Full export
Export every object as CSV or JSON, or a single ZIP bundle, from Settings → Data Export. No lock-in.
REST API
Create an API key in Settings → Integrations and use the REST API to list, create, update, and delete contacts, companies, deals, projects, products, invoices, tasks, and activities — with per-key read/write scopes and rate limits. Call /api/v1/meta with your key for a machine-readable list of every resource, its writable fields, and its sortable columns.
Keeping another system in step
Three conventions make a two-way sync safe. Pull only what changed with ?updated_since=<timestamp> instead of re-reading everything. Send your own record id as external_id when you write: the first call creates and links the record, later calls with the same id update it rather than duplicating, and reads hand your id back so you never store ours. And on your webhook endpoint set “Don’t echo changes from” to your system name, so changes you write are never sent back to you — which is what stops the two sides looping.
Webhooks
Subscribe to events (like deal.won or contact.updated) and PULSE posts signed, hydrated payloads to your endpoint for real-time, two-way sync.