Skip to content
English
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

What is an API call? (Legacy Plans)

In Dataslayer, legacy plans are based on usage measured through API calls, as these plans offer unlimited data sources, unlimited reports, and unlimited users.

For customers on legacy plans, tool usage is calculated by the number of API calls made on our Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and Looker Studio connectors. This is why legacy plans are differentiated by the daily number of API calls available.

If you have a licence with the new pricing structure, this article does not apply to you.

API calls in Google Sheets & Microsoft Excel (Legacy plans)


An API call is every time our extension needs to “call” the connector chosen (Facebook, Google Analytics, Google Ads…) to bring data into your spreadsheet. Therefore, every time you make a query or refresh it, you are consuming 1 API call, no matter how many accounts, metrics, or dimensions you have selected.

For example, if you have a spreadsheet with 3 queries (tables) of different data sources like Facebook, Google Ads, and Instagram and it is set up to automatically refresh twice a day, it will make 6 API daily calls.

You can check how many API calls you are consuming, as well as your daily limit, in the My Activity section on our website, or at the end of the extension:

Browser template (4)-4

API calls in Looker Studio (Legacy plans)

For more information, refer to this article.

In Looker Studio, API calls are also only relevant for legacy plans.

In general, in Looker Studio each chart, widget, or table is equivalent to 1 API call. Every time you add, refresh, or edit one of them, API calls will be consumed (depending on how many elements you have on the page, it may consume more or fewer API calls). However, there are some times that 1 widget is NOT equivalent to 1 API call:

  • Depending on the chart you've selected, Looker Studio can consume more than 1 API call per widget.
  • The Grand total row, the Blend data connector, the filters, and the comparison dates options add + 1 more API call to any graph.
  • If you share the document with your clients, every time they refresh the data or change an option in a control, the API calls associated with the Dataslayer account that manages the document will be consumed.

 When a query returns an error it DOES NOT count as an API call.

 

If you are unsure whether you are on a legacy plan or have questions about API calls, please contact us via our live chat on our website or by email. We’re happy to help!