Api

How Much Does It Cost To Build An Api? (In 2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: October 6th, 2024

Looking to start an API?

But curious about:

how much it costs to start an API?
what are the typical API startup costs?
or the actual cost of starting APIs?

Well, we have the data to prove it, supported by real APIs and how much they actually cost to start.

Let's go over it.

What is the average cost of starting an API?

Based on our data reported by actual API founders, the average cost of starting an API is between $10 and $100,000.

Additionally, our data shows that the the median startup costs for an API are around $400.

Remember, though, not all APIs are the same - and neither are people's budgets. It's important to distinguish between different levels or types of APIs

Real World Examples: How much does it cost to start an API?

We asked real API founders and business owners how much it actually cost to get started?

Here is what they said:

Ervin Ruci

Founder of Geocode.xyz ($30K/month)

"In the beginning the startup costs were close to zero (I bought the geocode.xyz domain name during the xyz sale in 2016 for $1). For servers I used a free cloud instance on AWS and I also released the software on AWS Marketplace for those requiring better performance (which is directly related to the specification of the provisioned server)."

Ervin Ruci is the founder of geocode.xyz, a geoparsing and geocoding API that has grown significantly since its launch in 2016, earning over $15,000 per month in revenue.

Read this case study

Read by 24,374 founders

Ilya Nevolin

Founder of Spurwing ($50K/month)

"We started with our own funds in February 2020, and today we power millions of appointment bookings for thousands of companies."

Ilya Nevolin is the co-founder of Spurwing, a scheduling API business that powers appointment scheduling for thousands of companies.

Read this case study

Read by 4,624 founders

Vedran Cindric

Founder of Treblle ($5K/month)

“The MVP took just 2 weeks to build and cost only $400. I registered the domain and it cost $12.99. It really didn't cost much.”

Vedran is the founder of Treblle, an API management tool that has raised $1.4 million in a Seed investment round and is currently serving more than 200 customers.

Read this case study

Read by 4,603 founders

Boulama Kandine

Founder of Tinq.ai ($3.6K/month)

"At first, there was no particular user interface or anything like that the users would just sign up and have their API credentials and a basic request to get them started with the endpoints and a gauge diagram that would show users how much of the API they had consumed."

Boulama is the founder of Tinq.ai, a Natural Language Processing (NLP) toolkit that launched in 2021 with a simple UI and initial client support.

Read this case study

Read by 3,503 founders

Manthan Koolwal

Founder of Scrapingdog ($22K/month)

"I released the product with a very small budget of $180 and parallelly I was working on marketing channels as well."

Manthan Koolwal is the founder of Scrapingdog, a web scraping API business that helps extract data from any website using a single GET request.

Read this case study

Read by 4,334 founders

Ryan Kulp

Founder of Fomo ($90K/month)

"To cover expenses outside what our revenue could handle, we got a 0% APR (12 months) business credit card from Chase Bank. on this card we racked up around $50,000 in expenses, mostly software development related, and I think at one time made small personal loans of around $1,100 to cover a short payroll."

Ryan Kulp is the founder of Fomo, a social proof tool for eCommerce stores that rebranded from Notify in 2016 and scaled the original business by 600%.

Read this case study

Read by 4,846 founders

Enjoyed reading these real world examples?

Our platform is full of case studies of successful APIs that you can learn from.

Starting an API - what you should know:

When starting an API, understanding the cost implications can help you plan more effectively.

Infrastructure Costs

The choice between cloud-based solutions (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud) and on-premise servers can significantly influence your costs. Cloud-based services offer scalable solutions, with prices starting at around $5 to $15 per month for basic services. For more robust needs, you could be looking at $100 to $500+ per month. In contrast, setting up on-premise servers may require an initial investment of $1,000 to $5,000, not including maintenance and upgrades.

Development Costs

Hiring developers is another crucial expense. Freelance developers may cost $20 to $150 per hour depending on their experience and geographical location. If you opt to engage a development agency, initial costs might range from $5,000 to $20,000 for a basic API, scaling up to $50,000 or more for complex solutions. In-house development may involve salaries ranging from $70,000 to $120,000 annually per developer.

Security and Compliance

Security measures and compliance with regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) also add to the cost. Basic SSL certificates can cost between $10 to $100 per year. More advanced security systems, including intrusion detection and mitigation services, can add up to $1,000 to $5,000 annually. Compliance audits may range from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the scope and complexity.

Maintenance and Monitoring

Ongoing maintenance costs should not be overlooked. Regular updates, bug fixes, and monitoring can add another $500 to $2,000 per month. Tools like New Relic or Datadog for monitoring and analytics may cost an additional $10 to $50 per month, per user. Logging services like AWS CloudWatch could add $0.50 per GB of data ingested, leading to a variable cost based on your API’s usage.

Being aware of these components can help you tailor your approach to developing and budgeting for your API project effectively.

Potential Costs of Starting an API

Starting an API involves numerous costs, from infrastructure to labor. Below is a detailed breakdown of potential costs you might face when launching an API.

Category	Item	Estimated Cost Range	Description
Hosting and Infrastructure	Server Hosting	$10 - $500/month	Costs vary depending on the scale and provider (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).
	Load Balancer	$20 - $100/month	Ensures your API can handle traffic efficiently; often included in cloud services.
	SSL Certificate	$0 - $200/year	Essential for security; can be free (e.g., Let's Encrypt) or paid.
Development Costs	API Development	$50 - $150/hour	Cost for hiring developers; depends on region and expertise level.
	Project Management	$40 - $120/hour	Ensures timely and organized progress.
	Testing	$30 - $100/hour	QA testers for verifying the functionality and security.
Tools and Services	API Gateway	$3 - $25 per million requests/month	Managed services to handle API routing, throttling, and security (e.g., AWS API Gateway).
	Monitoring and Analytics	$0 - $50/month	Tools like New Relic, Datadog, or free alternatives like Grafana.
	Database	$15 - $300/month	Depends on type (SQL, NoSQL) and provider.
	Version Control System (e.g., GitHub)	$0 - $21/user/month	Tools for managing code; costs vary by plan and team size.
Maintenance	Ongoing Maintenance	$500 - $2,000/month	Regular updates, bug fixes, and optimizations.
	Customer Support	$20 - $50/hour	For handling customer inquiries and issues.
Legal and Compliance	Legal Fees	$100 - $300/hour	For drafting terms of service, privacy policies, etc.
	Compliance Audits	$1,000 - $5,000/year	Ensures your API complies with industry standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
Miscellaneous	Documentation Tools	$0 - $100/month	Platforms to create and host API documentation (e.g., Swagger, Postman).
	Marketing	$100 - $1,000/month	Promoting your API to attract users and developers.

This table provides a comprehensive look at the various expenses involved in starting an API. Each category includes essential items and services, along with their estimated cost ranges to help you plan your budget effectively.

Part of

Building An Api: Everything You Need To Know

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