Figuring out how to price your API is one of those problems that sounds simple until you sit down to actually do it. How many tiers should you have? Should you charge per request, per token, or flat monthly? What happens when someone goes over their limit?
This is the third post in our API Monetization 101 series. Part one covered metering and enforcement; part two covered plans, phases, and rate cards. Here we focus on using AI to get your pricing strategy clear before you build.
Most teams spend weeks going back and forth on pricing spreadsheets, only to pick something arbitrary and hope it works.
There's a better way: use an LLM to help you think through your pricing model. You get a concrete structure, a comparison table, and reasoning you can socialize and refine before you lock in numbers or touch any billing code.
- You have an API you want to monetize but haven't nailed down your pricing model yet
- You've been putting off the "figure out billing" task because it feels overwhelming
- You want a clear way to compare tiers and tradeoffs before committing to a structure
Zuplo API Monetization Beta
Zuplo's API monetization is in private beta. Register for early access and we'll reach out when you can try it.
Use AI to Think Through Your Pricing Strategy
LLMs are surprisingly good at helping you work through pricing decisions. They can ask the right questions, suggest structures based on your API's characteristics, and give you a concrete plan to review.
Here's a starter prompt you can paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or whichever LLM you prefer. The model will ask you a set of questions, then design a strategy from your answers:
The LLM will suggest specific numbers for each tier. Treat these as a starting point, not gospel. Adjust based on what you know about your market and your margins.
This is only part of the output. The full response also includes reasoning and tradeoffs. In this example, the API provides company enrichment data looked up by domain name.
Why This Approach Helps
Getting clarity on pricing before you monetize saves time. You end up with a comparison table you can share with stakeholders, a clear rationale for each tier, and a vocabulary (flat fee, overage, trial, features) that maps directly to how billing systems and API gateways think.
When you're ready to implement, your strategy maps onto standard building blocks: meters (what you count), features (what you sell), and plans. For more on how those work in practice, see the rest of the series:
Next Steps
- Run the prompt above with your API's details and review the output.
- Adjust the numbers and structure to match your business and margins.
- Use the table and reasoning to align with your team or leadership.
- When you're ready to ship, use the Zuplo Monetization API to build.
Zuplo Monetization is currently in private beta. If you want to implement metering and plans directly in your API gateway, register below.
Zuplo API Monetization Beta
Zuplo's API monetization is in private beta. Register for early access and we'll reach out when you can try it.
