Solving CORS Issues for External API Requests in Webflow

If you’ve ever tried connecting your Webflow site directly to an external API, you’ve probably run into the dreaded CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) error.
It’s one of the most common issues when working with APIs in Webflow and it can stop your project in its tracks if you don’t know how to handle it.

In this post, I’ll break down:

• What CORS is?
• Why it affects your Webflow project?
• How to solve it with simple workarounds?

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What is CORS?

CORS is a security feature implemented by browsers.
It prevents a website from sending requests to another domain unless the server explicitly allows it.

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For example:

• Your Webflow site is at https://mywebflowproject.webflow.io
• You want to retrieve data from https://api.external-service.com
• If the API server doesn’t send the correct CORS headers, your request will fail even though the API works fine on the backend

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Why can’t you control CORS in Webflow?

Webflow hosts your site on its own servers and you don’t have access to the backend.

This means:

• You can’t change server settings
• You can’t proxy API calls through your own backend
• You’re limited to client-side JavaScript

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What can you do?

‍

Solution 1 : Use a CORS proxy
One quick solution is to use a CORS proxy  a server that forwards your request and adds the necessary CORS headers.

‍

fetch('https://cors-anywhere.herokuapp.com/https://api.external-service.com/data')
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data))

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Public proxies like cors-anywhere are for testing only  they are not production-safe.

For live projects, set up your own proxy or use a service like Hoppscotch Proxy or RapidAPI Proxy

‍

Solution 2 : Use a no-code automation tool
If you don’t want to deal with proxies, you can use tools like:

• Make.com (Integromat)
• Zapier
• Pipedream

These platforms can make external API calls on your behalf and send data back to Webflow via Webhooks or hidden form fields.

‍

Example flow:

• Webflow form sends data
• Make.com catches webhook and calls API
• Make.com sends result back to Webflow or emails it to you

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Solution 3 : Ask API provider to enable CORS
Sometimes the simplest solution is to contact API provider and ask them to enable CORS for your domain.

If you have a partnership or paid plan, many providers will do this for you.

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Solution 4 : Use Serverless Function
If you have access to platforms like:

• Cloudflare Workers
• Netlify Functions
• Vercel Serverless Functions

You can write a small serverless script to securely proxy your API requests.

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Example with Cloudflare Workers:

‍
addEventListener('fetch', event => {
event.respondWith(
fetch('https://api.external-service.com/data')
);
});

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Then connect your Webflow project to your worker URL.

CORS can be frustrating, especially when working in Webflow, which restricts access to the backend.

But with the right solution, you can easily connect to external APIs without CORS issues.