> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.symmetry.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Portal vs. API

> Choose between Minimum Wage Finder Portal and the REST API. Compares Maps, Batch and Wage Rates against the rate endpoints, and typical users of each.

There are two ways to use Minimum Wage Finder. Both read the same rate data and return the same results. What differs is who uses them and how.

## At a glance

|                  | Portal                                                    | API                                                  |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it is**   | A browser application you log in to                       | REST endpoints returning JSON                        |
| **Best for**     | Looking something up, checking a location, pulling a list | Putting rates inside your own product or payroll run |
| **Typical user** | Compensation, HR, and payroll teams                       | Engineers integrating Minimum Wage Finder            |
| **Setup**        | An authorization token                                    | An API key                                           |
| **Volume**       | One address at a time, or a CSV upload                    | Whatever your integration calls for                  |

## Portal

Portal has three places to find rates, plus settings and address corrections.

| Tab                    | What it does                                                                                                      |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Maps**               | One work address at a time. Returns every applicable rate for that location. See [Maps](/mwf/portal/maps).        |
| **Batch**              | Many addresses at once, by CSV upload or manual entry, with results downloadable. See [Batch](/mwf/portal/batch). |
| **Wage Rates**         | Browse and filter the rate catalogue itself, without supplying an address at all.                                 |
| **Address Exceptions** | Correct a location that geocodes to the wrong place. See [Address exceptions](/mwf/portal/address-exceptions).    |

Wage Rates is the tab with no equivalent in the API. Rather than asking "what applies at this address", it lets you search the underlying rate table by state, authority type, wage category, and industry, and export the result. It is the right tool for questions like "which authorities changed a rate this month" or "what tipped rates exist in this state".

Columns include the `mwUid`, state, authority and authority type, rate, effective date, whether the rate is inherited, major type, industry and minor type, and when it was last updated.

## API

Four endpoints return rates. All are documented in the [API reference](/mwf/api-reference/overview).

| Endpoint                      | Purpose                                                  |
| ----------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| `GET /mwf/v1/location`        | Rates for an address or coordinate pair                  |
| `GET /mwf/v2/location`        | Rates for a location, current version                    |
| `GET /mwf/v1/id`              | Rates for a specific `mwUid`                             |
| `GET /mwf/v1/rates/effective` | Rates across a date range, for tracking upcoming changes |

See [Retrieve upcoming minimum wage rate updates](/mwf/api/upcoming-rate-updates) and [Retrieve recent minimum wage rate updates](/mwf/api/recent-rate-updates) for tracking changes over time.

<Note>
  If you reach Minimum Wage Finder as a Payroll Point add-on rather than as a standalone product, your endpoint paths are different. See [Standalone MWF or PRP add-on](/mwf/overview/standalone-or-add-on).
</Note>

## Using both

The two are not exclusive. A common pattern is to integrate the API for day-to-day lookups and keep Portal for the compensation team, who use Wage Rates and Batch to answer questions the integration may not answer.

## Where to go next

<Note>
  Before your first lookup, your account administrator needs to configure your organization's profile settings, and minimum wage must be licensed on your account. See [Prerequisites](/mwf/getting-started/prerequisites).
</Note>

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart: Look up rates in Portal" icon="rocket" href="/mwf/getting-started/portal-quickstart">
    Log in and run your first Maps or Batch lookup.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Quickstart: Call the MWF API" icon="rocket" href="/mwf/getting-started/api-quickstart">
    Authenticate and make your first rate lookup.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>