How does detection work?

A trigram statistical model over about 180 languages, computed in the worker with no external call, with language names resolved to readable form.

What does a result include?

The best language with its code and name, a confidence score, a ranked list of alternatives and a reliability flag.

Why does it say unreliable for short text?

Below about 40 characters closely related languages are hard to tell apart, so the response flags the result as unreliable rather than overstating certainty.

Does it handle mixed-language text?

It returns the dominant language. Mixed text is best split into segments before detection.

What does a call cost?

1 token. The free plan covers 500 detections a month.

ToolsMAINTAINED1 token / call

Language Detection API

Detect the language of any text from 180 candidates with confidence scores and ranked alternatives

Detect the language of any text from about 180 candidates, with ranked alternatives, confidence scores, readable language names and a reliability flag for short inputs. Pure computation on the platform, no third-party calls.

Every call needs an X-Api-Key header. A free key includes 500 tokens a month, no card required. 1 token per call, so the free plan covers about 500 calls a month.

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response.json

{
  "text_length": 47,
  "detected": "eng",
  "name": "English",
  "reliable": true,
  "candidates": [
    {
      "code": "eng",
      "name": "English",
      "score": 1
    },
    {
      "code": "sco",
      "name": "Scots",
      "score": 0.8812
    }
  ]
}

Production Ready: Battle-tested infrastructure with a 99.9% uptime SLA. Rate limits are generous, responses are consistent.
Simple Integration: Standard REST + JSON. Works with any HTTP client. Copy-ready code snippets in 4 languages.
One Key, 125+ APIs: Your DataAndAPIs subscription unlocks every API on the platform — anime, finance, sports, and more.

Use cases for Language Detection API

Route support messages to agents who speak the customer's language.
Pick the right translation source language automatically before calling the Translation API.
Tag user content by language for search, moderation and analytics.
Validate that content submitted for a market is actually in that market's language.

Language Detection API endpoints

Every endpoint with its parameters and a real example response.

OpenAPI definition Postman workspace

GETDetect Language
POSTDetect Language (POST)

GETDetect Language

https://api-language-detection.dataandapis.com/v1/detect

Query parameters

Parameter	Example
candidates	3	Optional
text	This is a simple English sentence for testing.	Required

Example request

curl "https://api-language-detection.dataandapis.com/v1/detect?candidates=3&text=This%20is%20a%20simple%20English%20sentence%20for%20testing." \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response

{
  "text_length": 47,
  "detected": "eng",
  "name": "English",
  "reliable": true,
  "candidates": [
    {
      "code": "eng",
      "name": "English",
      "score": 1
    },
    {
      "code": "sco",
      "name": "Scots",
      "score": 0.8812
    },
    {
      "code": "deu",
      "name": "German",
      "score": 0.7544
    }
  ]
}

POSTDetect Language (POST)

https://api-language-detection.dataandapis.com/v1/detect

Request body

{
  "text": "Ceci est un texte en français pour tester la détection.",
  "candidates": 3
}

Example request

curl -X POST "https://api-language-detection.dataandapis.com/v1/detect" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "text": "Ceci est un texte en français pour tester la détection.", "candidates": 3 }'

Example response

{
  "text_length": 55,
  "detected": "fra",
  "name": "French",
  "reliable": true,
  "candidates": [
    {
      "code": "fra",
      "name": "French",
      "score": 1
    },
    {
      "code": "glg",
      "name": "Galician",
      "score": 0.7217
    },
    {
      "code": "cat",
      "name": "Catalan",
      "score": 0.6945
    }
  ]
}

Where the data comes from

Source: Trigram language model (franc, MIT) with Unicode CLDR language names. Pure computation.
Freshness: Computed on every call.

One install. Every endpoint.

No proprietary SDKs needed. Any HTTP client works. Pick your language and paste.

3languages

2endpoints

RESTarchitecture

1key for all APIs

Fully typed responses — auto-completion in your IDE
Tracks the API in lockstep — new endpoints land same day
One key works across 125+ APIs on the platform

import axios from 'axios';

const { data } = await axios.get(
  'https://api-language-detection.dataandapis.com/v1/detect',
  { headers: { 'X-Api-Key': process.env.API_KEY } }
);

Language Detection API · X-Api-Key

Explore the endpoints

Browse request parameters and inspect live example responses.

Available Endpoints

Request Parameters

API URL

Headers

X-Api-Key

Query Parameters

candidates(Optional)

text(Required)

Target:

Client:

import axios from 'axios';

const url = 'https://api-language-detection.dataandapis.com/v1/detect';
const { data } = await axios.get(url, {
  headers: { 'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY' }
});