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Monetize APIs

Monetizing APIs is important for organizations to make the most of their digital assets. It helps generate revenue, cut costs, and create growth opportunities. Moreover, using an API marketplace improves security, performance, integration, analytics, and scalability.

Yappes marketplace provides a seamless and user-friendly experience for creating and managing subscriptions, making it incredibly easy for you to monetize APIs.

Prerequisite:

  1. To start monetizing APIs, you must first onboard them. For more information, see Onboard APIs.

Steps to monetize API

Monetizing your APIs involves the following two things:

  • Create Subscription

    This section is responsible for creating subscriptions for the APIs and granting access to those APIs across Yappes, either at an individual or organizational level.

    Learn more

  • Manage Subscription

    This section helps you manage all subscriptions, including accepting or rejecting subscriptions and attaching policies.

    Learn more

Benefits of Yappes Marketplace

  • Starting Subscription Plan: As an API provider, you can initiate the subscription plan for users. This allows you to control the activation of the plan and ensure that users can start consuming the API.
  • Creating Custom Subscriptions: In addition to the predefined subscription plans, you have the flexibility to create custom subscriptions. This feature enables you to cater to the specific requirements of API consumers and partners.
  • Managing Subscription Status: You can manage the status of subscriptions. This includes accepting or rejecting subscriptions, as well as putting subscriptions on hold if necessary.
  • Providing Access to Unpublished APIs: Through the Manage Subscription section, you can grant access to internal APIs across Yappes for other organizations. This feature facilitates collaboration and allows for seamless integration of APIs within the platform.

API distribution workflow

On Yappes, in order for any user to consume an API, they must be subscribed to that API. Users have two options for subscribing: they can either directly subscribe to an API, or a community manager or admin can create a subscription at the organization or individual level, which provides default access to the API under the "Manage API" section.

The image below illustrates the steps and user roles involved in creating subscriptions in various scenarios:

  • Self-service Subscription: API consumers can subscribe to APIs from the marketplace.

  • Organization Level: Subscriptions are created at the organization level, allowing all users within the organization to access the API.

  • Individual Level: Subscriptions are created for individuals, regardless of their association with an organization.

  • API Partner Organization: A community manager or admin can create partner organizations and provide access to APIs. To learn more, see API Partner Organization.

Workflow for creating a subscription

Who are your API consumers?

Any user with the role of API consumer can access the APIs listed in their organization. The main API consumers are API Partner organizations. However, in large-scale companies, even internal users can be API consumers. It depends on who will be using your APIs and whether they are for internal or commercial use.

The responsibilities of API provider

The role of a community manager or admin as an API provider is crucial for distributing subscriptions. They serve as the central gateway for creating, approving, rejecting, or putting subscriptions on hold.

Responsibilities of API provider:

  • Creating subscriptions
  • Approving subscriptions
  • Managing subscriptions
  • Creating custom subscriptions
  • Being the point of contact for API consumers

Subscriptions pricing

Subscription plans can be classified into three types: free, freemium, and paid. The pricing for freemium and paid plans is based on the number of API requests made. When creating a subscription plan, you have the option to set transaction charges and a limit on the number of allowed requests. If the user exceeds the limit, additional charges will be applied for the extra API requests made. You can create subscription plans, under Onboard APIs.

Billing cycle and due date

The billing cycle and due date for each subscription are determined by an administrator. This allows you to control when users are billed for their subscriptions.

Attaching policies

Policies can be attached to subscriptions to govern their usage. These policies apply to all users who have the subscription. To learn more, refer to gateway policies.