A couple weeks ago I wrote about building a unified API gateway and the monitoring headaches that followed. Some people asked why I picked New API as the backend in the first place.
The requirements were straightforward: support multiple upstream providers, manage API keys, track usage, and not break the bank.
I tried a custom proxy first. It worked but every time I needed rate limiting, user management, or logging, I had to build it from scratch. That got old fast.
Then I found New API. It's open source and does most of what I needed out of the box: multi-model routing, key management, usage tracking, and a dashboard. Setup took about a weekend. Been running it for a month and it's held up fine.
The main tradeoff is you're tied to its data model and API conventions. But for a small operation like mine, that's worth it. I'd rather spend time on the service than reinventing user management.
Next up: how I handle pricing and free tiers without losing money.
Top comments (0)