolset with the flexibility to match your specific needs and constraints. Use this API if you have in-house development abilities and need a more bare bone approach in creating share and follow button for further customization.

  AddThis Toolbox Sharing Endpoints Smart Layers API Core API
Can create share buttons
Can create follow buttons
Can create Related Post tool
Requires Javascript
Allows custom icons