# API overview

> Shuttle exposes several APIs depending on which product you're integrating. This page explains the structure and helps you find the right place to start.

Shuttle exposes several APIs depending on which product you're integrating. This page explains the structure and helps you find the right place to start.

## Platform API

The [Platform API](/platforms/reference/platform-api/) is for platforms providing payments as an embedded, white-labelled feature within their own application. The platform owns the payment experience — merchants never interact with Shuttle directly. The platform provisions merchant instances, controls the full payment flow, and accesses all payment APIs using its own credentials.

It includes the full Merchant Instance API scoped to any merchant the platform manages, plus platform-specific endpoints for instance management.

## Merchant Instance API

The [Merchant Instance API](/platforms/reference/merchant-instance-api/) is the core payment API. It is used directly by merchants with API access, and by platforms acting on behalf of a specific merchant they manage.

It covers all payment operations within a single merchant account: creating payments, managing subscriptions, handling payment methods, and more.

## Payment Links accounts API

The [Payment Links accounts API](/platforms/reference/payment-links-for-platforms/) is for platforms that connect to their merchants' own Shuttle Payment Links accounts, rather than creating the accounts themselves. Each merchant connects their account through [account sharing](/platforms/account-sharing/overview/); the platform then creates payment links in it with the merchant's access token, and hears about payments by webhook.

This is distinct from the Platform API: with the Platform API, the platform creates its merchants' accounts and builds the payment experience. Here, the merchant already has a Shuttle account and the platform connects to it. [Choosing an approach](/platforms/getting-started/platform-integration-approaches/) compares the two.

---

| If you're building... | Start with... |
|---|---|
| A platform embedding payments as a white-labelled feature in your app | [Platform API](/platforms/reference/platform-api/) |
| A direct merchant integration, or acting on behalf of a specific merchant | [Merchant Instance API](/platforms/reference/merchant-instance-api/) |
| A platform connecting to merchants' own Payment Links accounts | [Payment Links accounts API](/platforms/reference/payment-links-for-platforms/) |
| Payment Links for your own business | [The API for merchants](/merchants/reference/overview/) |