Real-world examples of how to integrate third-party tools in 2025

Best examples of how to integrate third-party tools in modern apps

Let’s start with what most teams actually want: real examples of how to integrate third-party tools that you can copy, tweak, and drop into your own workflows. Instead of abstract diagrams, we’ll walk through concrete use cases you’ll recognize from day-to-day product work.

These examples include CRM integrations, payment processing, analytics, notifications, identity, automation, and AI add-ons. Each one highlights:

• Where the third-party tool fits in your architecture
• How data moves between systems
• Common gotchas that end up in FAQ and “Known Issues” pages

Example of integrating a CRM: Salesforce with your SaaS app

One of the best examples of how to integrate third-party tools is the classic Salesforce + SaaS app combo. Sales and customer success teams live in Salesforce; your product data lives in your app. The integration goal is simple: keep customer records and subscription status in sync.

A typical pattern looks like this:

• User sign-up in your app triggers a call to Salesforce’s REST API to create or update a Lead or Account.
• Subscription change (upgrade, downgrade, cancellation) updates custom fields in Salesforce so sales can see status and renewal risk.
• Webhooks from Salesforce notify your app when an account owner changes or a deal closes, so you can update permissions or trial status.

In your user guide or FAQ, you’d document:

• Which Salesforce objects you touch (Lead, Contact, Account, Opportunity)
• Required permissions and connected app setup
• How to verify the integration by checking a test record in Salesforce

For 2024–2025, more teams are using event-driven integrations with message queues (like Amazon SQS or Kafka) between their app and Salesforce to avoid API rate limit issues. This is a good example of how to integrate third-party tools in a way that scales under heavy sales activity.

Authoritative reference for REST and security concepts: NIST API Security guidance (nist.gov).

Payment gateway: Stripe as a real example of a third-party integration

If you want clean, opinionated examples of how to integrate third-party tools, Stripe is basically the gold standard. Their API design and docs shape how a lot of other tools behave.

A common integration flow:

• Your frontend uses Stripe Elements or Checkout to collect payment details.
• Stripe handles PCI compliance and returns a token or PaymentIntent ID.
• Your backend confirms the payment and stores Stripe’s customer and subscription IDs.
• Webhooks from Stripe inform your app about payment success, failure, refunds, and disputes.

From a user guide perspective, the best examples include:

• Clear diagrams of who owns which data (Stripe vs your app)
• Step-by-step setup for API keys and webhook signing secrets
• Troubleshooting entries for “payments not showing up in dashboard” or “webhooks failing with 401”

This integration pattern — frontend tokenization, backend confirmation, webhook-driven state — is an example of how to integrate third-party tools that you can reuse for PayPal, Adyen, or other gateways with minimal changes.

For security and payment best practices, see the Federal Reserve’s payment system resources: federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems.htm.

Analytics and product insights: examples include Google Analytics and Mixpanel

Another classic example of how to integrate third-party tools is product analytics. Teams want funnels, retention curves, and user behavior tracking without building an analytics engine from scratch.

Typical patterns in 2024–2025:

• Client-side tracking: JavaScript SDKs for Google Analytics 4, Mixpanel, or Amplitude embedded in your web app.
• Server-side tracking: Backend sends events for critical actions (purchases, sign-ups, cancellations) to avoid ad blockers and missing data.
• CDP integration: Some teams route events through a Customer Data Platform (like Segment) that fans out data to multiple tools.

Real examples include:

• Tracking “workspace_created” and “invite_sent” events to understand activation
• Sending user_id, plan type, and region as properties
• Using feature flags to compare behavior between experiment variants

Your documentation should:

• Explain event naming conventions and reserved properties
• Include a troubleshooting section for “events not appearing in dashboard” and “duplicate events”
• Clarify data retention and privacy (especially if you have EU users)

For privacy and data handling guidance, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission offers practical resources: ftc.gov/business-guidance/privacy-security.

Notifications and collaboration: Slack and Microsoft Teams integration examples

Notifications are where integrations become part of a team’s daily workflow. Some of the best examples of how to integrate third-party tools are Slack and Microsoft Teams apps.

A common Slack integration pattern:

• Users connect their Slack workspace via OAuth.
• Your app stores workspace and channel IDs.
• Your backend sends messages via Slack’s Web API when key events occur: failed deployments, new tickets, high-priority alerts.
• Interactive components (buttons, slash commands) call your API to perform actions directly from Slack.

Examples include:

• A deployment platform posting to #deployments when a release starts and finishes
• A support tool sending new high-priority tickets to a triage channel
• A monitoring tool sending alerts with quick-action buttons like “Acknowledge” or “Create incident”

Your user guide should cover:

• How to install the Slack or Teams app
• Permission scopes and why they’re needed
• How to test with a private channel before rolling out org-wide

This is a strong example of how to integrate third-party tools in a way that actually changes behavior, not just adds another dashboard.

Identity and SSO: examples of integrating Okta, Azure AD, and Google Workspace

Authentication is one area where you really don’t want to improvise. Common examples of how to integrate third-party tools for identity include Okta, Azure Active Directory, Google Workspace, and other OpenID Connect or SAML providers.

