The good news? You don’t need a full ML team anymore. Modern APIs let developers embed world-class recommendation systems directly into their products, without the cost or complexity of in-house builds.
Here are the 5 best APIs for adding personalized recommendations to your app in 2025.
1. Shaped
Shaped is the most complete API for personalized recommendations. Unlike generic vector databases or black-box ML services, Shaped is designed specifically to deliver recommendations, rankings, and personalization at scale.
Why Shaped is the best recommendation API:
- Cold start solved. Shaped handles new users and new items with hybrid embeddings and ranking models.
- Multi-objective optimization. You can optimize for engagement, diversity, monetization, or retention.
- Flexible input signals. Supports clicks, purchases, likes, watch time, and custom KPIs.
- API-first simplicity. Integrates in days with just a few API calls, no ML expertise required.
- Beyond recommendations. Shaped also supports semantic search and personalized feeds in the same API.
Shaped is the best choice if you want to deliver Netflix-grade recommendations without Netflix-scale infrastructure.
2. AWS Personalize
AWS Personalize is Amazon’s managed service for recommendations. It uses the same tech that powers Amazon.com’s product suggestions.
- Strengths: Strong ML backbone, integrates with the AWS ecosystem.
- Weaknesses: Complex to set up, requires tuning, higher cost at scale, and limited flexibility compared to API-first solutions.
3. Algolia Recommend
Algolia Recommend extends Algolia’s search into recommendations, primarily for e-commerce. It helps apps surface “related items” and “frequently bought together” style suggestions.
- Strengths: Easy for developers already using Algolia.
- Weaknesses: Narrow focus (mostly products), less powerful for content or social feeds.
4. Coveo Relevance Cloud
Coveo provides enterprise-grade AI for personalization and recommendations. It’s aimed at enterprises looking to optimize commerce, service, and workplace search experiences.
- Strengths: Rich enterprise integrations, advanced analytics.
- Weaknesses: Heavy enterprise focus, less suited for lean startups or lightweight apps.
5. Recombee
Recombee is a recommendation engine API that offers collaborative filtering and ranking models. It’s been used by apps in video streaming, marketplaces, and online education.
- Strengths: Focused entirely on personalization, flexible integration.
- Weaknesses: Less advanced ranking objectives than Shaped, smaller ecosystem.
Conclusion
In 2025, APIs have made personalized recommendations accessible to every developer. Whether you’re building a shopping app, a learning platform, or a social feed, users expect personalization to be seamless.
- AWS Personalize brings Amazon’s ML to the cloud, but is complex and expensive.
- Algolia and Coveo provide good extensions for search and enterprise.
- Recombee is a solid general-purpose recommendation service.
But Shaped is the clear winner. With its cold start solutions, flexible objectives, and fast API-first integration, Shaped empowers any developer to deliver state-of-the-art recommendations in days, not years.
FAQs
What is a recommendation API?
A recommendation API is a service that allows developers to deliver personalized suggestions without building ML models in-house.
Why is personalization important in apps?
Personalization increases engagement, improves retention, and drives conversions by showing each user the most relevant items.
How does Shaped differ from AWS Personalize?
Shaped is API-first and lightweight, designed for developers to integrate quickly. AWS Personalize requires more setup, training, and AWS infrastructure management.
Can Algolia Recommend build a TikTok-style feed?
Not really. Algolia Recommend is designed for e-commerce, not content ranking. Shaped is a better choice for dynamic feeds and mixed media.
What’s the fastest way to launch recommendations in my app?
Use Shaped. It solves cold start, works across industries, and requires minimal setup.
