Monetization

Monetization charges developers for the plans they subscribe to in your API Portal. You connect a Stripe account once, then attach a price to each plan you want to bill for. Free and internal plans need no price at all.

How does monetization work in Apiable?

You connect Stripe under Integrations, then open a plan's Monetization tab and choose a revenue model. Apiable creates the matching price on your Stripe account and bills each subscriber through it. Usage-metered models report API calls to Stripe.

Monetization has two halves. You set the payment connection once for the whole account, and you set the price per plan:

1. Connect Stripe. Link a Stripe account through Stripe Connect so Apiable can create prices and collect payment.
2. Price each plan. On a plan's Monetization tab, pick a revenue model and set the amount, tiers, or credit rate.
3. Bill subscribers. Apiable creates the price on Stripe and charges each developer who subscribes. Metered models report usage to Stripe.

Which payment providers does Apiable support?

Stripe, and only Stripe. Monetization resolves a Stripe configuration to its billing adapter and throws an error for anything else. There is no second payment provider you can connect today.

Which revenue models can charge a developer?

Four revenue models create a real billable price on Stripe: Flat-fee, Volume, Graduated, and Flat-fee plus Overage. Prepaid credits bill from a credit balance instead of a subscription. Free and Contract plans carry no price.

In the dashboard, the Monetization tab first asks for a Revenue Model: Free, Contract, or Recurring. Choosing Recurring reveals a Pricing Model dropdown with Flat-fee, Flat-fee + Overage, Prepaid, Volume, and Graduated.

What does each pricing model do?

Four models create a billable Stripe price, Prepaid burns down a credit balance, and Free and Contract take no payment. Pick the one that matches how you want to charge.

• Flat fee. A fixed recurring price for each billing cycle, created on Stripe. The subscriber pays the same amount every cycle regardless of usage.
• Volume. A tiered price where the whole metered volume is billed at the rate of the tier it reaches. Usage-metered.
• Graduated. A tiered price where each tier's units bill at that tier's own rate, so the total is the sum across tiers. Usage-metered.
• Flat-fee plus Overage. A base flat fee that includes an amount of usage, plus a per-unit charge for usage above the included amount. Usage-metered.
• Prepaid burn-down. The subscriber holds a prepaid credit balance, and each API call burns it down at the per-call rate. Apiable tracks the balance in a credit ledger and tops it up by invoice, rather than running a standard Stripe subscription.
• Free. No price. The plan is free to subscribe to and charges nothing.
• Contract. No price. The plan shows a custom call to action, for example "Contact sales", so you route the developer to a sales conversation or an external checkout.

How does usage-based billing work?

Volume, Graduated, and Flat-fee plus Overage are usage-metered. Apiable records each API call as a usage event through the Stripe Meter API, and Stripe bills the metered total at the end of the cycle. You enable usage reporting on the plan.

Metered billing needs the Usage Events add-on, the plan's bill processing set to read API calls, and your API gateway logs connected so Apiable can count usage. See Usage-based billing for the prerequisites and matching criteria, or Report usage with the API to send usage yourself. For the why behind usage-based pricing, see API monetization.

How do prepaid credits work?

A developer holds a prepaid credit balance for the plan. Each API call burns down the balance at the per-call rate you set. Apiable records the balance in a credit ledger and issues invoices to top it up. This is the Prepaid pricing model, also called burn-down.

Prepaid credits do not run as a standard Stripe subscription. Apiable tracks the balance itself and uses invoices for top-ups, so the model has gateway and security requirements the dashboard enforces before you can select it.

Where do I price a plan?

You set pricing on a plan, not on the product. Open a plan and go to its Monetization tab, then choose a revenue model and fill in the amount or tiers. The tab also sets the billing cycle, tax handling, and a price lookup key.

Where to next