A typical SSO integration flow:

• Admins configure your app in their identity provider using SAML or OIDC.
• You expose a metadata URL or JSON config for redirect URIs and claims.
• Users log in via “Sign in with SSO”, are redirected to the IdP, then back to your app with a signed assertion.
• Your app maps IdP attributes (email, groups, roles) to internal user accounts and permissions.

Your documentation and FAQs should:

• Provide example of a working SAML assertion (redacted) so admins know what to expect
• Explain common misconfigurations: clock skew, incorrect audience, wrong redirect URI
• Include test steps for admins before enabling SSO for the whole org

For authentication standards and security guidance, NIST’s Digital Identity Guidelines are an excellent reference: nist.gov/identity-access-management.

Automation and workflow: Zapier and Make as flexible integration examples

When teams ask for more examples of how to integrate third-party tools without writing a lot of code, Zapier and Make (formerly Integromat) usually come up.

These tools let users connect your app to hundreds of others. Real examples include:

• Creating a CRM record when a new user signs up in your app
• Sending a Slack message when a high-value customer submits a support ticket
• Logging invoices to Google Sheets whenever a Stripe payment succeeds

From your product’s perspective, the integration pattern is straightforward:

• You expose webhooks or polling endpoints for triggers ("New user”, “New ticket”, “New invoice").
• You provide a simple REST API for actions ("Create project”, “Update status").
• Zapier or Make handles the UI, mapping, and retries.

In your user guides and FAQs, include:

• Example workflows that non-developers can set up in under an hour
• Limits and rate guidance so users don’t accidentally throttle themselves
• A clear explanation of what data leaves your system and where it goes

This is one of the best examples of how to integrate third-party tools in a way that empowers power users without overloading your engineering team with custom connectors.

AI and ML add-ons: 2024–2025 examples of integrating AI tools

In 2024–2025, many teams are asking for examples of how to integrate third-party tools that provide AI capabilities: text generation, summarization, classification, or recommendations.

Common patterns:

• Content summarization: Your app sends meeting transcripts or long documents to an AI API; the response is stored as a summary or action list.
• Smart search: You index content and send user queries to an AI model that returns relevant results plus a natural-language explanation.
• Classification and routing: Support tickets or feedback messages are classified by topic or sentiment and routed to the right team.

When documenting these integrations:

• Be explicit about what data is sent to the AI provider and whether it’s stored
• Explain rate limits, latency expectations, and fallback behavior when the AI API is unavailable
• Include a FAQ entry for “results look inaccurate or off-topic” and how users can improve prompts or training data

For responsible AI and data use, the U.S. National AI Initiative site is a helpful starting point: ai.gov.

Patterns and best practices from these examples of how to integrate third-party tools

Looking across these real examples of how to integrate third-party tools, a few patterns keep showing up in successful implementations:

• Use webhooks for state changes rather than polling whenever the provider supports it. This is obvious with Stripe, but just as valuable with CRMs and support tools.
• Keep a clear source of truth. Decide whether your app or the third-party system owns each piece of data (e.g., subscription status vs. marketing preferences) and document it.
• Isolate integration logic in dedicated services or modules. This makes it easier to swap providers later (e.g., changing from one email provider to another).
• Expose status and logs to users. Integration pages in your app should show last sync time, error messages, and a manual “Retry” button.
• Document rate limits and quotas. Many integration issues that end up in FAQs are actually rate or quota problems.

When you write your own user guides, FAQs, or troubleshooting pages, use these examples of how to integrate third-party tools as templates. Show real payloads (redacted), real error messages, and real configuration screenshots. That’s what helps users bridge the gap between theory and “why isn’t this working in my environment?”

FAQ: common questions and examples of integration scenarios

Q1. Can you give an example of a simple third-party integration for a small app?
A lightweight example of integrating a third-party tool is connecting a contact form to an email service like Mailchimp. When a user submits your form, your backend calls Mailchimp’s API to add the email to a specific list. You document API key setup, form fields, and a quick test flow, and you’re done.

Q2. What are the best examples of low-code integrations non-developers can manage?
The best examples include Zapier or Make workflows that connect your app to Google Sheets, Slack, or a CRM. Users configure triggers and actions through a UI, with your app only needing to provide a clean API and webhook endpoints.

Q3. How many third-party tools is too many to integrate?
There’s no fixed number, but real examples from mature SaaS products show that once you pass 10–15 integrations, you need dedicated ownership, monitoring, and versioning. Otherwise, you end up with broken connectors that support and success teams can’t easily troubleshoot.

Q4. What examples of security issues should I watch for with third-party integrations?
Common issues include over-scoped OAuth permissions, leaked API keys, unverified webhooks, and missing audit logs. Many real examples of incidents trace back to integrations that were added quickly without proper review. Following NIST and OWASP API security guidelines is a good baseline.

Q5. Is there an example of integrating third-party tools without exposing customer data?
Yes. A good example is integrating a deployment notification tool with Slack using only metadata: deployment ID, environment, and status. You avoid sending customer names, emails, or content while still giving teams useful context.

Use these FAQs as a pattern when building your own support content: ground every answer in a concrete example of how a real integration behaves, not just abstract best practices.