One thing I think builders underestimate is how different those two jobs really are.
Building the API is technical work.
Monetizing it is market work.
And the second part is still more annoying than it should be.
You can build something useful, document it properly, and still end up stuck in a bad loop:
- weak visibility
- high platform fees
- low trust from buyers
- poor support from the marketplace itself
- bad payout experience
That is why “just list it on a marketplace” is not a satisfying answer.
The API may be good. The issue is often everything around it.
In our case, we originally wanted to monetize some of our own APIs. We tried the default platform, did not like the experience, asked around, and realized a lot of developers felt the same way.
That was the real insight.
The hard part was not always building the thing.
The hard part was getting discovered, trusted, bought, and paid in a system that did not feel aligned with the seller.
I think that is still one of the biggest weak spots in API infrastructure.
If a marketplace takes a large cut and still does not help good APIs get found, supported, and trusted, then the seller is carrying too much of the burden alone.
That is part of why we are building LimitPear.
If you want the full piece, it is here:
[https://limitpear.com/blog/why-api-monetization-is-still-harder-than-it-should]
Top comments (0)