API Monetization with Zuplo
Zuplo's API Monetization lets you charge for your API directly from your gateway — no external metering services, no webhook spaghetti, no state sync headaches. Define your pricing, connect Stripe, and start billing. Zuplo handles metering, quota enforcement, and subscription management as a single integrated system.
Why monetize at the gateway?
Most teams attempting API monetization cobble together three separate systems: a metering service to count usage, a billing platform to charge customers, and custom gateway logic to enforce limits. These systems inevitably drift apart. A customer exceeds their quota but metering hasn't synced yet. A subscription cancels in Stripe but the gateway still grants access. A webhook fails silently and invoices come out wrong.
Zuplo eliminates this by making the gateway the single source of truth. Every
request that hits your API is metered, enforced, and billed through one system.
When a customer's quota runs out, they get a 403 Forbidden immediately — not
five minutes later when a batch job catches up.
Core concepts
Zuplo Monetization is built on four primitives:
Meters count things. Every API call, every token consumed, every byte transferred. You define what to count and how to aggregate it (count events or sum a value from the response).
Features connect meters to your product catalog. A metered feature like "API Calls" links to a meter and enables quota tracking. A static feature like "Priority Support" is a simple on/off toggle — the customer either has it or doesn't.
Plans are subscription tiers your customers purchase. Each plan contains one or more phases with rate cards that define pricing and entitlements. Plans support versioning, multiple currencies, and configurable billing cadences (monthly, quarterly, annual).
Rate cards are the pricing atoms within a plan phase. Each rate card ties a feature to a price and specifies the entitlement: how much the customer gets, whether the limit is hard (blocked at quota) or soft (overage billing), and what pricing model applies (flat fee, per-unit, tiered, volume, or package).
Supported billing models
| Model | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed monthly quotas | Flat monthly price with included allowance. Hard limit at quota. | $99/mo for 10,000 requests |
| Pay-as-you-go | No upfront cost. Bill in arrears for actual usage. | $0.01 per request, billed monthly |
| Quotas with overages | Monthly price for base allowance. Overage billed per-unit in arrears. | $99/mo for 10K requests + $0.005/request over |
| Credits / tokens | Prepaid credit bundles that burn down with usage. Service stops when exhausted. | Buy 50,000 credits for $49 |
Plans can combine multiple billing models and support free tiers, free trials with automatic conversion to paid, and multiple subscriptions per customer.
What you get
- Built-in metering — Count requests, tokens, bytes, or any custom dimension. No external metering service required.
- Real-time quota enforcement — Customers hitting their limit get a
403 Forbiddenresponse instantly, not after a batch sync. - Stripe billing integration — Stripe handles checkout, payment, the billing portal, and tax. Zuplo issues Stripe Invoices for fixed fees and metered usage at the end of each billing period, and the gateway revokes access automatically when a payment goes overdue past the configured grace period.
- Self-serve Developer Portal — Pricing page, plan selection, checkout, subscription management, usage dashboards, and API key management built into the Zudoku-powered portal.
- Programmable everything — Custom policies, webhooks, and the Zuplo Developer API give you full control when the defaults aren't enough.
- Trial and phase support — Model free trials that auto-convert to paid plans without writing transition logic.
Getting started
Follow the Quickstart Guide to go from zero to a monetized API in under 30 minutes. You'll create meters, define a plan with pricing, wire up Stripe, and configure your gateway to enforce quotas.
Documentation map
| Document | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Quickstart | End-to-end setup in 30 minutes |
| Meters | How meters track usage dimensions |
| Features | Connecting meters to your product catalog |
| Plans | Plan structure, phases, lifecycle, and publishing |
| Rate Cards | Pricing and entitlements within plans |
| Pricing Models | Flat, per-unit, tiered, volume, and package pricing |
| Billing Models Guide | Choosing the right pricing strategy for your business |
| Stripe Integration | Connecting Stripe and managing payments |
| Developer Portal Setup | Configuring the self-serve portal for your customers |
| Monetization Policy Reference | Configuring the MonetizationInboundPolicy per-route |
| API Access | Authentication, buckets, bucket configuration, Stripe setup APIs, and reference links |
| Subscription Lifecycle | Managing trials, upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations |
| Private Plans | Invite-only plans for specific users |
| Tax Collection | Enabling VAT, sales tax, or GST via Stripe Tax |
| Going to Production | Pre-launch checklist, Stripe live mode, and known limitations |
| Plan Examples | Real-world plan configurations |
| Troubleshooting | Common issues, debugging, and FAQ |