Basic Auth

Basic Auth is a way for a web browser or application to provide credentials in the form of a username and password. Because Basic Auth is integrated into HTTP protocol it is the easiest way for users to authenticate with a RESTful API.

Basic Auth is easily integrated, however if SSL is not used, the username and password are passed in plain text and can be easily intercepted on the open Internet.

OAuth is a much better choice for RESTful API authentication, but Basic Auth is perfectly suited for APIs that are intended for a wider audience and do not give access to sensitive information.