A few years ago, I built a small API and published it on RapidAPI. I didn’t think much would come from it — I hosted it on a free backend and mostly forgot about it.
Just recently, I logged into my dashboard and saw that someone subscribed to my $8/month tier — out of the blue.
It made me stop and think: should I kill it off or keep it going?
Turns out, keeping it may have been the best decision I’ve made this year.
🧪 The API Was Just Sitting There!
I never marketed it. No blog posts, no SEO, no Twitter threads.
It solved a niche problem. Nothing fancy — but it worked.
💡 Someone Subscribed… Why?
After a little digging, here’s what probably helped:
Recent Updates: I had updated the API just weeks ago to fix a small bug. That likely pushed it up in RapidAPI’s search rankings (they reward fresh updates).
Good Pricing: $8/month for something that saves time is a no-brainer for some developers or businesses.
📈 Is It Worth Keeping?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer:
$8/month = $96/year = passive income.
With no active marketing, that’s not bad.
If more people find it, it could snowball (5 users = $40/month).
I don’t need to touch it unless something breaks.
🔧What I Plan to Do Next
I’m not turning this into a startup. But I am doing the following:
Improving the docs
Adding a few more features
Sharing this post to help others realize the power of publishing small tools
📣 Advice to Other Devs
If you’ve got a working side project or microservice:
Publish it — especially if you already built it for yourself.
Use RapidAPI or similar marketplaces to get visibility.
Host it cheap or free.
Charge a small amount. You’d be surprised what people are willing to pay for.
Don’t overthink it. Small APIs can still earn real money 💸.
👇Want to Check It Out?
Here’s the API:
🔗 washington-post
🙌Let Me Know
Have you tried something similar?
Did you earn any revenue from APIs or tools?
What worked for you?
Let’s share notes 👇
Top comments (0)